Image credit: Stuart Cortlett
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp
Never have these words held more weight than over the course of the last eighteen months following successive lockdowns in Melbourne. Drop-in Zoom dance classes for micro spaces in our homes, which are affordable and fun, are a great cure for the dreaded lockdown fatigue. Ballet Tone, a weekly barre and ballet class, has been zooming along since the very first lockdown, taught by Leila Lois. Leila has trained in dance and teaching at a tertiary level and her classes promise to keep you active, elegant and inspired, whatever life throws at you.
The classes are open level but particularly suitable for beginners or those coming back to dance after a hiatus. Many of her clients say they always thought ballet was out of their reach, but Leila shows how ballet is for all bodies and is beneficial to our physical and mental wellness as well as fun. ‘It’s true… dance is deeply cathartic’, Leila says. ‘There is so much evidence out there now that movement to music helps us to thrive and conquer difficulties in our lives, including in the work of psychologists such as Bessel Van der Kolk, who wrote ‘The Body Keeps the Score’. The ways we use our bodies help us to overcome trauma as trauma is not just what happens to you but rather how your body reacts to what happened to you. The stronger we can make our bodies and more inspired our choreographic minds, the more joyful we can become.’
‘Many of my clients enjoy the weekly class as a way of connecting with others, sharing music and movement together while in lockdown. They mostly want their video on but can totally keep it off. Sometimes people come and tell me they’d feel intimidated coming to their first ballet class in a studio but after coming on Zoom they realise it’s really fun and accessible.’
Fancy giving ballet a ‘turn’? Ballet Tone is online via Zoom Thursdays 6-6.45pm for just $10 until Lockdown is over. After that, classes will return to the wonderful Northcote based BIGBANG Studio.
Go to Eventbrite here to book you per ticket and receive a Zoom link to class in your inbox: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/leila-lois-24890646361
