-Children’s Creative Dance, Ballet and Broadway Dance classes begin Sept. 20th. Pilates start Sept. 7th.

-Teen class begins Sept 8th

-Fall Special: One free private Pilates class for every new student…why not give it a try?

-Pilates is busy with eight small group classes weekly to chose from.

-Private training in my studio or your home and take home programs available.

-New classes alloted for groups of 3 or more…you pick the day and time that suits your group.

Pilates Schedule:

Beginner Pilates: Mon. 10am, Wed. 6:30 pm, Thurs. 9:30am and 7:30pm

Beginner Pilates at Gabriola Elementary school: Thursday 3pm ($12 drop in. Other classes $10 drop in.)

Intermediate Pilates: Saturday 9:30am

Circuit Pilates (advanced) Tuesday and Thursday 6:30pm

Dance schedule: 

Pre-school dance Tuesday or Thursday 10am 9 weeks, $50.00

Kinderdance Saturday at noon (no class Oct 30) 11 weeks, $100.00

Broadway Dance grades 5-7 Saturday at 1:00 (no class Oct 30) $100.00

Broadway Dance grades 2-4 Saturday at 2:00 (no class Oct 30) $100.00

Ballet Grades 1-3 Tuesday 3:00-4:00 12 weeks, $105.00

Ballet Grades 3-5 Wednesday 3-4:30 12weeks, $150.00

Ballet Grades 5-7 Tuesday 4:00-5:30 12 weeks, $150.00

“Challenge your strengths, strengthen your weaknesses”

Also, there will be some fun summer musical theatre themed dance camps from August 16-20 that will culminate with 2 performances at the Gabriola Theatre Festival August 21/22.  There will be several camps for ages 5 to teens that will last a couple hours a day.  Ages 5-8 from 10:00-12:00, ages 9-11 from 12:30-2:30 and ages 12-15 from 4:00-6:00.  All camps will take place at my home studio.  Please bring a snack.  Cost will be $96 for the week and will include costume rental.

When you sit and stand correctly, your posture protects parts of your body. Keeping muscles, ligaments, and bones in their aligned position relieves stress on the back, shoulders and knees.  Slouching, or rolling your shoulders forward, shortens your chest muscles and reduces flexibility while over stretching your upper back muscles and weakening them.  Swayback (hips pushing forward) posture creates an exaggerated curve between the pelvis and ribs that stresses the lower back. Over time, these stresses can inhibit breathing, cause muscle fatigue, or result in varying degrees of back pain.

Many posture problems result from sitting for long periods of time. Sitting is harder on the back than standing or lying down. Poorly fitting shoes, especially high heels, are another problem, as is a heavy purse on one shoulder.  Some posture dilemmas are the result of a temporary strain that has become a habit, such as swaying your back during pregnancy or an injury that you may have been compensating for.

Good posture is the result of a combination of factors. Shoulders should be pulled back and down, with the head held high. The stomach and buttocks should be pulled in and the chin tucked in a bit. When sitting, make sure your thighs are parallel to the ground and that your head isn’t slumped forward.  Don’t cross your legs! (Guess Mom was wrong on that one…) Disciplines such as Pilates classes, yoga  and personal training  encourage proper posture.  Of course, it’s not enough to practice good posture a few hours a week while in a class, we have to allow those practices to carry over to our daily lives and that can be a steep learning curve both physically and mentally.

One of things I like best about Pilates is that it is a thinking man’s sport.  It’s highly detailed so my clients learn a lot about their bodies and how to work in near perfect alignment. This knowledge follows them home, on their walks in the woods and to the baseball diamond.  Best of all, it’s geared for any level.  It challenges your strengths and strengthens your weaknesses.

Kids classes will stay the same…at GES and The Commons, same days and times.  We will be focusing on technique for the month of April and then apply those skills to some new dances for our in class recital in early June.  We have also been asked to perform a may pole dance for the spring fair so some kids may be involved in that too.  Looking even further ahead, we have been asked to perform at the Theatre festival August 21/22.

Teen dance will continue on Wed. at 5pm to 6:30

Adult ballet will be Monday at 4:30

Pilates is booming!  I am thrilled about that because it so good for the body!  At any level…New classes include a standing pilates class on Tuesday at 5:30-great for building bone density and a beginner class Monday at 3:15. That’s on top of the classes that have already been running since September.  For a full schedule email me (info@maragoldtheatre.com) and I’ll send you one.

As always private Pilates and Ballet classes are available on demand.

“Challenge your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses”

Have a great Month off.  Classes start up April 1st and the spring session will be lots of fun.

In sport as in life, overcompensation in one area weakens another; if you eat too much chocolate, you’ll have no room for veggies, for example. Balance is essential, not only for staying upright on a downhill slope, but also for injury-free functioning throughout regular everyday life. At this time of year the New Year’s resolutions are flying and positive attitudes are in the air. These resolutions often involve love, nutrition, and our physical well being. Perhaps a good way to kill a few of these birds with one stone would be to generalize your resolution. You can do this by resolving to create more balance in your life.

As a fitness professional, I wouldn’t attempt to council you about love but here are a few tips that can help you enjoy more physical balance in your life. (Which may very well help in all other areas!)

Simply put, muscular imbalances can directly affect performance and lead to injury. We need to have balance around our joints, balance between the strength in the upper and lower body, and balance between our abdominals and our back. For example, an imbalance between strong quadriceps and weak hamstrings, short adductors (inner thigh muscles) that limit range of motion and tight calf muscles all combine to place strain on the knee joint. Knee joints take a lot of abuse especially this time of year, as they act as shock absorbers on downhill ski runs, so it is not surprising that the knee is the most common site for injuries in this area. In order to improve your muscular balance and reduce your risk of injury to this joint, you need to strengthen muscles and improve the flexibility (lengthen) of the appropriate muscles and ligaments.

You can do this most effectively with the help of a skilled fitness professional; whether it be a kinesiologist, yoga, pilates or dance instructor.

As a teacher of private and group Pilates and Dance classes I focus on the core as the connector or balance point between the upper and lower body. It is your power centre - when it is weak, you lose vital energy in the limbs and also suffer with a sore back. When it’s strong, you redirect weight out of your knees and align your shoulders thus alleviating neck pain.

Practicing Pilates will educate your mind and body on its proper posture, alleviating back pain and literally helping you to balance which becomes more and more important as you age and falls become a concern.

Whether you’re balancing your chequebook, your diet, your outlook on life or your fitness level, remember to set goals that are achievable and find ways to make them as fun as possible. That’s a sure recipe for success.

Good news for the kids and teens - we’re having a show at the Phoenix in February so don’t miss this session of Ballet, Creative dance and Musical theatre. New for the Adults - Pilates Circuit Training!

If you’re interested in learning more about Pilates and Dance for all ages, check out my web site at www.maragoldtheatre.com or call Gabriola Dance and Pilates at 8538.

                                January, 2010

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the Winter dance session.  As you may already have heard from your child, this is a special session as it will be our first performance session as a dance school on Gabriola.  During the first half of our class time the children will be working on improving their technique during centre time and at the barre and for the second half of the class we will be focusing on their performance piece.  As we only have 6 more classes before the show it is important that all classes are attended.

Mark your calendars.  February 20^th at 2pm is the performance and it will be at The Phoenix Auditorium at The Haven.  Other than their regular class times, extra rehearsals are minimal; there will be a run through on Friday the 19th at 3pm in the multi-purpose room (music room) at The Gabriola Elementary School and there will be a dress rehearsal at 11:00 at The Phoenix Auditorium on Saturday the 20^th.  After the dress rehearsal, kids can go home for lunch and should be back at the theatre at 1:15.

Luckily, costumes are being rented for a minimal fee of $15 a child.  This money will be collected at the run through on Feb 19^th. These costumes are precious and the replacement fee if damaged beyond repair or lost is $200.  Other than that, your child will need to wear their pink dance tights, body suit and most importantly, their pink dance slippers for the show. Hair needs to be tied off their face in a pony tail and all kids should bring their own make up…eye liner, blue shadow and red lip stick with them to the dress rehearsal.  You will be taught how to apply it for stage dance before the dress rehearsal.

Here is the breakdown of the classes for our Winter themed show:

Pre-School dancers will be snowflakes

Kinderdancers will be Puddle Jumpers

Grade 1-2’s will be split between Penguins and Mice

Grade 3-4 will be Skaters

Teens will be Snow Fairies

Finally, the good news is that admission will be a donation of a non-perishable food item to the food bank.  Also, the show will be very short….maybe half an hour.  (It’s a small school!)

If any parents are interested in helping out, I will need a hand at 10am on the day of the show setting up the theatre and again after the dress rehearsal re-setting and again after the show.

Thanks so much!  Miss Mara  250-247-8538  www.maragoldtheatre.com

Monday

: Beginner Pilates 10am

: Adult Ballet 11:00-12:15

Tuesday

: Ballet 6-8 yrs 3:00 (full)

Wed

: Ballet 8-10 yrs 3:00

: Ballet adult beginner 4:30-5:45

: Pilates beginner 6:15-7:15

Thurs

: Pilates beginner 9:30-10:30

: Adult Ballet 11:00-12:15

Friday

: Pre-school dance 10:00-10:30

: Kinderdance 11:30-1

: Pilates Beginner 1:45-2:45 @ Gabriola Elementary School

: Pilates beginner 5:30-6:30