Element: Ballet Conditioning with Elise Gulan

An intense lower-body workout that incorporates a variety of ballet-inspired movements. It's designed to give you the long, lean body of a dancer by working deep into every muscle. Elise Gulan's one-on-one, voiceover cuing makes it easy to follow. She's both ballet-authentic and non-intimidating (e.g. “we'll do a series of battements; that's French for big kicks'”).

The exercises incorporate familiar classics: pliés and tondues, port de bras and rond de jambes. But, each sequence also includes lots of subtle variations — tempo changes, movement progressions, pulses and holds. The short cardio segment is an intense series of fast-moving kicks, jumps and “plyo-pliés.” Beautiful outdoor garden setting. Requires a high back chair.

Ballet dancers always have slender bodies that are both strong and lean with lovely proportion and gorgeous body lines. One of the greatest secrets to a dancer’s body is ballet conditioning, which focuses on all muscle groups. In this unique program, shot on a breathtaking location overlooking the Pacific Ocean, your muscles will work smoothly in unison to create a long, streamlined silhouette with flat abs, a lean lower body and beautifully defined curves. Moving gracefully and fluidly through this series of exercises, you will strengthen and stretch your way to a dancer’s body.

Elise Gulan has over 18 years in dance education including Ballet, Pointe, Tap, and Jazz. She was a principal soloist for the Virginia Ballet Company where she danced for seven years appearing in production such as Copelia, Swan Lake, and Nutcracker Suite. She brought her love of expression through movement to her new career as a certified personal trainer and instructor of Yoga, Core Fusion and Core Energy Flow. Elise enjoys helping her students to find their inner strength and to energize their joy of life through physical and mental fitness.