Here are some snippets from the interview...
Isabel teaching the adult beginners group class
"I started off just teaching friends, one summer,” explains McMeekan. “I retired from The Royal Ballet three years ago. Carlos Acosta let me go and stay in his place in Cuba, so I went there for a holiday, and started teaching two friends of mine who came with me. Everyone was really enthusiastic, it felt great for their bodies. So I set up a class at St Peter’s in Portobello, and it developed from there.”
On stage with Carlos Acosta in Sleeping Beauty, 2006
Backstage at The Royal Opera House during rehearsals with Tom Whitehead for Agitator
How do her classes work? “The Everybody Ballet method is divided into three parts. We start on the floor, doing specific stretching and strengthening work. It’s a culmination of all the experience I’ve gathered from Pilates, gyrokinesis, ballet, stretching. We target specific muscle groups, to strengthen them.
The Everybody Ballet and Golborne Place first retreat this year at La Trasierra, Spain
“Then we get them onto the barre. It’s a gentle barre: plies, tendus… Last, we come into the centre for ports de bras, tendus, jumping and sometimes turning. They’re just blown away by it. They’re also surprised by how mentally taxing it is. It’s like bridge for the body!
Everybody Ballet students at the barre in La Trasierra
With a young, budding ballerina in the Golborne Place studios
What do McMeekan’s adult beginners get from ballet? “It’s a lifestyle thing,” she says. “There’s a real sense of well-being – it’s starting to know how to look after yourself, physically, mentally, nutritionally. There’s a cultural element, they start going to the theatre a lot more!
To see the full interview, click here
For information on Everybody ballet classes, click here
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