Party, party, party!...

Jericho House along with dancers from the Royal Ballet, the American choregrapher Austin McCormick and his assistant Laura Careless of Company XIV invite one and all to Wilton's Music Hall for a Masque Ball!

The evening is to raise money for the theatre company Jericho House and to provide a platform to explore the dynamics between dance and drama.  The idea is to re-create as closely as is entertainingly possible the Masque Ball of the 17th century.

Guests will enjoy a Baroque inspired feast followed by a performance that weaves through their tables. It's an incredible opportunity to be up close and personal with the artists. There will also be live music on period instruments.

Tickets £175 / Tables £1,800 (12 pax)

R.S.V.P Leonora Wood at leo@jerichohouse.org.uk

07876 403 648

Monday, Monday....

It's a beautiful Monday morning here on Golborne Road today. Spring is in the air and the street is full of wonderful trinkets and unusual furniture. The perfect day for a wander down the Golborne Road...

Happy Valentines!!...

We are very happy to be selling some beautiful handmade cards by women in Nicaragua this week. We have some sweet Valentine's cards but they could be used for any special occasion. The women who makes these cards are living on one of Latin America's largest rubbish dumps, La Chureca. All the cards are made by recycling waste paper by hand with The Earth Education Project.

The women are learning skills to build their own businesses in their community. We hope that by purchasing one of these cards you will be empowering women in one of the world's poorest countries to develop new skills and in turn build a future and lift their families out of poverty.

For information on this project go to: www.eartheducationproject.org

For all the ballet lovers...

It seems we are having a ballet themed week for the beginning of February!

The Finals of the Prix de Lausanne 2011 will be broadcast live on the web this year.
Don't forget the date and time: Sunday the 6th February starting at 3pm CET.


If you have never heard of this event the Prix de Lausanne is an international competition for young dancers of all nationalities aged 15 to 18 who are not yet professionals. 

Here's the link:
http://lausanne.streamakaci.com/


And if the amazing dancers inspire you to move take a look at the Everybody Ballet post below.

Everybody Ballet!...

A very good friend of Golborne Place, the beautiful Isabel McMeekan, has been passing on her ballet knowledge to the people of W10 and giving those who thought they could never dance the spirit and ability to enjoy movement and improve mind and body.

Everybody Ballet provides ballet classes for anyone and everyone, no previous training is necessary, just the enthusiasm to do something different.

Isabel creates carefully structured classes drawing upon elements of classical ballet combined with specific stretching and core strengthening work, leaving the body and mind feeling worked, invigorated and extended.

 “Everybody Ballet has transformed my life and is in the process 

of transforming my body! Isabel’s teaching makes the classes fun and

 inspirational. No one should be nervous about starting ballet at 

any age or shape….pure and simple.”    Clare Beresford

For more info and to get involved check out the Everybody Ballet website....http://www.everybodyballet.com/

Introducing Benji Vize Harrington...

We are very happy indeed to be welcoming Benji to our team at Golborne Place!

Benji is starting this week and joining our very experienced group of Pilates teachers here.

Formerly a student of the London Contemporary Dance School, Benji has since gone on to perform as a dancer in many stage and television shows. He then went on to become a fitness instructor teaching dance, aerobics and Pilates and worked abroad in Italy for 6 years combining and developing his experience. Since his return to the UK he has completed a year’s Pilates teacher training course with Alan Herdman and is currently working with rehab, general fitness and fine tuning the professionals.

Benji’s hours in the studio are:

Thursdays: 2pm - 8pm

Fridays: 5pm-8pm

Ahh Monday...

Monday morning at the Golborne Place studios and clinic involves catching up on emails and voicemail, preparing the Pilates and Gyrotonic studios for the week ahead, playing with the visual merchandising of our gorgeous ‘Freddy’ clothing line and filling the shelves with teas and the bowls with fruits...a few snaps from a chilly Golborne Road this morning...

I love the coconut heads collection at the adorable fruit market on Golborne Road where I picked up a huge bag full of clementines this morning. Yum.

And these mini mini chairs outside Arbon Interiors made me smile...

Refer a friend...

We love our clients here at Golborne Place very much and to thank them for being such a pleasure to teach and work with AND to help spread the word of Golborne Place we have opened our ‘Refer a Friend’ scheme....

Next time you’re in the studio please take one of our ‘Refer a Friend’ postcards from reception. Pop your name and the name of the person you want to share Golborne Place with on the card and receive 50% off your next class or therapeutic treatment! Not only that, in doing so you will be giving your friend a very special gift too: 50% off their first class or treatment!...Now don’t say we never spoil you! 

2011 is the year of positive emotion. So spread that positivity with the gift of body and mind conditioning! 

"The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power." Joseph Pilates 1939

Many people think that Pilates is a recent fad, made popular by Hollywood stars. However, it originated from an exceptionally forward thinking man called Joseph Pilates who was born in 1880 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

As a child Pilates suffered from Asthma, Rickets and Rheumatic fever. His illnesses prompted him to study both Eastern and Western forms of exercise and to become a competent skier, diver and gymnast. Pilates moved to England in 1912 where he earned a living as a boxer and self-defence trainer for the police force.

In 1914 after World War I broke out, Pilates was interned in a camp for enemy aliens in Lancaster. Whilst he was interned Pilates taught self-defence and boasted that his students would come out of the camp stronger than ever before. Pilates was transferred to another camp on The Isle of Man where his interests in health led him to assist the sick. Becoming something of a nurse he designed exercise apparatus for immobilized patients by attaching springs to hospital beds after being told 'You can do anything you like with them, as long as they stay in bed". Working with many internees suffering from illness and incarceration he rigged the springs from the beds to the bed posts to create an exercise apparatus (hence the appearance of the 'cadillac' that you see today in Golborne Place).

His observations and work here were to form the foundation for his style of body conditioning that are now popular today and also very efficient. Once the war was over he returned to Germany to continue his work in devising a physical programme. In 1925 the German government asked Joseph to start training the German army, but instead, he emigrated to New York. On the boat trip to America he met his future wife Clara and together they established a studio in New York to teach and share his knowledge and fitness programs.

Pilates’ studio quickly became popular with the dancing community as it offered them a chance to recover from injuries and improve and strengthen their technique. However it wasn't until the late 80s when the Pilates boom began. Joseph called his approach to fitness and well-being 'Controlology' but the public took on the name of 'Pilates'. 

At Golborne Place our clients sing the praises of their journey with Pilates. Offering an intelligent movement the Pilates exercises gives the body strength, alignment and tone assisting in the recovery from injuries and remedying backaches, RSIs and poor posture. 

ROOM London...

One of our dedicated Pilates students, Aideen Morgan, has recently joined the team at ROOM in Shoreditch and they had their first exhibition opening last week under her leadership. I managed to pop down to see the show of recent graduate Diana Taylor; if you’re in the Hoxton area make sure you take a peek...

'Dropping', Diana Taylor

http://www.roomartspace.co.uk/