Friday March 29th, 2024
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Get Your Fitness Up to ‘Barre’ with Aya Galal’s Barre Bootcamps

Ready for the #barreburn?

Staff Writer

For all you dance and Pilates lovers, the 'Barre' has been raised by Egypt’s own Aya Galal, one of the few Barre instructors in the country. Following the huge success of her classes in Sahel this summer at The Studio, Hacienda in July and Stamina Sports & Fitness, Diplo in August, the Dubai-based athlete is now planning both local and international Barre Bootcamps.

Originating in Germany, Barre uses ballerina exercises with a Pilates-ethic and has emerged as international fitness movement and culture. Giving ballet a Pilates twist, the total body workout is known for its engaging music, for being low-impact, and for working on the intrinsic layers of your muscles.

Incorporating Pilates’ 30 positions and using resistance bands, lightweights and bodyweight, all classes are open-level and beginner-friendly, offering modification and progression. “The keyword here is modification," Galal told CairoScener. "If you can’t do a full plank, you’ll do one on your knees, etc. Classes are never really that big, and that gives the instructor the chance and time to correct and posture-inform so that no one goes into pain and injury."

Often used for physiotherapy and rehabilitation, injuries during practice are very unlikely to occur and it’s all about the focus on proper alignment and form, making one constantly body-aware and controlling their movements to the sound of the music. The choreographed classes ultimately improve strength, mobility, flexibility and alignment all at the same time.

Not your typical ballet-centric Barre class, Galal adds a lot of intensity and variety to control the low-impact movements, and broke records after selling out her Sahel classes in matter of minutes upon releasing her schedule.

“Barre is the perfect mix between everything I love. I’ve always wanted to be a ballerina but I never got the chance to study dance,” Galal said. She started to teach two years ago, but has been practicing sports ever since she was little.

Zumba is all about high-intensity dance, Barre leans towards more informed, engaging ballet.

Fun hashtags by the Barre community include #barrebabes, #barresohard, #barrehumor #barreaddict and #barreburn.

For more, you can go to @chronicles_of_an_80s_child.