After taking ballet class (I have been loving Tiler Peck's Instagram live ballet classes!), I thought it would be fun to do a ballet-inspired workout video! You can do this exercise even if you aren't a dancer - and if you are a dancer, I hope you enjoy it!
I decided to do a port de bras series, because arm movements are very important in ballet. "Port de bras" is the term for arm movements in classical ballet, and they add so much grace and expression to dancing! Even though you don't lift weights in ballet, it involves a lot of holding your arms up and using them to provide force for movements such as turning, so your arms have to be strong to do ballet.
My favorite ballet is Swan Lake - the dances and costumes are so beautiful, and I love the Romantic period of ballet! So I decided to use some music from Swan Lake as the accompaniment for this video. To make this more of a workout, hold a set of light weights, or household items! I chose to hold jars of peanut butter and sunflower seed butter to demonstrate how household items can work for at-home weights, and to make this very "barre and brunch" themed - since I love both ballet and nut butter! You could even do one jar of peanut butter and one of jelly for some PB&J...or PB&Ballet!
(ok that pun only works if you say it out loud because it rhymes, but I thought it was funny)
Here is a video demonstrating this movement. Put on your favorite ballet soundtrack, channel your favorite ballet dancer, and have fun! Try to do this for a whole song - you should definitely feel your shoulder muscles engaging! If you need music suggestions, I love anything by Tchaikovsky - he wrote the scores for Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker as well as Swan Lake!