Well the mid-sized and comfy city of Kansas City, situated practically right smack dab in the middle of America had quite the day yesterday. The Royals baseball team took the crown and over 500,000 people packed downtown Kansas City, parading and ending right in my backyard at the historical Union Station, (which once upon a time was heated/powered by a coal plant housed next door, which after renovation is now the home of Kansas City Ballet) to celebrate their well deserved win. There were many reasons why the Royals world championship win impacted our city besides the Royals first world championship win in 30 years. People are proud here. Proud of where the city is going, proud of where they live, who they support, and where the city is headed. The Royals win couldn’t have come at a better time, giving business owners, school superintendents, and city leaders the excuse to pause their workload for the day and collaborate in the celebration for both the Royals and their city!
My dog Maddie greeting kids resting on the ledge of our apartment window during the Royals celebration!
However, a big crowd like that has to vanish (not so easily), and the neighborhood seems extra quiet today.
So I decided to share with you an exercise for today’s Exercise Show and Tell, which I bet would challenge dancers, and for sure the Royals baseball players. Thank you to my beautiful model, Zoe Stein, who is a trainee for KCB for taking this video.
Steps:
1- Lie Supine (on your back on the reformer). Place your left foot turned out with the ball of your foot on the foot-bar. Place the other foot in coupé front. Be sure to stay in a neutral position, with your abdominals engaged, collar bones wide, shoulders down and your arms resting long to your side of the carriage.
2- Begin your fondú, coordinating both legs equally so both legs straighten at the same time.
3- Flex your working leg foot at the same time you flex the standing foot, lengthening the heal all the way under the foot bar (lengthening away from your hip).
4- Raise your Left heal back into a relevé poistion (heal lifted) while articulating the working leg foot back into plantar flexion (point).
5 – Battement (lowering the right leg on top of the left leg) and returning the leg back to where it just came from.
6- Return back to starting position in step 1.
7- Repeat 3-6 times on each leg. Repetition may vary based on individual needs. Once you feel that you are no longer doing the exercise correctly, it’s time to stop.
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