Guest Teacher- Jillian Michaels

On March 21st, 2012, our class had the pleasure of having a guest instructor, Jillian Michaels.  Ofcourse with the absence of Mr. Plotch's therapeutic bar exercises and regular routines, I was eager to see what new styles and exercises Ms. Michaels had planned. During class we executed normal routines in her particular style of ballet as she critiqued and gave advice. The exercises really worked on strengthening the calf muscles and helped greatly for warming up. After various barre exercises Ms. Michaels allowed us to have an individual stretch period and then introduced a pirouette exercise. This exercise really showed the class the importance of the arms and how to use them during turns. She then taught us combinations that included movements that we learned in previous classes, such as glissade, pas de bourre  and pas de chat. Ms. Michaels style and choice of combinations allowed for an interesting and satisfying experience. Her uplifting spirit and clever tricks to making movements appear easy reminded me of my passion and potential for ballet. I thoroughly enjoyed her class and would love to have a class with her again!