News archive
-On Sunday, 17 September Pallas will be offering free 'mini-workshops' for children and adults at The International Community Fair in The Hague. For more information please visit: www.thehagueonline.com/feelathomeinthehague
To read articles about Pallas's Ballet Workout and Dance and Ballet Classes for Children, please scroll down:
- Article from "The Hague Times" Feb 10 2006
- Article # 1 from "TheHagueOnline.com" Jan 16 2006
- Article # 2 from "TheHagueOnline.com" Dec 15 2005
Article from "The Hague Times" Feb 10 2006
Article #1 from "TheHagueOnline.com" Jan 16 2006
Stress Reducing Ballet Workout for Non-Dancers
16 January 2006If you dare to do something different, why not come along to try a free introductory ballet workout with Pallas van der Kroft-Sluyter at the ABC Treehut on Thursday 2 February at 12 noon. Today TheHagueOnline is talking with Ms. van der Kroft-Sluyter, dance teacher and creator of Pallas's Ballet Workout. (cont.)
A native of Los Angeles, Pallas has had an extensive and varied career touring the world as a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. Her most recent project is the creation of Pallas's Ballet Workout, designed for men and women with little or no previous training in dance.
Q - TheHagueOnline: Can you tell us something about your workout? Does it require previous experience in ballet? Is it just for women?
A - Pallas: My Ballet Workout is a hybrid of techniques that I've developed for men and women with little or no prior training in dance. The only requirement is a desire to learn.
I would like to emphasize that men are welcome as well as women and encourage men to give it a try. Typically, women are more prone to attend dance classes or yoga classes or to participate in activities that aim at nurturing them.
Men need this, too! My workout is a great way to build strength, stamina and coordination while gently but progressively increasing flexibility. The workout is designed to develop one's musicality and artistry while training one to become skilled in a form of self-expression. As a bonus, there's a marked reduction in tension and stress.
The workout consists of three primary elements:
The first element is classical ballet barre work and stretching techniques, taught in a supportive, "body friendly" style.
Second is correct "placement," or body alignment, which supports a return to organic posture. (If you observe babies from the time they can sit up on their own, you'll notice their posture, which is naturally erect, gorgeous, yet relaxed.)
The third element is consciously directed use of the breath, which creates a state of relaxed invigoration and produces a myriad of benefits too numerous to mention here.
I have great respect for anyone who is willing to show up and give the Ballet Workout a try. I understand that starting to learn classical ballet (or any new skill, for that matter) in one's adult years really takes guts. So I do my best as a teacher to be supportive and encouraging while pushing students to levels they might not know they're capable of. One of the pitfalls of adult education is that students tend to expect too much of themselves. Intellectually they understand the exercises perfectly, but the body needs time to practice and train to catch up with the mind . . . so I'm here to encourage any willing subject to DARE TO DANCE!
Q - TheHagueOnline: How is it that your Ballet Workout is effective in reducing stress?
A - Pallas: That's a good question. All the elements of the workout combined produce a stress-reducing experience. Simply put, the pleasurable experience of dancing, the finely tuned balance of intense training and the deeply relaxing stretching exercises are all supported by the continuous, deliberate, consciously directed use of the breath.
One of my students volunteers her own experience with Pallas's Ballet Workout:
"Having just moved to The Hague, and having had all the stress of settling in with two young children on my own, without my previous networks and support systems, I didn't know how I was going to manage. My daughter started attending Pallas's ballet classes for children, and I started attending her Ballet Workout for adults. In just a few weeks I felt my whole attitude change. Not only did the effect of one and a half hours per week show almost at once in my posture, my muscle tone and my physical fitness, but I also felt more focus, more balance and more enjoyment in life. Going to classes with Pallas has been a remarkable tonic for me at a time of high stress at work and at home. It has helped me to cope, to see myself differently and to remember how it felt to be young and fit, with muscles in all the right places. The classes are enjoyable: relaxed and hard work at the same time. I really recommend them. Better than any amount of more abstract 'self-development' activities, retreats and that kind of thing."
- Helen H.
Q - TheHagueOnline: Does your Ballet Workout help one to become more adept in other forms of dance?
A - Pallas: Yes, absolutely, yes! It's well known that ballet is the basis for becoming skilled in all forms of dance. Anyone interested in learning ballroom or salsa dancing could truly benefit from the Ballet Workout.
All of the best ballroom dancers have trained extensively in ballet. Training in ballet is really the best supplement for improving one's performance quality in all dance styles.
Dance . . . if you dare!
Free introductory Ballet Workout (and birthday celebration...please join Pallas for soft drinks and cake) Thursday 2 February at 12 noon at the ABC Treehut; Lange Poten 23 in The Hague.
Ten-week class series at the ABC Treehut; a lunch hour Ballet Workout Thursdays from 12 noon to 1 p.m., starting on 9 February.
Eight-week class series at the AWC of The Hague in Scheveningen on Friday mornings starting on 3 February.
Workouts can be scheduled by appointment for groups, businesses or privately.
Ballet classes for children are held on Tuesday afternoons in the Statenkwartier.
For detailed information about class times, locations and registration, email: info@pallas-dance.com or call 070-363 39 10. website www.pallas-dance.com
Please R.S.V.P. (via the contact numbers above) if you will be attending the Ballet Workout/ birthday celebration on 2 February.
If you wish to comment or express an opinion about this article please e-mail the editor@TheHagueOnLine.com.
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Article #2 from "TheHagueOnline.com" Dec 15 2005
"New Dance Teacher on the Block"
15 December 2005Today Pallas van der Kroft-Sluyter, dance teacher and creator of Pallas's Ballet Workout is talking to TheHagueOnLine.
Born and raised in Los Angles, Pallas has had an extensive and varied career touring the world as a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher. Her most recent project is the creation of Pallas’s Ballet Workout, designed for adults with little or no formal dance training. (cont.)
TheHagueOnLine: What exactly is Pallas’s Ballet Workout? Does one have to have some experience in ballet to practice this? How is it different from, say, conventional fitness or aerobic dance classes?
Pallas Van der Kroft-Sluyter: My ballet workout is a hybrid of techniques developed for adults with little or no formal training in dance. The only requirement is a desire to learn! The workout is designed to build strength and flexibility, develop proper body alignment and promote conscious and efficient use of the breath, thereby reducing stress and increasing vitality. Inherent in the workout is the possibility to develop one’s musicality, artistry and self expression, which is certainly quite different from aerobics or fitness training. Aerobic dance tends to build slightly bulkier muscles, whereas ballet workout builds longer, leaner muscles.
My ballet workout consists of three primary elements. The first element is classical ballet barre work and stretching techniques taught in a ‘body friendly’ and supportive style.The second element is correct ‘placement’ or in layman’s terms, body alignment, which supports the body in returning it to its organic posture (if you observe babies from the time they are able to sit up on their own, you should notice their posture which is naturally perfectly erect, gorgeous and yet relaxed). So I do not teach the old school style of classical ballet placement, which is very ‘pulled up’ and, in my opinion, tends to minimize rather than maximize the full benefits of conscious breathing.
The third important element of the workout is the consciously directed use of the breath, which creates a state of relaxed invigoration and produces a myriad of benefits too numerous mention in this forum!
The fitness and aerobic aspects of the workout are built right in to the barre work.
TheHagueOnLine: Pallas, you have a lot of experience in teaching ballet to kids. How can you tell if a child is gifted? At what age can children be introduced to ballet classes?
Pallas Van der Kroft-Sluyter: I can usually spot a gifted child from the very first plié. It’s truly amazing. It’s as though they already know it before they’ve been taught it. Their little hands and feet go into the perfect aesthetic positions. It’s so beautiful, and exciting for me as a teacher to work with such children. Children can be introduced to ballet or ‘pre-ballet’ at around the age of four.
TheHagueOnLine: Ballet has a traditional image of being a "girlie" kind of exercise. Can ballet be fun for boys, too?
Pallas Van der Kroft-Sluyter: Ballet can most certainly be fun for boys! I’ve had several little boys (including my own two) in my dance classes for children, and they participated with great pleasure. However, somewhere between the ages of six and seven, peer pressure and the sense of gender roles which the kids are bombarded with from society and the media, sadly, seem to have great influence. Breakdancing and ‘street jazz’ seem to hold more appeal for little boys. The irony is that although ballet appears to be ethereal, it is as tough as any top sport, if not more so. Actually, a ballet class is a great way for a boy to be surrounded by a flock of pretty girls, so perhaps when they get bigger… In fact, my husband and I met dancing together in a small dance company here in The Hague and the rest is history.
TheHagueOnLine: What ballet and dance schools in The Hague would you recommend? Are there ballet classes taught in English in The Hague?
Pallas Van der Kroft-Sluyter: There are a number of very good ballet schools and dance studios scattered throughout The Hague and the surrounding areas. Most of the classes are taught in Dutch and I believe there are also a couple of classes offered in English and in French. My dance classes for children are taught in English and in Dutch.Pallas’s dance classes for children are held on Tuesday afternoons in the Statenkwartier.
Pallas’s ballet workout for adults can be scheduled by appointment for groups and companies, and a new class series of eight weeks will start in February at the AWC of The Hague on Friday mornings in Scheveningen.For detailed information about the classes you can contact Pallas directly at info@pallas-dance.com or call 070-363 39 10.
If you wish to comment or express an opinion about this article please e-mail the editor@TheHagueOnLine.com.
