Exercises Done On A Ballet Dance Bars

By Irda Kadir

The ballet bar allows beginners and novice dancers to do a variety of exercises to improve their posture and steadiness. The bar exercises come in many forms and involve foot and hand work.

As a ballet dancer, having a bar is important when you warm up and practice cardinal routines. The bars come in two varieties. Most traditional dance studios have the older wall mounted bars. These give more stability and poise when you are doing your warm ups.

The cardinal bar exercises are monotonous and extremely slow. This is however their main strength. The exercises help build strength in the dancer's feet and legs. They also help the dancers learn correct dance postures.

If you want to use a ballet bar at home, you should make sure that the height of your bar is at least up to your waist. Most portable bars have adjustable heights to suit the dancer's requirements.

The place you buy your ballet bar is also important. A good idea is to ask ballet studios about their suppliers. You can also ask novice dancers and teachers about their preferences.

Advanced dancers use the bar as partners before they actually dance with a male ballet dancer. The bar is also used to allow dancers to maintain their graceful poses and enhance them through thorough repetition.

When older dancers start doing exercises, the bar in an invaluable companion as it aids them with ankle strengthening exercises. The bar thus helps both beginners and advanced students to maintain their posture and steadiness on their feet.

Most wall mounter bars are made of metal or wood. The portable bars come in myriad colors and metals. It is wiser to choose light weight metallic bars in the portable variety. One must also pay special attention to the finish on both wall mounted and portable bars. The better its finish, the longer the life of the bar. - 31486

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Gym Floor Mats and Gymnastics Mats

Bollywood is an Important Part of Indian Culture

By Sudha Kaviraj

Most people wouldn't even begin to imagine the humble origins of Bollywood. Indian cinema can be attributed to the two great ancient epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata which have provided a solid foundation for much of India's commercial cinema today which is fondly referred to as Bollywood.

Early Indian cinema took on the role of delivering a distinct moral code particularly when the Mahatma Gandhi-led national movement was at its peak. It was unsurprising that most Bollywood directors and screenplay writers were partial to the Gandhian philosophy. Many directors were passionate about making their films a vehicle for messages of social reform.

During Mahatma Gandhi's era, Indian commercial cinema reflected Mahatma's social concerns. Caste based inequalities were tackled in films like Sujata, Acchut and Haasil. Dil Ek Mandir focussed on the oppression of women in family and society. And most prominent perhaps which seems to be most relevant in Bollywood films today is the disparity between rich and poor in films like Pyaasa, Lawaaris and Jaagte Raho.

Now Bollywood is very commercial and as ever before remains an integral part of Indian culture. Just as in the West, many people like to read about the lives of A-list actors in Grazia or Heat magazines; pages brimming with celebrity diets, fitness regimes and DVDs, fans of Bollywood actors and actresses fall over themselves to emulate the lives of their screen icons whether it be their clothes, makeup, dance styles or workout regimes.

In India the trend to copy the lives of Bollywood screen idols is evidentially extreme. The Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor caused a storm when she dropped down to a size zero. Last year, her nutritionist brought out a book detailing Kareena's eating regime which led to her size zero. The foreword of the book was written by Kareena herself, endorsing her size zero diet. Suddenly women in India were obsessed with becoming the ultimate size zero. On Western catwalks the size zero is frowned upon. And it seems bizarre that Indian women once celebrated for their natural fuller figures are choosing to be more willowy and waif like in favour of their European counterparts. - 31486

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Before you choose your hen party, check out this article on Bollywood hen parties and Bollywood hen night.

Ballet Steps Using Ballet Bars

By Sarah Nabila

Ballet is a very tough dance form. A lot of practise has to be put in before one can start performing the basic steps. The most important factors in ballet are the posture and the stance of the dancers.

A typical dancer usually practises to get the correct posture and stance with the help of ballet bars. Using these bars can help beginners to a great extent as it provides a reference for the dancers.

Long screws should be used to fit the bracket on to pieces of wood that is kept on the wall. Brackets should ideally hold barres up to 6 inches in length.

There is a step that which is done with knees bend on two counts. The main important part of this step is the posture of the shoulders and the back which should be straight up.

There are several variations to this step and a beginner should know every variation. This step can be mastered using a ballet bar that can provide support to the dancers. Some ballet moves has eight counts and the knees are fully bent in this case.

Thus the usefulness of the bars are in providing support during exercises and practising the routines when not working with a male partner.

There are several other exercises that can help you develop strength in your feet and ankles. The portable ballet bars comes in handy in such cases as they can be used to for such exercises.

These are some of the important points that should be kept in mind when buying brackets as you do not want to compromise on quality if you want to make your dancing environment conducive for it. - 31486

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Ballet Bar Brackets and Gymnastics Mats

Bollywood is an Important Part of Indian Culture

By Sudha Kaviraj

Most people wouldn't even begin to imagine the humble origins of Bollywood. Indian cinema can be attributed to the two great ancient epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata which have provided a solid foundation for much of India's commercial cinema today which is fondly referred to as Bollywood.

Early Indian cinema took on the role of delivering a distinct moral code particularly when the Mahatma Gandhi-led national movement was at its peak. It was unsurprising that most Bollywood directors and screenplay writers were partial to the Gandhian philosophy. Many directors were passionate about making their films a vehicle for messages of social reform.

During Mahatma Gandhi's era, Indian commercial cinema reflected Mahatma's social concerns. Caste based inequalities were tackled in films like Sujata, Acchut and Haasil. Dil Ek Mandir focussed on the oppression of women in family and society. And most prominent perhaps which seems to be most relevant in Bollywood films today is the disparity between rich and poor in films like Pyaasa, Lawaaris and Jaagte Raho.

In more recent times, Bollywood's appeal has turned commercial. Just as in the West, many people like to read about the lives of their screen idols in Grazia or Heat magazines, in which pages are filled with celebrity diets, fitness regimes and DVDs, fans of Bollywood actors and actresses fall over themselves to emulate the lives of their screen icons whether it be their clothes, makeup, dance styles or workout regimes.

In India the trend to copy the lives of Bollywood screen idols reached fever pitch when the Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor dropped down to a size zero. Last year, her nutritionist brought out a book describing Kareena's size zero diet. The foreword of the book was written by Kareena herself, endorsing her eating regime every couple of hours. Suddenly women in India were obsessed with becoming the ultimate size zero. On Western catwalks the size zero is frowned upon. However, it seems bizarre that Indian women once celebrated for their natural fuller figures are choosing to be pin thin in favour of their European counterparts. - 31486

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Before you register your hen party, read Sudha's article on Bollywood culture

Pilates Reformer Is An Ideal Escape At The End Of A Long Day

By Thaya Kareeson

In this rough world you need to be able to stop and take care of yourself at some point during the day. Stress is available in heavy doses from every angle. It can come from your job, your house, your family, and the list just continues on and on. By investing in a pilates reformer for your house you can be sure that there is always a way for you to retreat from the world, no matter what time of day it is.

Working in an office can be hard on the body. This may seem contradictory at first, but really your back will start to scream at you after sitting in that chair day after day. It does not take long at all for it to become old. Your posture will suffer. You begin to notice more and more how the lack of fresh air is affecting your attitude. Following a long day you will be glad to go home and have a place to relax and escape.

If you have a lengthy commute home, then the ride may not offer you much relief. Backed up traffic can mean that you sit there in the driver's seat for quite a while. This may or may not be as comfortable as your office chair. It all depends on how much you enjoy your car.

At home the daily chores await you. You kept hoping that the dishes would do themselves, but that has not happened. No one came by to rob your home and took out the trash while they were at it, either. As you take the time to put your house back in order it does feel a bit better than sitting at the desk, or behind the wheel. It is still not quite the refresher that you were wanting.

Families are great, wonderful, and loving. Family is there for you in times of need, normally. They also bring a considerable amount of stress. They compete for your attention. They unload their bad day on you, adding to your already bad day. They were taught to share, and share they do, until you really can not handle anymore of their sharing.

Without an escape from all the chaos, you may well be on a one way track for burn out. You will lose interest in your job. You will slack on your home maintenance and chores. You will seem disinterested in your family. Everything may begin to seem bland if you are not proactive in taking some time out for yourself.

Turn off your TV, it will not help you. Do not waste time checking your email, it will be waiting for you when you are done. Turn off your cell phone, nothing is so urgent that you must be found every second of the day. We are sorry if that spoils your feeling of self-importance. Get rid of your distractions for thirty minutes.

Your pilates reformer will be waiting patiently for you. The sophisticated machine will help you to unwind with several pilates poses. This is one purchase you will never regret. You can refuel and refresh yourself so that you are able to go out and deal with the world all over again tomorrow. - 31486

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A Hormone Imbalance: The Reason For Many Different Health Problems

By Thaya Kareeson

A hormone imbalance is most common among women because of the way their body is designed to work. In the first part of a woman's monthly cycle the body produces estrogen, in the middle ovulation results and after ovulation the body produces progesterone in preparation to receive the egg in the event that a pregnancy occurs.

If the woman does not become pregnant, the body stops producing both hormones and she has her period. This process keeps the hormones in balance on a month by month basis. If a woman does not ovulate during the month, then the estrogen is not balanced by the progesterone, because progesterone is only produced when ovulation occurs, and an imbalance occurs.

This is a common occurrence as a woman begins to age. Ovulation slows down and the body fabricates less progesterone which causes the estrogen in the body to rise. This type of problem may begin in very young girls after they have their first period. Other times it is common is after the first child is born or after a tubal ligation. Once this problem begins, other problems begin to multiply.

The brain actually begins to swell when there is too much estrogen in the body. A woman may notice that her hands swell, her breasts are tender, she has headaches and mood swings. The thyroid begins to malfunction which stresses the adrenal glands, which, in turn, causes adrenal fatigue. All of this will create problems such as unexplained weight gain, fatigue, depression, the inability to think clearly, sleep problems and many other health problems.

The entire immune system is affected by a hormone imbalance, and in most cases, the fitness level diminishes considerably. Some women are barely able to function at all. The severe mood swings make it so that no one wants to be anywhere near them.

Interestingly, most women do not see their doctors about this problem because they do not think there is anything wrong. They think it is a problem of just being overworked from trying to care for their husband, home and children and juggle their job at the same time. They, also, have a tendency to think that all women experience the same thing.

When progesterone decreases and estrogen increases, the best way to balance them again is for the woman to use natural progesterone. If not, the symptoms she is experiencing will keep lowering her level of fitness. Once the two hormones begin to equal out, the woman will begin to feel considerably better. She will regain her strength and energy, and she will start feeling completely different.

It is normal when a woman does not notice an immediate change after she starts using a natural progesterone cream. The change usually comes slowly over a three to four month period of time. She will know when the cream is doing its job, because her symptoms will begin to disappear, and she will begin to feel good again. She won't have a problem thinking anymore, she will have a new outlook on life, people will enjoy being around her and she will want to do things again.

It is important for a woman with these symptoms to visit her doctor. Before she goes, she may want to try the natural progesterone cream. If she doesn't see a change in her symptoms after several months, she should have a complete checkup to make sure there is not another underlying problem. - 31486

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Excessive estrogen in the blood affects the brain, causing it to swell. The most common problems a woman faces are breast tenderness, mood swings and even weight gain. We have got the inside skinny on how to lose weight with fat burning foods

How Can I Learn Ballroom Dancing?

By Kinley McFadden

The increased popularity in dance competition shows on television has created a huge interest lately in ballroom dancing. This is a good thing! It is fun and can be easy to learn. That is easy to learn ballroom dancing, not necessarily easy to master! But it is fun learning the dances and can help you get in shape too. Most community centers offer classes and there are numerous tapes and DVD's offering instruction.

Possibly the most well known dance would be the Tango. It is usually performed with a man and a woman and is known for being very sensual. Couples must really connect with the music as well as each other. The pair is often in a close embrace, mainly at the chest or hips while the man leads the woman across the floor.

For a romantic dance, select the waltz. This is usually performed in time featuring very flowing movements. Perhaps you have heard of the 'box step.' This is the fundamental step in the waltz, which basically maps out the dance. It gets its name from the fact that a 'box' is formed with the couple's feet. Picture this: The man steps forward with his left leg, then to the left then back, then to the right. This forms the box. (The woman dancer does the opposite.) This dance can be performed to faster paced music but has recently been done more slowly.

Also a romantic dance choice is the Foxtrot. A slower dance, the steps take two beats of music followed by quick steps that take one beat. From this dance we get 'Slow, slow, quick, quick.' This dance is usually done to big band music but other genres can also be the backdrop.

One of the most fun ballroom dances is the Cha-Cha. The Cha-Cha is of Latin origin and is very high energy. This dance uses five steps per four beats, which is where we get the phrase 'one, two, cha cha cha.' The main characteristic of the Cha-Cha is the many hip movements.

There are other ballroom dances: The Mamba, the Samba and the Salsa to name a few. There are several common features to these styles, but they all have certain qualities that make them all unique. Watching seasoned dancers combine several styles into one performance can be a lot of fun.

If you want to really learn ballroom dancing, watch people in action and follow-up by viewing some DVD's or video tapes at home. But really the best way to learn is by taking classes. This gives hands-on experience that you can't get from videos alone. Take your partner and head off to a class. If you don't have anyone who is interested in going with you, that's no big deal. Classes almost always have others who are going it alone and you can hook up with one of them. Enjoy! - 31486

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Do you want to learn to dance salsa? Then check out the many useful articles on my site to help you learn ballroom dancing.