Meet Dorian!

So Dorian is our wunderkind , a breath of fresh air. His classes make you fly and have you feel like you were born a dancer, a hip hop artist even. He is classically trained in various dance techniques including ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop. He is ONE to watch, learn a bit about him! 

How do you relax?

-Easy! A couple of ballet bar combinations to a series of Adele songs, bliss! Stretching the muscles and expanding the mind.

How do you rev up?

-Loud music! I recommend everyone find a theme song, you can't help but feel energized when your anthem is blaring. 

What fashion item can you not live without?

-Cut up T-Shirts! 

Go to healthy snack?

-A banana and a slice of toast with Nutella (Yum!).

Fave indulgence?

-I'm a total gamer! Modern Warfare 3 on the Playstation is my addiction. Who would've guessed?!

What do you like about teaching at MaZi!?

-More like what DON'T I love about teaching at MaZi! Seeing people's appreciation for music and movement and the sharing of such positive energy in class is by far my favorite aspect that MaZi has to offer. The community established in the studio is rewarding even outside of it, and I love that I get to be a part of it. 

Song that keeps you going?

-Faith by Dawn Richard, a song about being able to make it through adversity because there are those who have faith in you :)

Fun fact?

-I have a fond appreciation for writing and reciting poetry. I'd also love to hear from any poets we may have at MaZi! 

#1 Fitness tip?

-When taking your body through dance movements, making sure you give a full range of motion (deep into lunges, far into stretches, and topped with full energy) maximizes your workout and increases your stamina. Sweat is your friend!

xo

-Zi

Ballerina Finishing School Series: Posture

Stand up straight! You've heard it before...... But why should you bother?

Physiologically speaking, good posture is essential for proper breathing, keeps your spine happy and core engaged. But let's talk about what is more tangible: looking good!

If you stand up straight you will be forever young (poor posture significantly ages you), you will appear leaner and more confident, which is attractive in any situation. Whether you are at a work function, meeting a new people, or out on a first date projecting confidence and presence are key!

The strength classes at MaZi really focus on developing an intuitive posture. All the technical things you work on in class will become second nature and you WILL start carrying yourself differently. We recommend any of the Ballerina Bum classes & Intro to Ballet.


Some of our favorite posture enhancing exercises to do while out and about are:

-Towel-arch stretch: Grab a medium-sized towel and hold both ends, starting a bit wider than shoulder width. Hold the towel out in front of you with your arms outstretched. Now gently swing the the towel over your head going a bit wider if you need to in order to take it all the way behind you creating an arch and bringing it back and forth from back to front. Keep breathing, try to lengthen your neck and open your chest. Try doing this about 10 times each way and you will really feel the stretch throughout your upper body creating length.

- Discreet standing abs: Anytime you are standing or sitting, think about opening your chest, drawing your shoulders into your back, lengthening your neck from the back and pulling your abs in and up. Play around with the counter activation in your muscles and think of continuously spiraling upwards from your core. If you do this correctly, your abs will start get achy as when you do an ab series and you will instantly start breathing better. Better breathing is underrated, but you will find that when you breathe properly you release tension, feel more alert & it's helps your metabolism (oxygen is THE key in burning calories as it converts them into energy).

-Zi

Protect your Pretty Face!

So we all try to protect our face in Ballerina Fight Club, but recently Cassie, a dear MaZi dancer, asked us how we keep our faces clear despite working out as much as we do and we have to say we were a bit surprised because we do breakout but thought it was a great question!

Oily skin -Zi

I have oily skin so what has worked best for me is to wash my face BEFORE I sweat all over it. Then after class, I just rinse it with cold water but don't wash it with soap again so that I don't over dry and send signals to my oil glands that they need to go into overdrive and produce more oil. I do this in addition to cleansing it in the AM and PM.

Cleansers that have really worked for me are: Clinque's face soap $12 (mild formula in winter, and oily formula in summer) or Biore's 4 in 1 detoxifying cleanser $8.  

Since it's not convenient to carry your cleanser all the time, some great options for cleansing before your work-out are:
Amore Pacific Treatment Cleansing Tissues $40
Olivella Cleansing Tissues-$7

Dry skin- Ma
I started breaking out recently and therefore washed my face more but my issues only got worse.  I commented my concerns to Jenn Dies form Golden Girl Chicago and she suggested aloe,  and Ceravae to balance out my skin’s natural pH balance.  I feel it has significantly helped thus far, and my breakouts are under control.
Since my skin gets so dry in cold weather, I needed something that would gently cleanse and hold my skin-nourishing oils.  I was cleaning my skin with harsh chemicals that were drying it even more causing my skin to produce too much oil.   Now, I wash my face just once a day with moisturizing products.  We will see how this works in the summer, I might have to switch to Zi's routine.  :)

Whatever type of skin you have, it is always a tricky balance when you are working out regularly and also having to protect it from the sun. Favorites are super light sunscreen: La Mer SPF Protecting Fluid $70 & Neutrogena Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen (up to 110 SPF!) $9.

For personalized skin care questions or concerns we recommend a consultation with Jenn or someone on her team at goldengirlchicago.com, they're amazing!

-Zi & Ma