Led by Houston Ballet Strength and Conditioning Coach Aki Kawasaki, this series offers in-depth Health & Wellness workshops for dancers, teachers and students ages 14 and up. The 2024-2025 season workshops will help improve your turnout, find better balance, and introduce cross-training exercises such as Pilates and GYROTONIC®. Register now for just $40 per workshop!
Register for all eight Health & Wellness workshops at once and receive an overall discount of $40! Register below and choose the "Package Pricing” option at payment.
Before the Barre, with Aki Kawasaki
Sunday, September 22, 2024 | 3:00-4:30 PM
Did you know that warming up BEFORE class can help you maximize your growth and development? This workshop will help participants develop a personalized warm-up to activate important muscle groups, open and expand their frame and build stamina in preparation for daily class. Proper preparation prevents poor performance!
Activate Your Alignment with Pilates, with Monica Bondi
Sunday, October 6, 2024 | 3:00-4:30 PM
Monica Bondi is a former dancer who fuses her knowledge of the art form with a specialized Pilates approach to help her students achieve length and strength. Workshop participants will learn exercises they can implement into their ballet conditioning program to improve their alignment and facilitate increased strength and mobility.
Total Turnout, with Aki Kawasaki
Sunday, October 22, 2024 | 3:00-4:30 PM
Join us to learn ALL the components of turn out to reach your maximum rotation! In addition to hip strength and stability, participants will learn exercises to stabilize, expand and connect the rib cage, pelvis and feet to find their true turnout potential.
Sore and Tired? Quick Recovery for Dancers, with Aki Kawasaki
Sunday, November 10, 2024 | 3:00-4:30 PM
Dancers spend most of their conditioning on strength, flexibility and stamina. But, to continue to grow and develop, dancers must incorporate rest and recovery into their fitness plans. Learn Yamuna routines to release tension and increase mobility and alignment for improved health and sustainable body function. Yamuna Body Rolling is a self-care method and therapeutic technique, which combines health, well-being and injury prevention.
Strengthen and Lengthen for Stronger Pointe Work, with Aki Kawasaki
Sunday, January 26, 2025 | 3:00-4:30 PM
This workshop is for dancers who are already en pointe, as well as those who are interested in progressing to pointe work. With an emphasis on the intrinsic muscles of the feet and stabilizing exercises for the trunk and legs, workshop participants will learn exercises they can do independently to improve foot shape, leg line and overall stability and balance in ballet.
Introduction to Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), with Mallory Mehaffey
Sunday, February 9, 2025 | 3:00-4:30 PM
Progressing Ballet Technique is a conditioning program using ballet-specific exercises to ensure students are using the correct muscles for ballet steps and positions and helps them develop muscle memory they can transfer to their technique classes. Workshop participants will learn exercises they can implement as part of their class warm-up and use to supplement their existing conditioning programs.
Building Better Balance, with Aki Kawasaki
Sunday, February 23, 2025 | 3:00-4;30 PM
Less is more! Especially when it comes to balancing! Workshop participants will learn how to use less effort to achieve the most efficient and expansive shapes in ballet class. The exercises learned in this workshop will improve body awareness and movement efficiency to help dancers minimize lower leg and foot pain and injuries such as shin splints and tendonitis.
GYROTONIC®: Expand Your Body Awareness and Fluidity, with Beth Everitt
Sunday, March 30, 2025 | 3:00-4:30 PM
The GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® includes the GYROTONIC®, and GYROKINESIS® movement methods. These methods address the entire body, opening energy pathways, stimulating the nervous system, increasing range of motion, and creating functional strength through rhythmic, flowing movement sequences. Workshop participants will learn the principles of the GYROTONIC® expansion system, to find a deeper connection to their body and mind. Exercises in the workshop will help participants find increased range of motion and fluidity in their movement through mat, seated, and standing exercises.
About Aki Kawasaki
Originally from Ibaraki, Japan, Akihiro Kawasaki holds a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As a student athletic trainer, he worked with several sports teams including the national championship winning football team at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC). Kawasaki previously served as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach for Olympic athletes on the national team of Japan. He is currently the head strength and conditioning coach at Houston Ballet and Houston Ballet Academy. Kawasaki holds certifications in Functional Movement Systems (FMS) – level 2, Y Balance Test (YBT) of FMS, Fundamental Capacity Screen (FCS) of FMS, Rossiter – level 4, Yamuna Body Rolling – Face, Feet, Table Treatment and Animal Flow and Spatial Medicine.