Guest
Yanis Marshall a la barre. A new era for heels training. I am very excited to be finally able to introduce you to my brand new program «Yanis Marshall à la barre». This is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some years now but I just didn’t feel strong enough. Well, this day has come and I feel very confident and strong about it! As many of you know heels is still a very new dance style! I mean I remember when I started teaching heels classes 12 years ago, we probably were something like five teachers worldwide to teach heels!!! Today it’s everywhere and as great as that is I also wish that it would be a little less about the sexual side of heels and a little more about the beauty of the body’s line… And that is why I strongly feel what I’ve created here is something that was missing. If you know anything about me then you would know that my love for ballet is beyond anything else and that I myself, come from ballet training so for me it was just a matter of time before I would pair both worlds together! I created this 10 minutes choreographed heels barre warm-up because I strongly believe that is what is needed today, in the heels community. Nowadays, many dancers think that they are advanced dancers and when I meet them in person, I can assure you that what I see is an intermediate level. Therefore, this new way of training will actually get you to the next level. Now, I’d like to talk a little bit about what went through my mind while creating it. I wanted it obviously to have some proper ballet positions and techniques but it was really important to me that it didn’t look like a parody. I had to find a way to keep it sexy yet still include the heels technique in it! In this 10 minute warm-up, you literally are warming up every muscles of your body, right and left! From pliés, to sitting on the hip, to rond de jambes, to isolations, to the adage, to floor work, to grand battements and even a little booty twerk moment. I mean the only thing missing at this point would be jumps!! It was really important for me, at this stage of my career, to be able to call something mine! I for sure have made across the floor training very popular these last few years with @yanismarshallheelsintensive but it’s not something I could call properly mine because it has been done before. This is mine! My biggest wish would be that even when I’m gone, one day, this continues to exist just like Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse… I really wish this could be bigger than me and stay timeless—throughout many generations. Lastly, I would like to thank the four incredibly talented artists who agreed to bring my vision to life. A choreographer is nothing without his dancers so thank you very much for trusting me as I know, this was not easy! I really hope that you will appreciate this. I've worked so hard on it! Love Yanis xx
