Professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya led a "Dancing with the Stars"-themed class at The Sports Club/LA.
We’re eagerly awaiting the next season of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and love watching the transformation of celebrities into dance floor divas. Ballroom dancers ourselves, we immediately said yes when we were invited to a DWTS-themed class led by the show’s Anna Trebunskaya at The Sports Club/LA.
Hoping to elicit some insider secrets to improve our execution, we attended the one-off session expecting to cha-cha, mambo, tango, boogie and whatever else Trebunskaya could toss our way. Much to our surprise, the class focused on foundational pre-training, featuring the techniques Trebunskaya used to whip her season 11 partner, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, into shape. It was like being in ballet class again, doing barre work and yearning for the chance to just twirl and move. But, as Trebunskaya noted during the hourlong class, dancing is secondary to the basics.
We spent the first 30 minutes pointing and flexing, balancing, pointing and flexing. (Trebunskaya even joked that she should have named her class “Point and Flex.”) To be honest, we found all this foot action boring, but we do recognize that having nimble feet and ankles is essential for perfectly executed steps, so we gamely pointed and flexed away.
Trebunskaya dedicated the second half of the class to floorwork: a mix of ab exercises, side leg lifts and glute lifts combined with — you guessed it! — pointing and flexing. We can see that the routine would help increase endurance and stability in the lower body, which is especially important for dances like the Viennese Waltz, where the drama is below waist level.
Though we didn’t get a chance to show off on the dance floor, we still enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at how DWTS’ contestants prepare.
Have you tried any great dance classes lately? Tell us about it!
