Three Groups That Will Help You Get Your Body Moving

Image via bikenewyork.org.

Moving your body reduces the risk of having a heart attack, helps manage your weight, regulates your cholesterol level, and lowers the risk of diabetes and other diseases amongst many other benefits.  And if nothing else, it helps you feel better and find some peace of mind. Don’t we all need a little bit of that right now?

Many New Yorkers are working from home, waiting until 2021 for the vaccine.  Many of us are also teaching from home, studying from home and taking care of our families from home. And if you live in New York City you know that home probably means living in a small apartment - lucky you if you have a balcony or a backyard!

So to help you decompress and unwind from the ongoing pandemic, we invite you to move your body with Bike New York, Brooklyn Ballet and NYSCA Living Traditions. 

And stay tuned! A second part of this guide coming soon will highlight the work of Movement Research, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company and Ballet Tech.

“Dance is another way that humans talk to each other and tell each other stories. To me, it is another language. You get to emotionally show what is in your mind physically, that’s what it would be for me as a language.”

Big Mike, dancer at the Brooklyn Ballet

Bike New York

Increasing ridership and encouraging responsible and safe biking is at the core of Bike New York’s mission. With more accessible bike paths in large cities, combined with the global need for social distancing to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, biking has never been so popular in cities like Paris, Buenos Aires and New York. 

If you are new to cycling, or you are not familiar with the safest way to get around your town, explore Bike New York’s virtual bike education resource hub and consider joining them (once the pandemic is over!) on the Five Borough Ride where participants ride in New York City, one borough at a time, in one day. 

Brooklyn Ballet 

At the heart of Brooklyn Ballet’s mission is the creation of new ballets that challenge conventions and defy expectations. The repertory, guided by Artistic Director Lynn Parkerson, reflects a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach to ballet. Interdisciplinary influences help them extend the form in unique directions, even while rooted in the classical idiom.

“Ballet has huge benefits in a lot of different areas. The training is really something that children respond to, and it’s beneficial for their learning, standing up straight, the verticality. This 400 years old tradition continues to inspire and attract children to it. They really learn how to progress and enhance the things that they are doing, and they are able to become better dancers and they realize how that works, to have discipline and to get that freedom once you have put in the discipline.” - Lynn Parkerson.

Discover Brooklyn Ballet’s classes here.

NYSCA Living Traditions

Living Traditions is an initiative of the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). NYSCA’s Folk Arts Program supports activities designed to sustain local traditions and broaden opportunities for general audiences to experience folklife. It funds non-profit organizations to produce public programs, document traditions, carry out apprenticeships, operate folk arts organizations and engage in statewide initiatives. 

Through NYSC Living Traditions you can approach body movement in your own way, improvising, learning new rhythms, connecting with your inner self and interpreting the sounds of different cultures with respect and joy. Give it try with this rendition of a popular thumri song by Yaad Piya Ki Aaye.

Related articles:

Three Organizations That Are Helping Kids Play Right Now

Brooklyn Ballet - Part 1

Brooklyn Ballet - Part 2

Guidance on Mental Health and Youth from NAMI