The changing of the calendar year always feels like the Monday after a nice weekend. The party is over and you know you should get back to work but it takes a little while to get into it. This past weekend I finally felt into it. i met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in much too long, Eric Zimmer.

I met Eric when he performed for my show a few years back. Aside from looking like—as my sisters sigh it—”Prince Charming,” he is a good souled, generous and kind-hearted man. He also happens to be incredibly talented in many forms of dance, fitness training, pilates, etc. We met up recently to catch up on lives and projects and he told me about his class he was teaching on Sundays at the Center for Movement Arts.. I gave him every excuse I have to avoid exercising. (I hate self-inflicted pain. I don’t like monotony. I don’t need those muscles until I need them.) Eric didn’t waver and assured me that the method of his class was based on his many years over studying physical therapy, dance and psychology. Basically, I had no where to run. So promised to attend.

I always get a little nervous attending a new class. The obvious reasoning is that I don’t know anyone. The less obvious one is that as a professional dancer/choreographer I assume everyone expects me to be spot on and able to do anything thrown my way. So I never want to disappoint them. But Eric welcomed me and set me up at a barre and class was off.

Let me sum it up before getting into details; This class is basic and straight forward, moving quickly from exercise to exercise with intelligent options for varying degrees of difficulty. Within 5 minutes I was sweating and feeling elongated yet strong.

Now for the details: Do you need to know how to dance to take this class? Somewhat. I mean, you start out standing at the ballet barre but this is not advance ballet frappes or tedious repetition of tendus. All of the exercises are focused on the core and go through some ballet-like movements that you you can pick up by looking in the mirror at the other participants. If you have ever (I mean ever) taken just one class in ballet, you’re good to go. Then it’s onto the the mat with some more core work informed by Eric’s certification in Stott Pilates. All of this is conducted with a trained and gentle guidance to achieve your potential. I pushed and found some difficulty in the exercises but I certainly didn’t feel thrown into the fire like many work-out programs do. (P90X, you know who you are.) This is the really good stuff that makes you feel trim and skinny. So good.

Now it’s my understanding that if you want to just come for the exercise portion of the class you may. And it’s a good option since it is a condensed and streamlined approach to long lean muscles. But the second half of the class is when all of that exercise comes to life as Eric takes you through some jazz-based dance routines. It’s pretty straight forward but with enough hooks and changes of weight and direction that it keeps your brain entertained. I love those kind of classes where it takes you a few times across the floor before you figure out the coordination of it. Plus, Eric uses great music and is such a showman that it feels like by the end of the class you’ll be ready for your premiere at the Folies Bergere.

And the kicker? (Pun fully intended) The total of this event is merely $12. That’s unheard of even for Portland’s standard which is nearly $20 for an hour and a half. And true to Eric’s sensible framework, the class is offered every Sunday except the last one of the month so you can get your groove on in bite sized doses. It’s ingenious. Just go. You’ll have a blast, you’ll be challenged, and you’ll feel great. And right afterward, we can all go to the Burgerville down the street.

You can find out more about it on his facebook page.