Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Alison Carroll
Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more. Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl Ng up on Instagram or Facebook!
Name: Alison Carroll (@allyxcarroll)
Occupation: Co-founder of BalletBody
Age: 31
Diet: I don’t follow a specific diet, but I do tend to listen to my body. Some weeks I crave more meat and I’ll listen to my body and its needs, other weeks I might crave more of a plant-based diet and will follow that.
Training: I teach a lot at BalletBody and teaching is almost a workout itself from having to demonstrate so much. I try to take a different instructor’s BalletBody class every now and then to have some me-time and to be on the other side of the room rather than always leading.
How did you get started in ballet?
I started ballet when I was four years old, and stopped dancing professionally about two years ago. My parents put me in ballet because I was a rather shy child, and they thought signing me up for ballet classes would help me express myself in a different way. I fell in love with it and haven’t stopped since.
Did you do any other sports?
Nope, it’s always been ballet. Taking on ballet professionally is not for everyone; you have to be strong mentally and physically from a young age, and know that this is what you want as a career. It means you have to sacrifice a lot of time for training and that leaves you with almost no time for any other sport.
How was your professional dance career like?
I danced professionally for almost eight years. We trained about eight hours a day for five to six days a week; seven days a week during performance weeks. A typical day starts at about 9.30am with technique class, followed by rehearsals for upcoming performances. It can get rather challenging physically and mentally, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
What were some of the highlights of your career?
I would say there were definitely highlights in every production I danced in. I really enjoyed being on stage, even though I would get nervous before going on stage every single time, and I tried to enjoy every role given to me.
What made you decide to quit dancing professionally?
I felt that I had already done all the roles I wanted to dance, thus I wanted to leave at my peak and not because I had to (due to age or injury, for example).
How did you come up with BalletBody?
When my business partner and I decided to start BalletBody, we had both just left the ballet company we were dancing in together. We had taught both fitness and ballet classes, and took our Pilates teacher training certificates too, but couldn’t find anywhere in Singapore that taught the kind of classes we wanted to teach and take. That’s how BalletBody was born.
It is a workout created by professional ballet dancers but caters to anyone of all fitness levels with or without any dance background. We started by renting a small studio by the hour, just teaching a few classes a week between the two of us to test the market. Fast forward almost a year, and here we are with our own studio near the CBD (Central Business District), with a team of ballet-trained instructors. We are extremely grateful and excited to see where BalletBody takes us.
What are some of the misconceptions about BalletBody?
That it is only for people who have done ballet before. Our classes are catered to all levels, be it a complete beginner or a seasoned dancer. Another misconception is that ballet is only for women. We do have men coming for classes and we would love to see more – ballet is such a great way to keep fit, strong and flexible, as well as a great complement to gym workouts, running and HIIT (high-intensity interval training).
What are the objectives of starting BalletBody?
We get a lot of people coming and telling us that our classes have them reliving their childhood ballerina days. It’s great to hear as a lot of people want to get back into ballet but a full classical ballet class can be quite intimidating and long (a typical ballet class is about 1.5-2 hours long). Our classes are 60 minutes long and we cover the structure of a traditional ballet class, with wrist weights to work your upper body and a Pilates mat section to focus on the core. We put together what a dancer would train like; for example Pilates and the wrist weights are used often in our daily training to prevent injuries and to strengthen and focus on specific muscle groups. Hence our tag line – Train Like A Dancer.
What are the benefits of BalletBody and why should people try it?
Firstly, try something new! There are so many of the same type of fitness classes out there. BalletBody is rather unique, so why not give it a go? Ballet requires a lot of discipline and mind-body connection, plus it’s a great way of keeping fit, strong and flexible.
What are your fitness goals now?
I don’t have specific fitness goals right now – moving my body has been a huge part of my life since young and it’s something I want to carry with me into my older years.
When did you feel the least confident about yourself?
I guess I would say in my teenage years. Like most teenagers, I think it’s common to go through that. During my professional dancing years it wasn’t easy either. Imagine having to stand in front of a mirror in the training studio for eight hours a day and constantly working on technique and striving for perfection.
But I guess that’s the beauty of professional ballet. That’s something I’ve overcome now and have learnt to embrace my imperfections because that’s what makes me, me! I also think that, as I’ve got older, it’s easier for me to be less critical of myself and to just enjoy whatever journey I’m on.
Do you get any comments about your body?
I used to be thinner when I was dancing full time and would often get comments like, “Do you eat?” The answer is, “Yes, I eat lots.” Dancing full time is extremely physical and eating lots is needed for the amount of energy and calories we burn on a daily basis.
