It's not Pilates and it's not barre: Nashville is getting its first ballet fitness studio

It’s not Pilates and it’s not barre: Nashville is getting its first ballet fitness studio

Posted by author October 14, 2024 Fitness

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Body & Ballet Collective will offer full-body workouts designed for — and mostly taught by — Nashville Ballet performers.

It’s not Pilates core training and it’s not barre lower body/core workouts, both of which have elements of ballet dancing.

Instead, Nashville is about to get its first ballet fitness studio, Body & Ballet Collective, in the Music Row area.

The ballet fitness studio — which offers full-body workouts with dance moves that ballerinas use — is a concept so young on the fitness scene that owners think the new Nashville space is the first in the South and among the first five in the U.S.

“Ballet’s been around for more than 700 years, but nobody’s really thought to bring this to the public,” said Body & Ballet Collective founder Melissa Chera, a longtime Music Row song publisher who was a ballerina as a child.

Well, not nobody. There are a handful of ballet fitness studios in the U.S., including one each in New York and California.

But Chera’s is believed to be the first opening in the South. And she is upping the ballerina cred for her place by using Nashville Ballet company performers, current and former, to teach most of the classes and private lessons at the studio at 702 18th Ave. S., just yards away from the exclusive bar The Patterson House.

Sarah Galinski, 21, one of the former Nashville Ballet performers who’ll be leading classes at Body & Ballet Collective, said she’s excited to spread her love of ballet to non-performers.

“I loved the reach for everyone and not just ballerinas themselves,” she said.

“I’ve wanted to share ballet with the world! It’s very hard to do that because it’s its own art form. So I love how [Chera] is reaching normal everyday people and bringing them joy in the movement and in having a great work out.”

Those workouts don’t come cheap — monthly packages start at $192 and go up to $315 for unlimited classes. (Classes are limited to 10 participants each.) An online check reveals those monthly prices are about $50 to $100 more than some barre studios in Nashville.

Classes launch Monday, Oct. 14. The studio is offering one free class to newcomers.

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.