Conditioning your core

“Pilates is for everyone,”she said. “Just about anybody can do it with a little bit of guidance and youcan do it at any age, as long as you get conditioned and slowly learn it. Theway I think about it, it’s a way of life. It’s forever something that you keepworking on and adding to it. It’s a practice. It’s something you can do as longas you can move.”

While many dancers — including Capiaco- Barberio — use Pilates to strengthen their core and improve their dancing, “there is no limit to who can benefit from it,” says Capiaco-Barberio.

“The way I think about it, it’s a way of life. It’s forever something that you keep working on and adding to it. It’s a practice. It’s something you can do as long as you can move.”

Copiaco-Barberio teaches classical Pilates at Old Town in Lansing and has scheduled lectures and demonstrations Saturday and next Wednesday and Thursday. She said the biggest benefit of Pilates is that it strengthens your core.

“If you’re strong in the middle, the better the chances of keeping your balance and being stronger and being able to do things more efficiently,” she said.

Copiaco-Barberio said many instructors have begun to combine Pilates with otherpractices, like yoga or Tai Chi, which she said can cause the form to become“impure and watered down.” Her extensive teaching background, includingteaching at her own Pilates studio in Brooklyn, N.Y., means she knows what tolook for.

“I don’t miss much,” shesaid. “I have a very keen eye for watching the body and how it moves and wherethe movement initiated from, and that is one of my advantages that I offer tomy students.”

“Everyone’s different,” shesaid.

Though everyone can doPilates, it is important to be conscious of the movements they are doing whenpracticing. “You can’t just do it without thinking about what you’re doing,”Capiaco-Barberio said. “There has be to a mind and body connection withPilates.”

Pilates lectures

Pilates Old Town Pilates 1106 N. Cedar, 3rd Floor, Lansing 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 8; 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12; 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, Free (347) 241-8983 www.lansingoldtownpilates.com