Classes in Redondo Beach

Conrad Gallagher has many roles?television personality, restaurateur, and cookbook author, to name a few?but the same passion for cooking that he puts into each of these tasks garnered his restaurant a Michelin star when he was 24, making him the youngest starred chef at the time. He began his training in Ireland at the age of 12, when most other kids are too busy playing games or collecting seagull feathers. Conrad's persistent dedication paid off in the form of numerous awards and accomplishments, including preparing a St. Patrick's Day dinner for President Bill Clinton at the White House. These days, Conrad stretches his talents to other fields, such as menu planning and restaurant development. He also schools laymen in the kitchen with cooking lessons that focus on specific genres, including Italian, French, and seafood. Gift certificates are available for purchase.

Led by professionals in the theater and arts world, Performing Arts Workshops? programs invite children of all ages to explore the magic allure of the stage. They invite kids to play and learn during the school year with afterschool programs that include not only theater and movement workshops but also karate classes, photography classes, and guitar classes. Over the summer, kids can truly immerse themselves in their chosen specialties with camps such as musical theater, magic, and filmmaking.

Center for Health and Fitness's facility spans 17,000 square feet and harbors everything members need to embrace wellness. The cardio space beckons exercisers with Matrix treadmills, stationary bikes, and stair climbers, as well as arm-cranks and seated NuStep elliptical trainers, which go easy on joints and aid in injury rehabilitation. A complete kettlebell set stands out among the abundant strength training equipment, which also includes Hammer Strength machines, free weights, and a squat cage. Functional training equipment is also available, including foam rollers, medicine balls, and Thera-Bands for building giant rubber-band balls. Each of the center's personal trainers and medical exercise specialists boasts a health-related college degree, as well as certifications from the ACSM and other organizations. They teach group exercise to cultivate fitness camaraderie—classes such as belly dance, body sculpt, and cycling are included in basic memberships, and unlimited memberships open up a wide variety of Pilates and yoga sessions on the studio's wooden floors. Instructors also lead classes that focus on meditation, weight management, and nutrition. To reward bodies after a workout or for not spontaneously combusting, massage therapists infuse Swedish kneading with techniques including shiatsu, deep tissue, and reiki. Staffers replenish stacks of freshly laundered towels so members can wick away sweat or towel off after using the locker rooms' showers, stocked with shampoo and conditioner.

For more than three decades, locally owned Spectrum Athletic Clubs have aimed to create a resort-like experience for patrons with upscale perks and personalized care. After workouts, gym-goers can avail themselves of unlimited towel service and change in comfortable locker rooms. Other amenities include saunas, steam rooms, healthy cafes, specialized workout areas, and complimentary Internet access. In addition, racquetball courts let athletes improve their game independently, and patrons can sweat solo on cardiovascular equipment with individual viewing screens. Group classes, more than 1,200 of which are held daily, include Zumba, Pilates, Body Combat, and CXWorx sessions and enable trainees to draw motivation from each other or from each exercise studio's complimentary tank of moxie. The Spectrum Kids Club gives kids a place to play while adults work out and hosts such events as pool parties and pizza parties throughout the year.

A gallery of masterpieces showcases stunningly virtuosic renderings?which are especially impressive considering they were created by kids. While fostering a friendly, cheerful atmosphere, instructors teach classical art skills to classes of up to 12 students at a time. During weekly classes, the skilled instructors demonstrate how to realistically illustrate animals, figures, and still-life scenes using traditional media. "Creativity follows mastery" is the KidsArt philosophy, so they designed the sort of program they imagine the old masters would have approved. Planting graphite sticks and paintbrushes in pupils' hands, instructors teach color mixing, show students how to break an image into its component parts, and instill necessary behaviors such as focus and patience. Programs include individualized drawing and painting lessons and special-topic workshops, such as clay sculpture, figure drawing, and Anime/cartooning.

At the end of a fruitful career that led her from the Cincinnati Ballet to the Sacramento Ballet, Jennifer Williams funneled her dance savvy into creating the barre-inspired exercise system taught at Pop Physique, a 2013 CityVoter finalist for Best Gym. Her fleet of handpicked and personally trained instructors pairs graceful ballet moves with other low-impact exercises in order to chisel cores without injuring muscles. Deep stretches further preserve tendons and leave each student more relaxed than a tortoise moseying past a state patrolman with a radar gun. Sessions run multiple times a day, seven days a week at an expanding network of SoCal locations. The roomy studios are lined with sprung dance floors and design accents that lend each location a distinct personality and a chance to forget its past as a storage room for defective food processors.