Things To Do In San Fernando

Led by co-owners with backgrounds in professional dance, the experienced instructors at Pilates Studio City cultivate carved torsos with exercises that target the core. During personalized private sessions, pupils to bend into Pilates poses or the shape of their own initials atop a mat and sliding equipment such as the Reformer, Cadillac, and Wunda chair. Teachers also divide their attention among students of all levels during group classes, which range from Level 1 mat sessions to dynamic Nia workouts. Nia blends elements of dance, martial arts, and the healing arts into a series of 52 movements that rotate from session to session to keep muscles from getting bored.

Fitness blooms at three locations, which together host more than 130 classes each week. The Studio City location surrounds exercisers in rustic wooden walls, in contrast with the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and undulating modern lines of the Porter Ranch studio's décor. Mat classes at The Annex stretch and bend beneath a large photo mural of a forest so that students can draw inspiration from branches' ability to hold themselves indefinitely in plank pose.

Like many of her fellow dance teachers at Gotta Dance Studio, owner Cindy Gebelein first donned ballet flats at age 6. Throughout a lifetime of performing and 35 years of teaching, she’s worn through copious dance shoes while sharing her passion with others. She opened Gotta Dance Studio in 1995 to further pass on her love for performance, arming younger generations with the technical skills to develop into true artists.

The instructors elucidate a variety of dance styles, from perennial favorites such as ballet, jazz, and tap to modern styles such as hip-hop and contemporary. For students truly taken with the stage, a musicaltheater and performing arts program builds upon the physical conditioning and movement training of dance with voice- lessons and resume-building performances. Three dance troupes, each with their own particular focus, partake in demonstrations and competitions at both the local and national level. Thanks to their travels, these squads have come home with multiple awards and at least a dozen stray tap-dancing cats.

As part of its mission to cultivate Southern California’s native flora, the Theodore Payne Foundation encourages Californians to get acquainted with their rootsy neighbors during its introductory four-hour native-plant horticulture class. Horticulturalist Lili Singer reveals which area plants survive droughts and attract native birds and butterflies, and which ones are just Old Man Jasper from the abandoned amusement park wearing a ghost mask. She'll also clarify the concept of plant communities and give you tips on selecting plants for various types of gardens. By the end of the class, green thumbs and their attached humans will gain an introductory-level initiation into establishing new plantings as well as how to encourage plants' growth by pruning them, irrigating them, and attending their piano recitals. Graduates will be eligible for the foundation’s three-part course in native-plant garden design.

Personal training studio...with Pilates on Saturdays

The Sylmar Olive Festival celebrates the harvest with a sampling of oils and recipes for olives, tasty food, and dancing to a diverse schedule of entertainment. On Saturday at 11 a.m., a 3-mile parade kicks off the festivities before wending its way to the park to watch the Folklorico Dancers and listen to old-school funk-infused sounds from the Positive Source Band. On Sunday, Radio Disney broadcasts live from the festival, where guests test their bellies in a burrito-eating contest accompanied by the festive sounds of a mariachi band. On Monday, feathered and furred wildlife stops by for a meet-and-greet, and the sass-talking car from Knight Rider rolls in to dazzle eyes and lament its separation from David Hasselhoff. A different car show will be featured each day. Throughout the fest, some 50 world-class chalk artists dazzlingly decorate the ground with modern and classical images throughout the park.