Review-- BalleCore Workout

I'm really excited for this review because I've planned something extra, super special for you guys! This is a review for the BalleCore Workout. This book is packed with pictures and directions on how to complete this yoga-pilates-ballet-fusion workout. For these exercises, you'll need a bar (or anything thin you can rest weight on, like a thick wrapping paper tube), a Theraband, and a yoga mat if you want.

The book has black and white pictures. They do a good job taking pictures of each step. The problem, though, is this makes it hard to workout. You'll need to stop in between, shift through the book, and then get back into the workout. Until you get very familiar with the routine, it is a tad obnoxious to keep going back and forth to the book. The exercises are great, but it's just too difficult sometimes to flip through the book, hold it open, and exercise all at the same time.

The book makes sure to provide exercises for every aspect of a workout. There are moves for just about everything. The chapters in the book are:

1. Warm-up
2. Core Pilates
3. Stretching
4. Hips and Buttocks
5. Floor Ballet
6. The Back
7. Standing Ballet
8. The Legs and Ballet Variation
9. Hatha Yoga
10. Cool-Down

The book also puts together exercises for you, whether you want to focus more on a certain body part or you have a limited amount of time. It also has a glossary in back for terms the book uses in case you aren't sure of what particular move she is telling you to do.

The introduction is also great. They have several wonderful drawings of the body pointing to the particular muscles and naming them. They also give a list of recommended music to complete the workout to, which I absolutely loved. It was an added detail that made the workout richer.

The only major problem with this exercise book is just that...it's a book. It's hard to follow along and not stop in between exercises. In order to avoid this, I made something extra special for you guys, a little exercise video to help you go through the book. Major sections are left out because this took me a loooong time to put together, and I wanted to make it worth your while to buy or borrow the book. Also, watching this video will definitely not substitute for the actual book. The pictures aren't the greatest and she gives important information in the book that is not included in the video. In order to be safe, read through the book first and then follow along with this video I made. The exercise is a little under thirty minutes.

 I'm so proud of all this work I put into the video. I really hope someone uses it and finds it helpful.

That concludes my review for the book. I hope you enjoy the video.

Black Swan: Part 3 -- Novel by Mercedes Lackey

In 1999, an author named Mercedes Lackey wrote The Black Swan, a novel based off the story of Swan Lake. The story is essentially the same, but with several major differences to offer flavor. For one, the story is mainly told through Prince Siegfried and Odile's perspectives.

The story begins with Odile taking care of the flock by their castle's lake. Odile believes and trusts her father for who else does she have to believe? She's locked away in the castle with nothing but her spell books. The only thing she longs for is for her father's affection, but his stony persona rarely delivers the attention she longs for unless she performs practical magic, such as cleaning the house or banishing pests.

Things start to change once Odile's father, Baron Eric von Rothbart, challenges Odette to find love. If she can find the love of a man, even with him knowing her as both a swan and a maiden, she and the rest of the flock will be free from the spell. Odile grows closer to the maidens as she speaks to them more and more. She dawns upon the realization that perhaps her father isn't all he seems.

Far away from the baron's home is the castle where Prince Siegfried resides. He is a womanizer and only seeks out the pleasures palace life can bring him. He remains this way until a tragic event wakes him up and forces him to change his ways. Luckily this change happens just before his birthday, which requires him to find a bride from a local group of princesses. What he doesn't know is that his own mother is making plans to ruin her son so she can remain queen.

DUN DUN DUUUUUN.

Lackey diffidently did her research on the ballet. The names of the main characters have stayed the same. The swans change to girls at the touch of moonlight; all the essentials are there. She even knew that von Rothbart turns into an owl. (Not bad, Mercedes! Thumbs up from me!)

What has changed are some of the characters' personalities and how they are manipulated into the storyline. For example, Odile is used by her father, not his partner. Prince Siegfried is a romantic but is perhaps too romantic to too many girls. Odette is pretty much the same, but it is made clear that she is an educated woman of high rank, even outside the group of swans.

Lackey also adds some of her own story elements, such as the mother wanting to remain queen and the plans of a minstrel named Uwe (pronounced oo-vey. Because if you're like me, you probably pronounced it as "ew" originally.). Lackey also hints as to why Von Rothbert keeps all these swans where the ballet left it to the imagination. These all flesh out the story so it would be more fitting for a novel. Still, it's the tale of Swan Lake and told quite nicely too.

I really did enjoy Lackey's writing style. I read another novel she wrote that featured ballet and it wasn't as good, but this one knows its characters and story. It's a lovely retelling of the story Swan Lake, and honestly, one of the few out there. And even if you are lucky to find another one, I doubt they'll be quite as good as this one.

The novel is 402 pages long in paperback format and also has a hardback release. A copy can be found at Amazon and probably can still be found at physical bookstores since this is written by a popular fantasy author. The paperback novel is only $7.99.

Rating: 9/10
Definitely worth buying or at least a rent from the library!