Gary Restifo teaches at Steps Dance Studio on Broadway at 74th St. His class is called Restifo Technique Intro to Jazz. It’s one of the few classes left in the city, where old school training exits for alignment and placement. A class where the teacher gives constructive individual corrections to his students! It’s a class for those who want to work at developing and maintaining a well-proportioned body. His class is not the kind of self-esteem class where you get praised just for showing up and following the leader. In Gary’s class, working your body well will earn you not only praise, but good placement and presence. A student’s self-esteem gets a boost when the student starts to see results from the work they put into the technique. Gary helps those who are ready to help themselves by replacing their bad habits with good habits in order to develop the best-proportioned body for their genetics. He knows that each student is different with different body types and trouble spots but he also knows that good posture is universal.
Every class has the same exercise routine that Gary developed with influences from The Dunham Technique, Pilates, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique and other programs that promote good placement and alignment. He emphasizes that it’s the correct execution of the exercises that’s important. He guides his students to learn how to do all exercises correctly. It seems simple and it does involve some common sense. In fact, Gary uses a lot of common sense in his class and mixes it with humor, individual attention and a lot of care. Even in his largest classes, “there is no place to run, no place to hide” from a correction by Gary. He corrects his students because he cares about them. He wants them to improve and to avoid injuries and to do better in every activity where a well-proportioned body can only enhance their level of performance. He uses every means possible to teach his students by explaining how the muscles should work, touching the muscles that should work and by demonstrating on his own body what it looks like when the muscles work and don’t work correctly. Gary says, “Everyone learns differently. Some are verbal, some are visual and I try to get my explanations across to everyone.”
Although considered a first level class, Gary has taught all level of students from first time beginners to elite professional dancers. Basic skills are useful at any level and the most advanced dancer or athlete knows that one must rely on the basics to keep on track and to avoid slipping into bad habits. If students are ready to work, Gary is there to provide his expertise and attentiveness to help them achieve their goals for a better body. The Restifo Technique can help lengthen thick muscles, strengthen weak ones, firm inner thighs and buttocks and flatten stomach muscles. How? By retraining the muscles to work correctly using the slow supervised exercise routine developed by Gary Restifo. “Work slow! Work smart!” he exclaims. From the coordination exercise right thru the bar and floor exercises to the short dance routine he gives at the end, Gary emphasizes proper execution of all movement in his class. He hopes that the students will take what they learn in his class and utilize his principles of proper alignment whenever they dance, walk on stage, walk into a job interview, or participate in sports or any other form of movement.
There is no quick fix in Gary’s class. It’s a process! Students who want a better-proportioned body find that it takes time and effort. Gary Restifo may seem very tough to most, but he is completely on his students’ side. He expects them to work if they want results. He does a lot to motivate his students, but he can only do so much with a student who does not want to put in the effort. Gary gets a buzz from students when they work hard and make progress. When his students see the positive results on their bodies they get a buzz, too. They realize that his technique works and they keep coming back for more! Gary Restifo has been getting great results with his technique for over twenty years. He has a lot to offer anyone who wants to change his or her body. If you want the best-proportioned body you can have for your genetics, then you should try the Restifo Technique taught by Gary Restifo at Steps on Broadway at 74th St!
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[Click here for Gary Restifo Web Site]
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