By Laura Wingfield
An art gallery may not be the most common venue for an exercise class, but the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton is used to thinking out of the box—er, cell. The Arts Center, located in the former D.C. Prison, is hosting free weekly Art of Movement classes this summer starting Saturday at 8 a.m.
“The Workhouse Arts Center is one of the first to begin physical activity,” says Art of Movement program manager Lesley Spalding, a certified yoga and Pilates instructor with over 23 years of experience in the fitness industry.
Grounded in the Arts Center’s tradition of interactive art, Spalding began the program six years ago, offering paid classes ranging from cycling to surfset to jazzercise. Later, Spalding expanded the program by offering classes throughout the summer as a free trial. “We began the free classes on the quad in the summer of 2013,” she says. “We’ve had big crowds come and join us on Saturdays.”
Classes offered during the free series this summer will include yoga, belly dancing, hula, Pilates, tai chi and Nia dancing, “a low-impact style originating from the West Coast in the ’80s that combines dance, yoga and martial arts,” explains Spalding. These are just a sampling of the types of classes offered by the Art of Movement program at large.
If you’re like most people, you may be struggling to equate a sweaty yoga session with the concept of art. Spalding explains that the “art” aspect of the program stems from “the beauty of the human body when it’s in motion.” The Arts Center hopes the classes will contribute to participants’ “mind-body medicine” for both physical and mental well-being.
Spalding adds that the meaning of Art of Movement is two-fold. “We [instructors] are an eclectic group of professionals at the top of our game,” she says. “We’re the artists of what we do.”
Workhouse Arts Center
9518 Workhouse Way, Lorton, 22079
Saturdays, June 6-Aug. 29
8 a.m.
Free (bring your own mat)
