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Do the Yoga Dance Core fusion is a hot exercise trend that blends yoga and Pilates with dance to build lean, strong muscles 
Astrologically, according to the Chinese, 2007 is the year of the pig. Fitness-wise, however, nothing could farther from the truth. All signs (Read: the people going in droves to these classes) point to the fact that this is the year of the fusion class. A far cry from what it might sound like – a dance class that requires flailing your arms and looking uncoordinated – it’s actually an innovative series of exercises designed to lengthen, strengthen and tone your body so you don’t feel anything like the animal of 2007. Core Fusion focuses on your core muscles, the area around your trunk and pelvis, where the center of gravity is located. These are the muscles that have the potential to make you look slimmer, taller and lifted. Or compressed and slouched if they aren’t strengthened and lengthened properly. Sessions begin with a focus on hand weights to isolate your arms, and go on to define abdominal muscles and your butt through elements of orthopedic stretching derived from yoga and Pilates. Core Fusion also fulfills the dreams of wannabe ballerinas, using pliés as a means to define leg muscles. Fred DeVito, who co-founded Core Fusion, which has outposts in Boston, Chicago, Santa Monica, New York and Dallas, says it’s the secret weapon behind keeping women in their 60s looking like they are 40. “Core Fusion is one of those classes that helps redefine the aging process, because we focus on flexibility, range of motion and creating bone density, all things that dissipate with age.” DeVito, who has been teaching for over 20 years, says the results are visible and numerous. “We see the thighs get longer and leaner, your butt lifts higher up, the abdominal wall gets flat and lifted, and you start to stand up straighter.” The dynamic approach behind Core Fusion is interval training coupled with strength-building exercises followed by periods of stretching. So instead of walking out with a lot of bulky muscle, followers of this method get long, lean muscles. The class also is run in a series of intervals, where you sprint and then take a period to stretch, an approach that has been touted as a very effective way to increase the heart rate and burn calories. Most importantly, however, DeVito stresses that this is an exercise system based on correct alignment. “When you work your muscles in correct alignment, you can work harder and get better results.” Bottom line, DeVito says, “It’s such an efficient use of an hour.”
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