Still Dancing After All These Years

In the ’90s, when I worked downtown, I used to squeeze in midday workouts, lifting weights and taking step classes alongside the loan officers, land use planners, and legal secretaries who made up the lunchtime group fitness crowd. For a brief golden age, our favorite instructor, hands-down, was Ken Gilbert, who taught a high-impact aerobics class that left us all elated — and exhausted.

When I reconnected with him decades later, I was delighted to learn that Gilbert is still a fitness leader with a following of students just as devoted as the old lunch bunch. These days, he teaches Nia dance and Pilates classes (barre, standing, and seated) and also offers private Pilates sessions in his own studio space, all at the Dance Hub.

To see where Gilbert’s fitness journey had taken him, I decided to check out a Nia class. Nia was created, Gilbert told me, “as a rebellion against the repetition of high-impact aerobics,” which reigned over the fitness world in the ’80s.

No wonder, then, that some differences between Nia and conventional dance classes are immediately apparent, such as the lack of footwear. Students dance barefoot on the studio’s marley floor, which is kind to the feet. There are no dance club remixes or recent pop hits, either. The music was rhythmic but without a jackhammer beat. Gilbert said the gentler music “gives the nervous system time to recover.”

Gilbert began the session by gathering everyone in a circle as he gave us our intentions for the day: “Your self-worth is intrinsic” and “Your uniqueness is invaluable.” Then he invited us to “step in,” which he described as letting go of distractions.

Setting the intention and stepping in are the first two of the seven cycles of a Nia class; the remaining cycles are generally similar to other exercise routines, with a warmup, period of highest intensity, and cool-down. Before “stepping out,” there’s also a segment that involves lying on the floor and calming the nervous system, perhaps with a Pilates sequence.

Each song had its own choreography — and then, every so often, Gilbert would declare, “Free dance!” and each student did their own thing, letting the music inspire their movement. I used to really hate it when a dance teacher would say “free style!” — I felt lost and a little resentful at not being told how to move for a few measures. But I actually enjoyed the free dance portions of the Nia class, coming up with my own steps and combinations and not caring whether anyone was watching me. 

Gilbert, who spent a decade as an international trainer of Nia technique, incorporates free dance into his sessions to encourage students not to follow him too closely. “The intent is for people to have autonomy,” he explained. “It’s for you to have an experience in your body.”

In keeping with that, a Nia class can be as intense as one cares to make it. It raised my heart rate and core temperature, but not as much as other dance classes I’ve taken, although that may have been because I was a Nia novice.

Gilbert described Nia as combining the precision of martial arts, the expressiveness of dance, and the functional movement of the healing arts in a workout set to music. My experience was far more aligned with dance than martial arts — possibly because that’s what I was looking for. Gilbert told me some students just want to move their bodies, while others are there for self-healing.

The result is a diverse clientele — a student with vision loss who still takes Nia, a Parkinson’s patient trying to retain mobility, and a trans person who needs a safe space to work out. Gilbert’s students range from veterans who’ve been with him for 30 years to relative newcomers such as Linda, a one-time jazz dancer who came to Nia three years ago and told me, “I hope I can take this class for the rest of my life.”

In addition to the studio spaces where he teaches, Gilbert also has a Pilates studio with dramatic gray walls and a Reformer, Cadillac, and Ped-a-Pul. I’ve taken mat Pilates and group Pilates classes on a Reformer, but my private session with Gilbert was in a category by itself. Gilbert studied Pilates with Ron Fletcher, who began his practice after he was injured dancing with Martha Graham and sought out Joseph Pilates himself to guide his rehabilitation. 

Gilbert’s Pilates practice focuses on helping the client align the midline and plumb line, incorporating the five spinal movements: forward flexion, rotation, lateral movement, circumduction, and upper back extension. My session started on the Reformer, where Gilbert gave me a lot to keep track of as I lay on my back and pushed the carriage out — breathing in different patterns from what I’m used to, exhaling with puffy breaths, and lifting my manubrium, a part of the sternum I never knew I had. The footwork exercises on the Reformer (heel lifts, Achilles stretches) made my feet feel great, though. Gilbert kept reminding me to pull my knees together, which I honestly thought was physically impossible, but he told me my quads were simply too dominant from working out in the gym. I did finally get my knees in closer proximity to each other, and I felt that work in my inner thighs the next day. 

We moved on to the Cadillac, which is a simple machine for having such a fancy name. Ab crunches involved holding onto a trapeze-like bar as I lowered, hinged, and curled — then did the reverse. Gilbert patiently coached me through spinal rotations, until I was finally extending my spine instead of my arms.

We finished with pliés and relevés on the Ped-a-Pul, a deceptively simple piece of equipment that consists of a pole, a small platform to stand on, and two straps with handles. The challenge came from maintaining my body’s contact with the pole as I moved up and down, forcing me to maintain an erect posture.

Gilbert teased me during our session, playfully scolding me when my form wasn’t quite up to par, praising me when I got it right. The work is hard, he acknowledged. Why not have fun?

And with that, I was reminded why Gilbert has always inspired such loyalty and enthusiasm, whether among my lunchtime comrades from long ago or his current community of exercisers. Working out with him can be hard, but he always makes it fun.

“At my best,” he told me, “as a teacher, I can be a leader and a guide.”

Ken Gilbert Embodyment is located at the Dance Hub, 22 East Victoria Street. Classes offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (Pilates at 11:15 a.m., Nia at 12:30 p.m.). Registration not necessary but call or text Gilbert at (805) 452-7164.