Smash hit

But the appeal is not only physical; many devotees highlight the emotional-cum-spiritual aspect to ballet. “It’s about expressing myself in a different way,” one woman says. The melodic music lifts you far above the “daily grind” and transports you to another world.

Françoise Peretti, the managing director of her own public relations firm and a mother of two, puts it well. “Ballet tones my body but it also tones my soul,” she says. “It is my Proustian madeleine because it takes me back to my protected Parisian childhood.”

As a former investment banker used to analysing the nuances of financial markets, I was surprised to find that ballet challenges the brain as well as the body. There is a litany of things to remember and it requires both concentration and mental agility. Co-ordinating your arms and legs is difficult enough but you also have to simultaneously stand tall, lower your shoulders, breathe correctly and memorise the often complex routines.

So as you gaze despondently at the overcast sky, wondering desperately how you’re ever going to get through January and longing to burrow back under the duvet, think about shaking a leg — literally.

Step outside your comfort zone and treat yourself to a new year fitness regime that is fun, uplifting and very effective.

Take up floor barre. Your thighs will thank you for it.

THE FIRST STEPS

If you want to start adult ballet, where do you go? Danceworks (020-7629 6183) and Pineapple (020-7836 4004) are long-established commercial dance studios in Central London and offer up to six different “drop-in” ballet sessions a day. Charlotte Toner holds regular classes in South Kensington, SW7 (0795 8646332); and at Manor Studio (020-7498 0498) in Clapham, SW12, a ballet fitness programme is taught by the former Bolshoi Ballet principal Evgeni Goremykin. Selected Holmes Place

Health Clubs (020-7761 0000) also offer members a course devised by the New York City Ballet.

For those outside London, the best option is to contact the Royal Academy of Dance’s membership department (020-7326 8000), which has a list of more than 1,500 registered teachers nationwide. Classes vary in price from £7 to £16 for an hour-long session.

GLITTERING YEAR AS BALLET TAKES CENTRE-STAGE

Ballet may be one of the more traditional forms of dance but, endorsed by film-makers and fashion designers, it will hold sway as a pivotal part of the arts scene in 2004.

This year marks the centenary of two of the greatest choreographers to influence 20th-century ballet, George Balanchine and Sir Frederick Ashton. Balanchine will be celebrated at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden from January 28. The Birmingham Royal Ballet, among other nationwide venues, will feature Ashton’s work in March. Visit www.ballet.co.uk for dates of forthcoming events.

The British favourite Darcey Bussell may be taking time off to have her second baby, but young ballerinas Alina Cojocaru and Tamara Rojo are names to watch. Romanian Cojocaru has a leading role in Kenneth MacMillan’s depraved tale Mayerling opening at the

Royal Opera House in March. Madrid-born Rojo will dance in Giselle at the Royal Opera House on April 11 and 23.

The classically-trained ballet dancer Neve Campbell, of horror film fame, will be appearing in Robert Altman’s The Company, released on May 7, playing a young dancer in the highly pressured but intoxicating world of professional ballet.

And if the spring/summer collections of Chanel and Lanvin are anything to go by, everyone will soon be able to nurture their inner ballerina. Wraparound tops, tutus and ballet pumps have been featured on the catwalk and, more affordably, on the high street in Topshop and Oasis.

Finally, catch the last two days of the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in London’s Battersea Park (closes tomorrow), which is showing ballet costumes by the stage designer and artist Yolanda Sonnabend. Paintings of her designs and costumes made for the Royal Ballet’s Cinderella, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, will be on display for the first time.

ANNA SHEPARD

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