#she looks so regal in the top image<33

[jaxsteamblog]

Flower Language

Click here to read the entire fic on AO3

Walking back to her office, Katara flipped through her personal papers and correspondence. It was still shocking to her how many people still wrote letters. Then again, as her fingers lingered on the corner of one, it made sense to send something that couldn’t be hacked into or leaked. 

Shaking her head, Katara ruffled the edges of the stack and focused on the hall. In front of her, a woman was backing out of her office, staring at something inside. 

The woman heard her approach and turned, bowing quickly.

“A delivery, your Majesty, from your brother.” She said.

“Thank you.” Katara replied and the woman walked away, leaving the office door ajar.

Peeking in, Katara saw a wide bouquet set in a bulbous vase on her desk. Petals, leaves, and water dripped around the base and Katara frowned. She would never have been so sloppy with an order.

Then, with a snort, Katara went to the desk. It was funny to think a queen had ever helped with flower deliveries in the first place. 

Katara set down her papers and plucked the laminated card off the flimsy plastic holder wedged between two, fat flowers.

I don’t know how your boyfriend knows about Jet or why you did this, but please get Zuko to stop bothering me about flowers.

Now running her fingers over the blossoms, Katara tapped the card against her lips. The smell of sugar water made her smile. It was an odd mix, and she knew Sokka was thoroughly distracted by Love Day by the sight of it. The vase itself was the first bizarre choice and Katara leaned over to look at it. Seeing it head on, it reminded her of the fancy pots some nobles back in Caldera kept their betta koi. 

The porcelain vase was white with the images of mountains and clouds painted in gold ink. None of that gave any meaning to the flowers it contained. 

Standing back up, she looked into the vase. Smooth pebbles created the base, making her think more of a koi pond. But there was a spray of tall flowers and greenery that created a regal sort of backing, like a throne. The other flowers were like toads, squashed together on the wet rocks and still voluminous. 

Thinking back to the many, many times she listened to Sokka talk about flowers, Katara mused over the blooms. The tall flowers in the back were hyssops and not, according to Sokka, a popular line flower. 

If she remembered correctly, the blue flowers symbolized sacrifice. 

Katara sat down, putting the card to the side and propped her chin on one hand while the other prodded the flowers. As she shifted one toad, she was surprised to find daisies. Beyond their innocent reputation, daisies were secret keepers and Katara smiled as she found their hiding place inside the vase. Secrets and sacrifices, apparently Sokka wasn’t as distracted as she thought. 

The bouquet was simple only in that there were four flowers. The design was exceptional, blending function and form; all of the flowers could be coaxed by skilled hands to grow through the end of autumn and into winter. Sokka put a lot of focus into this, and it made Katara wonder what kind of conversation he and Zuko had about Jet. 

Examining the two competing types of toads in the vase, Katara thought more seriously about them. One was sedum, which took up space but didn’t have the same weight as the other flower. It was thought to be a cure for broken hearts and Katara did feel an ache in her chest as she thought about it. 

The last flower eluded her and Katara sat back in her seat. Just as she settled, her phone rang and she fished it out of her pocket while still regarding the bouquet. Her finger tapped the back of the phone, illuminating the screen with Zuko’s face.

“Hey.” Katara said absently.

“Are you busy?” Zuko asked.

Instead of answering, Katara flipped the camera to the back to show Zuko the flowers, then switched to the front.

“Ah. So he did send it.” Zuko said, sounding embarrassed.

“How long did you two spend on it?” Katara questioned, now looking at the screen.

“Too long in Sokka’s opinion.” Zuko replied. 

“I like it.” Katara said and he smiled, relaxing. 

“I’m glad. Your brother is a genius.”

“Don’t let him hear you say so.” 

Zuko snorted and Katara looked at the flowers again.

“I know what most of them mean, but I can’t figure out one of them.” She said.

“Which one?”

“One of the big ones. Not the sedum.”

“Oh, the camellia.” Zuko answered quickly and Katara looked at him in time to see him blush.

“A camellia?” She prompted.

“Did you know it’s in the same family as the tea bush?” Zuko asked instead and Katara grinned.

“Adorable.” She then narrowed her eyes. “But what does it mean?”

“Your brother picked it out.”

“And?”

“Your brother has been hanging out with my uncle.”

“Zuko.”

Zuko sighed and Katara fought down her smile in preparation.

“You’re a flame in my heart.” He murmured.

Katara snorted, but still started laughing as Zuko rubbed his face and groaned. 

“Zuko, that’s so cute.”

“Sokka ended up liking it more than he thought and my uncle says it’s his favorite.”

“That’s really sweet.”

“He did name it and it’s become a sort of installation piece at the Jasmine Dragon.”

“You’re kidding! What’s it called?”

“It’s a portmanteau of us; Zutara?”

Katara looked at the bouquet. Flowers in a teacup made for fish. It seemed fitting. 

“I like it.” She repeated.

Her phone pinged as a notification slid down from the top of her screen. It was a MicroDose message from Thuy.

“Thuy just messaged me.” Katara said and Zuko tilted his head.

“Me too.”

Katara started laughing again as she pulled down the notification while Zuko read his. 

It was a picture of her bouquet at Iroh’s upstairs table in the Jasmine Dragon.

WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS EXISTED I WANT TEN!!!!!!!

“Looks like she posted it to her story.” Zuko said.

“Yeah, with the hashtag Zutara.”

“Katara. It has over a thousand likes.”

“She just posted that today.”

“Have we….” Zuko started as Katara spoke up: “Have you…”

“I haven’t gone back to Caldera yet.” Zuko whispered.

“Arnook is at the Swamp.” Katara whispered in reply. 

“What happened after the interview?” Zuko asked.

Katara pulled down on the screen and saw the numbers on Thuy’s post jump.

She didn’t have an answer, but she didn’t think people were going to be happy with this attention.

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[cbholganza]

by: Elmer Recuerdo

Business Mirror, April 2, 2017

(The Tacloban Salties will be participating in the Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta this April 28-30. Here’s an article on another team with a noble cause.) 

TACLOBAN CITY—The Tacloban Saltwater Dragon Boat Club (TSDBC)—Tacloban Salties, in short—was organized primarily to help locals cope with the lingering trauma and phobia of the sea, after experiencing the most destructive waves and storm surges to hit a populated land mass in recent years.

Regaining the sea after being ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (courtesy of Elmer Recuerdo)

It is also an advocacy group that reminds everybody that climate change matters, and that our survival as a race depends on awareness before another disaster of Supertyphoon Yolanda’s magnitude strikes again.

The TSDBC is the very first dragon-boat team in Tacloban City and the province of Leyte. For over a year now, the Tacloban Salties have been making waves on the usually placid waters of Cancabato Bay.

Erasing the grief and the trauma meant going back to the water. (courtesy of FB Tacloban Saltwater Dragons)

Its members, over 60 of them, come from different walks of life—students, office workers, sports enthusiasts and entrepreneurs—bound by a common passion: To settle their personal issues with the sea that has claimed the lives of friends, families and loved ones, and destroyed whatever property they had before Yolanda.

“We introduced dragon boating as a way of bringing back their trust for the sea. Most of our members were victims of Yolanda, and they have been harboring trauma and anger toward the sea,” said Teody Muñoz, a self-confessed avid lover of the sea and co-founder of Tacloban Salties.

Regaining confidence in the sea. (courtesy of Tacloban Saltwater Dragons FB)

For Lyle Jay Arañas, a 14-year-old BMX enthusiast, his exposure to dragon boat has brought back his confidence in Tacloban’s Cancabato Bay. “Before I took up dragon boating, I feared the sea; thinking the water might suddenly rise again,” he said.

Arañas, who is an eighth grader and the youngest member of Tacloban Salties, lost 16 friends to Yolanda; many of them were neighbors in their community along the bay.  “I slowly overcame my trauma, and I am now encouraging my classmates to join our team, as well,” he said. “I can now say that dragon boat, and all watersports, is safe.”

Tacloban Salties trainer Archie Sumalindao finds it challenging to introduce newbies to dragon boat, especially those who experienced trauma during the supertyphoon. He said the key is to gradually introduce them to the water in a relaxed and fun way.

Love the sea, and it loves you back.

“To make it comfortable, especially for those with trauma, we just let them enjoy what they are doing. We only try to absorb their issues and encourage them to express what they have in mind,” Sumalindao said.

“Newbies would usually ask kung hindi ba nakakatakot, because of what they experienced during Yolanda,” he said. They would just usually stay on the shallow part of the sea.

“Hindi namin sila pinipilit na sumakay, but we would ask them to try. They are briefed on what to do to make the boat ride safe, and all paddlers are required to wear a life vest,” he said.

Soft-selling dragon boating.

For Shakkalissa Cañas Henderson, 35, and an overseas Filipino worker, paddling with the Tacloban Salties is her way of coping with depression. She lost both her parents and a younger sister to Yolanda.

“If I stay in the house, I will only get depressed,” she said. “I avoid looking at the pictures of my family, because it always makes me cry.”

Her doctor suggested she engage in sports and extreme activities to get her busy and divert her attention, prompting her to enroll in muay thai and dragon boat. “I gave up muay thai, because my body cannot handle two extremely taxing physical activities. I preferred dragon boat, because I enjoy it here. We work as a team and we bond like a family. This is really enjoyable.”

Henderson said she is not angry with what happened because it was a natural disaster, but said everybody must do his or her share to protect the environment to avoid a recurrence of another supertyphoon.

Tacloban’s exposure to dragon boat started in 2009, when then-Leyte Gov. Jericho L. Petilla included a dragon boat race as a sidelight in the hosting of Palarong Pambansa. Paddlers from the Philippine National Team participated regaling locals on the beauty of the water sports.

Dragon-boat clinics were held, participated mostly by students to encourage them into taking the sport. The interest was not sustained.

“Parang pinatikim lang ng paddle,” Muñoz said, since the visitors brought home with them the boats they used. “Ang mahal kasi ng boat.”

Before Yolanda hit the city, there was already a brewing new interest of promoting dragon boat after a local craftsman and businessman, Abraham Mario Wenceslao II, with funding assistance from a good friend, completed two 10-man boats. He had started working on these boats before Yolanda. After the typhoon, Wenceslao thought of using the boat to help people develop survival skills on water and overcome their fear of the sea.

In January last year the TSBDC was formally organized. The club has done dragon-boat clinics on different campuses, attracting more than 300 college students helping the young people overcome the trauma brought on by Yolanda’s storm surge.

“The club aims to foster passion and interest in rowing through education and training, promote water safety, and advocate environmental and ecological awareness among its members and in the community,” the club’s page in social media said.

While the team is relatively young compared to other dragon-boat teams in the country, it is already displaying much promise.

Last year the group was able to participate in different competitions, including the 2016 Asian Dragon Boat Championships in Palawan where it took home a silver and two bronze medals.

Muñoz said they reached the semifinals in all events they participated in and came home ninth overall out of 36 teams from nine countries. Tacloban Salties target to surpass this achievement when they compete in the Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta 2017 from April 28 to 30.

Individually, many of their members are already getting noticed for their, skills like in the case of Arañas, who is being offered by a veteran team in international competitions to join their pool, an offer the kid would like to entertain. This is also evident by the mature leadership he shows, especially to the new members of the organization.

The Tacloban Salties stand out among other local sports club for their consistent advocacy for climate-change awareness in all their races. “We paddle for climate-change awareness,” said  Sumalindao of their club’s motto. “We are not confrontational in our advocacy; we do not target individuals. We just display our banners for the people to know what we stand for.”

He said, from the start, it was already clear to the members what the group advocates. “Mas maganda ang may advocacy, kasi hindi lang katawan ang binuhay mo kundi ang puso.”

Muñoz believes their advocacy is what binds the group deeper into their commitment to the team, especially that the issue on climate change is near to the hearts of the Taclobanons.

“Tayo ang biktima ng Yolanda. Tayo ang biktima ng grabeng kalamidad dala ng climate change. Our battle cry is we paddle, so people will be aware to protect the environment. Let’s get out and break free from the use of fossil fuel,” Muñoz said.

The club takes the issue seriously. During their daily practice, the group members would pick up garbage, mostly plastics, that they would find on the bay. They also do coastal cleanups to celebrate some milestones.

If dragons are considered guardians of treasures in some mythical literature, Sumalindao said Tacloban Salties can be considered as dragons of the Cancabato Bay.

“We consider the Cancabato Bay as a treasure. We like to think that we are the guardians of the Cancabato Bay,” he said. “We try to save this. We dream that someday there will be no more illegal fishing here and this place will be declared as a marine sanctuary. It will take years before this happens, but hopefully, it will come true.”

Watch the Tacloban Saltwater Dragons compete this April 28-30 in the Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta 2017. The Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta 2017 is produced by the Provincial Government of Cebu, the Philippine Sports Commission, together with the Cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, and Dragon Boat Cebu Central. Co-producing the event is Habagat Sports and Outdoor Apparel.

The event sponsors include: the Cebu Yacht Club, Philippine Air Force, Department of Tourism (DOT), Island Central Mall, Marina Seaview, Primary Homes, INCA, Waterfront Hotel, Plantation Bay, Marco Polo Hotel, Bluewater Resort, Treasure Island Paint, 2Go, LBC, Tajimaya, Mundo Island and Gold’s Gym.

The media partners include: ABS-CBN, GMA, Manila Broadcasting Company, Sunstar, Cebu Daily News, Freeman, Rappler, MyTV, Y101.

Image Credits: Photo Courtesy Of Tacloban Salties, Elmer Recuerdo

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The Salties, a team with a noble cause.

Where winning is not the only thing…

The Salties continue to help bring joy to the victims of Haiyan…

The recovery and rehabilitation work is not over yet…

We must profess the need to love our seas, not fear them.

For a better world for the generations to come.

Cheers to the Tacloban Salties.

Tacloban Salties: Paddling to overcome trauma, break addiction to fossil fuel by: Elmer Recuerdo Business Mirror, April 2, 2017 (The Tacloban Salties will be participating in the Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta this April 28-30.

[pixietenenbaum]

Fresh off the back of her 2016 Britain’s Top Designer win, Helen Woollams has created what’s surely her best visual spectacle yet for Hellavagirl’s FW17 showcase at Fashion Scout.  I headed out to the Freemason’s Hall in a leather A-line skirt (to protect me from the elements) to share this awesome collection with you.  I got to go backstage prior to the show too but that’s a whole other story…..

The Last Dawn on Mars FW17 –A Post apocalyptic inspired couture collection with dark undertones and a regal rock and roll edge, a dys(co)topian future if you will, filled with couture robots to blow your circuits.

The opening look set the tone for the show, a shimmering oversized gown masked the model’s limbs giving the illusion of exaggerated height, topped off with a ginormous flower crown beyond even your wildest dreams, fashioned out of paper by specialist crafters, Tissue Blossoms.

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A silver two piece consisting of harem pants and a metallic, frilled top dripping with emerald coloured stones (one of my favourite looks) gave off a space age mermaid vibe as an awesome follow up to the opener.  From the Frow, in the VIP section no less, I had a fantastic view of this exciting showcase, a collection which tests boundaries and challenges proportions.  A glittertastic, brocade wrapped, flower topped collection of couture for confident, powerful women who don’t fall at the feet of men.

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Woollams’ collections are always strong, but FW17 is the dark side of the fairytale.  For every wooded tower that hides a princess there’s a gothic witch just wishing she had Hellavagirl on speed dial; it’s exactly that kind of devilishly flirtatious drama.  A hybrid of couture and RTW, this is a collection available to buy and wear but it’s not for the faint of heart.  Filled to he brim with sequins, sparkle, tulle and brocade, it’s dramatic, confident and filled with personality.

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Personally, I adored the show, I was keen to see how Woollams would build on her 2016 national recognition and was pleasantly unsurprised.  It’s great to see that she’s stuck to the principles that made her stand out from the crowd in the first place, staying firmly within her talent niche there’s a definite Hellavagirl aesthetic developing.  Creating unapologetic proportions and dramatic shapes that scream “Don’t fuck with me” – a bold trouser with added width at the hip, or a voluminous jacket with looping shoulders, the knack for creating these exaggerated silhouettes has become Woollams’ signature and it’s one I hope she’ll keep as she’s edging the pack.

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When I started writing this post I knew it had to be image led as The Last Dawn on Mars is a collection that has to be viewed to be appreciated.  A distinct Bowie influence makes the collection beautifully bittersweet, but I’ll leave you to make your own assessment.  I can’t wait to see what Hellavagirl brings us in September for SS18 and I’ll be waiting with bated breath for another look inside the mind of Helen Woollams.  So for now Voyeurs, enjoy The Last Dawn on Mars…….

Pixie xo

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    London Fashion Week FW17: Hellavagirl Couture Fresh off the back of her 2016 Britain's Top Designer win, Helen Woollams has created what's surely her best visual spectacle yet for Hellavagirl's FW17 showcase at Fashion Scout.  

[viralhottopics]

How Fitness Culture Enlisted Ballerinas To Profit Off Our Insecurities

Its 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, and the exercise studio is starting to fill up. Participants are filtering in, each of them claiming a place at the ballet barres that are bolted to floor-to-ceiling mirrors along every wall. Theres not a leotard or a pair of tights in sight; everyones wearing running leggings and t-shirts. Their hair is in ponytails, not stiff ballet buns. And the music that soon starts pumping through the speakers is not classical piano, but pulsating EDM and Rihanna remixes. This looks like a ballet studio, but therell be no ballet happening here today. Welcome to barre class.

Ballet is having a cultural moment right now. From Misty Copelands crossover into mainstream celebrity to the proliferation of barre classes and the use of ballerinas as models for athleisure and fashion lines, ballet is once again fashionable and aspirational.

As a fashion influence, ballet has come and gone for decades: legwarmers cycle in and out of style, and American Apparel spent years trying to convince hipsters everywhere that leotards are comfortable. Ballerinas from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater are currently serving as models for luxe clothing brands like Wolford, Thakoon and Negative Underwear. But ballets current mainstream moment goes beyond fashion, crossing over into fitness culture and serving as a revealing reminder of the kind of female athleticism the kind of female bodies that American culture deems acceptable and admirable.

This is not surprising. After all, the ballerina is the perfect emblem of our anxieties and aspirations around female athleticism: shes fit and physically strong, but she also bears a striking resemblance to a catwalk model. The ballerina, as most of us envision her, is everything women are encouraged to aspire to be: thin, ultra-feminine, wealthy and white.

Lets start with barre classes, the blend of pilates, yoga and basic dance moves, some of them done while holding on to the same kind of barre that ballerinas use while warming up and strengthening their bodies at the start of every ballet class.

Barre has spiked in popularity in the last several years, with Pure Barre and Barre3 franchise studios popping up all over the country. Barre was the breakout trend for 2016, said Ashley Hennings, the Head of PR at Class Pass, in an email to The Huffington Post. Hennings says that last year, barre accounted for 17 percent of all classes booked through the subscription program, and saw the highest yearly increase in bookings of any fitness category.

Barre bears little resemblance to what ballerinas do in a ballet studio: Its a lot of squats, there are exercises that require free weights and inflatable balls, and the music is for getting you pumped, not for dancing.

Promotional copy for Pure Barre promises a full-body workout concentrating on the areas women struggle with the most: hips, thighs, seat, abdominals and arms, and reassures that each strength section of the workout is followed by a stretching section in order to create long, lean muscles without bulk. Barre3s copy says the workout mixes athleticism, grace, and the latest innovations designed to balance the body, and promises that it will tone and lengthen all major muscle groups, resulting in proportion in the body that is shapely and attractive. It purports to improve your posture, too, presumably to help you to stand tall and regal, like an elegant ballerina. The words long and length appear a lot on the Barre3 website. Lean, not bulky, muscles are the goal here. The technique works to defy gravity by tapering everything in and lifting it up! the Pure Barre website assures, perkily.

Raleigh News & Observer via Getty Images

A Barre3 teacher leads a class in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Long, lean, lengthy, lean muscles that definitely arent bulky dont come cheap.

In New York City, a class at Barre3 will run you $33 for an hour of exercise. In Dallas, a single Pure Barre class costs $22, with discounts if you buy a package of classes. Classes are tailored to their markets, so a single class in Fayetteville, Arizona, is $15. And a monthly subscription for online Barre3 workouts, complete with recipes and a chat function to consult instructors, is $29. Pure Barre recommends that beginners start by taking four classes a week for optimal results.

Then, theres the gear: studios sell workout wear, weights and balls you can use at home, plus special socks purported to improve your grip and balance during a class that most people do wearing regular socks, or nothing at all, on their feet. The workout wear is pricey, too: There are $56 cotton tank tops and $98 leggings. The grip sox are $16.

The gear isnt mandatory or necessary, of course, but it is part of what the Pure Barre website explicitly calls more than just a workout … a lifestyle. Barre life isnt just about the squats. Its about the gear, about carving out time for you, about doing exercises designed for women and taught by women. This is about creating a particular kind of female body one that is strong but not bulky and living a particular kind of feminine life. An expensive one.

Purity or proximity to classical ballet aside, barre classes do claim to offer participants a way to sculpt a ballerina-esque body. Despite its tenuous connections to actual ballet, barre uses the promise of a ballerina body to market to customers (Pure Barre was founded by a former dancer; while the founder of Barre3 describes herself as renowned wellness expert and media personality).

Barre studios are not the only ones in the fitness industry who are doing so. With the rise of athleisure, brands have begun hiring ballet dancers to help them market apparel for the gym, yoga, running and other workout activities. New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns serves as a model for Cole Haans recently announced athleisure line. Fellow principal Lauren Lovette models for athleisure line MPG Sport. New York City Ballet corps de ballet member Olivia Boisson models for Puma, and the brand just released a Swan Lake-themed line of workout and athleisure gear, created in partnership with City Ballet and modeled by their dancers. American Ballet Theatre soloist Calvin Royal III models for GapFit, along with a racially diverse set of ballerinas. And American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland has a high-profile endorsement deal with Under Armor.

I love releasing myself into my art because it offers me a constructively MEANINGFUL outlet for the strong emotions I am encouraged by my own self to suppress. Real artists feel strongly. @mpgsport #feeleverything #useitforgood

A photo posted by Lauren Lovette (@laurenlovette) on Oct 28, 2016 at 6:05am PDT

There are many forms of exercise that require, or seem to require, the kind of athleisure wear that has been embraced by retailers and celebrity merchandisers at a staggering rate in the last few years. And there are many forms of exercise that will give you, or promise to give you, the kind of long, lean muscles advertised by barre studios charging $30 per class. Plenty of workouts will leave you looking athletic, muscular, toned all those words that reveal the truth behind the strong is the new skinny movement, which is that, in addition to being strong, you should still, wherever possible, please be skinny. Yet its ballerinas who are increasingly modeling the athleisure wear, and its barre classes that are spiking in popularity.

The choice of the ballerinas body as a way to market exercise gear and of ballet as a marketing tool for exercise classes (excuse me, lifestyles) is not coincidental.

PUMA X NYCB // Weve teamed up once again. Just in time to open our Winter performances of Balanchines one act Swan Lake, PUMA is launching their Swan Pack collection inspired by the power and grace of this iconic ballet. #rachelhutsell @rachelhutsell #mimistaker @missssmimi @puma @pumawomen @pumatraining #PUMA #PUMAwomen #PUMAtraining #swanpack #nycballet #nycb #newyorkcityballet #ballet #linkinbio

A photo posted by New York City Ballet (@nycballet) on Jan 18, 2017 at 1:37pm PST

The rise of athleisure highlights the extent to which a body that is regularly exercised has become a status symbol. Athleisure wear, which gives one the appearance of always heading to or from a gym, and reveals your size and shape and musculature in a way that regular street clothes do not, is one means by which to flaunt that status symbol. At a time when, for women, wealth and low weight are correlated, and where poverty and obesity often go hand-in-hand, athleisure wear, and the body youre clearly meant to have or aspire to when youre wearing it, is not just about having the right kind of female body its also about having the right kind of bank account with which to dress it.

It makes sense, then, that ballerinas would be recruited to market athleisure wear and the barre classes for which you supposedly need it: Ballet is, in the public imagination, an activity for the elite. Its not only the ballerina body thats aspirational; so, too, is the economic status that the art form of ballet itself suggests.

In the U.S., ballet watching it and doing it has long been viewed as an elite activity. In her book Nutcracker Nation, dance historian Jennifer Fisher writes that there is a rarefied elegance associated with the art form, which has an aristocratic subcode and a tony profile. Ballet has a perceived exclusive quality … conferring on its participants the gloss of something high class. She describes a mid-1990s documentary in which a fundraiser for Londons Royal Opera House called elitism one of [her] biggest selling points.

We like it because its elitist, thats why people come here, the fundraiser says. Part of what makes this place special is that the audience is special.

This attitude is implied in the U.S.s grand ballet spaces, like Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, and Fisher notes that it applies to both watching ballet and to learning it: in her ethnographic research, people repeatedly referred to ballet as a classy thing to do.

This perception is rooted in fact: Ballet tickets and ballet training are expensive. Even the cheapest tickets to a premiere company like New York City Ballet can cost close to $50. Ballet classes and gear are costly, too, especially as children grow quickly out of leotards, tights and shoes. Pointe shoes start at about $50. This is to say nothing of the cost of performance costumes, competition fees and, for very advanced students, room-and-board at full-time residential ballet schools.

All in all, ballet is not simply perceived as a feminine pursuit, but as one for wealthy women and girls. No wonder, then, that ballerinas so strong and lean, so athletic in their pricey leggings and racer-back tank tops, so fancy would be used to market athleisure and fitness classes. Theyre a way to sell apparel and exercise by advertising aspirational upper-class feminine beauty.

Brad Barket via Getty Images

A Puma executive, left, with New York City Ballet dancer Mimi Staker, right.

And that upper-class feminine beauty is white.

The archetypal ballet dancer, in the public imagination, is not only a woman shes a white woman. Thats largely because of the whiteness of the ballerinas who, historically, have risen to the top of the ballet world and become known beyond it. True, there are notable exceptions, reaching back to the beginning of American ballet: Maria Tallchief, widely considered the U.S.s first ballet star, was Native American. Still, those exceptions are just that: deviations from the norm. The norm in ballet, particularly in the highest ranks and the most prestigious companies, is white.

The most obvious contemporary exception to that norm is, of course, Misty Copeland, the first black woman to become a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. There are other visible exceptions New York City Ballets Boisson and American Ballet Theatres Courtney Lavine (who is the face and body of an Avon perfume) but Copeland is by far the nations best-known ballerina, of any race. In addition to her documentary, her several books and her leotard line, which are marketed at dancers, she has her more mainstream endorsement deal with Under Armor and another with Seiko. Shell appear in Disneys live-action Nutcracker movie, and she has her own Barbie. She has emerged as a ballet star, a civil rights figure and a celebrity of sorts. Still, her celebrity and her visibility rest not just on her talent, but also on her status as an outlier in the world of ballet. She is a principal because she is a terrifically talented, hardworking and beautiful dancer; she is famous because she is the only black woman in a world of white ballerinas.

@underarmour Copeland wont let you define her. How do you #RuleYourself? Share your rule with #RuleYourself and @Underarmour and your story may be featured in our next documentary! Rules in Bio.

A photo posted by Misty Copeland (@mistyonpointe) on Mar 21, 2016 at 8:18am PDT

Exceptions aside, ballet remains, in reality and in the public imagination, overwhelmingly white. And GapFit notwithstanding, the ballerina body that is deployed to market athleisure gear is usually a white one, and the aspirational lifestyle that is marketed via ballet-adjacent barre classes is implicitly for white women. While the websites for Pure Barre and Barre3 splash sleek professional photos of ethnically diverse classes, the roster of barre enthusiasts who say the regimen has changed their lives for the better is almost entirely white. Barre classes may be a new and growing trend, and ballerina-fronted athleisure may be booming like never before, but scratch the surface of ballets new visibility, and theres very little thats novel about it.

For those who love ballet and prefer it to be present in mainstream culture, rather than cosseted away in what Fisher calls its usual swank milieu, its tempting to be cheered by its current popularity and prominence. Now, for the first time in perhaps a generation, ballerinas are visible and accessible to mainstream audiences, held out as role models and as actual models.

But its worth looking closer at how the idea of ballet, and the bodies of ballerinas, are being used to sell women on an acceptable vision of feminine athleticism one thats muscular but not bulky, strong and skinny and on a version of femininity that promises a body, and a lifestyle, marked by wealth and by whiteness. The goal of all that squatting and pulsing remains unchanged, the costume of athleisure leggings and fitted hoodies is for the same desired performance: be thin, be rich, be white. Be the right kind of woman.

As barre enrollments around the country swell and athleisure brands proliferate, you have to ask: Isnt this just the same old dance weve always done?

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from How Fitness Culture Enlisted Ballerinas To Profit Off Our Insecurities