The Ballet Teacher We Love

Born in Berlin, former East Germany, Franziska Rosenzweig began her ballet training aged 6, completed the eight years ballet education programme at the State Ballet School Berlin and graduated, at the top of her class, as a professional dancer in 1993. Her first contract was with the German State Opera Berlin (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin) where she was cast in soloist roles from the beginning of her career and danced the principal role in The Nutcracker in the second year of being with the company.

Today, Franziska draws from her training in the Vaganova, French and Balanchine styles, the Christina Bernal Method, as well as from her extensive training as a Pilates, Gyrotonic, Yoga and Garuda instructor. The result of which is Holistic Ballet™. 

We have asked Franziska about the secrets of staying in top form for almost 20 years since she started training as a ballet dancer:

Have you always wanted to teach ballet?

No, I never wanted to teach, I only wanted to dance. I was kind of coerced into it by my teacher Renato Paroni, who asked my to cover all his classes whilst he went home to Brazil for two months. And I am grateful to him to this day as loved teaching from the very first moment.

How does teaching ballet impact upon your diet?

I do not have to be as disciplined with my diet as a teacher as I had to be as a ballet dancer. However, as my whole working life, not only as a ballet teacher but also a Pilates and Gyrotonic® instructor, is concerned with healthy functioning body and the mind, I am naturally drawn to eating well.

Are you generally speaking health-orientated?

Apart from taking care of what I eat, I exercise, meditate and make sure that I get sufficient sleep.   

Have you ever done cleanse before? If you haven’t and an opportunity arises, would you like to do cleanse?

I did a 8-day cleanse last spring and I juice fast one day a week.

What is your philosophy for a healthy and happy life, and how intrinsic is doing ballet to this? 

Creating a balance in every aspect of one's life, the mental, emotional and physical. Ballet can support all this but it also has the potential of feeding the obsessive side of a person. So, one has to be careful not to live in extremes but to "tune in" and do what is conducive to one's well-being at this very moment. 

Has your attitude to foods changed over years? Are there any foods you wouldn’t eat?

I used to be a vegetarian for six years. But I feel better when I include fish and chicken in my diet. For some reason I never liked seafood and I do not eat red meat and marmite.