All stories about "Classes"

There's no workout less satisfying than the free yoga class at your gym. You know, the one with sticky, sweat-speckled floors, the constant bang of dropped weights, and that tweaky, cut-rate Pilates instructor just trying to pick up extra cash. Why settle for half-assed when the Bay area is teeming with great yoga teachers and studios in every neighborhood? These are the best places to get your hala-asana on, whether you're a beginner or a near-yogi. Almost every studio offers a great deal on packages for first timers, so take advantage and try at least a few. (jackpotfbd/flickr)

  Comments

Just about everyone is practicing yoga these days. In addition to yoga classes at virtually every trendy London health club, the city has a healthy crop of dedicated yoga studios for the hardcore or the neophyte. Whether it's Bikram, Iyengar, Ashtanga, or Hatha you're after, here's a selection of the best yoga temples in London.

  Comments

Adult education isn't usually something people get too revved up about. But when the education in question is food-oriented, the operation is run by the owners of Astor Wine & Spirits, and the classroom features a professional demo kitchen with stadium seating and personal spit sinks, it's hard not to get a little giddy. The newly open Astor Center offers classes that run the gamut and are taught by all manner of famed chefs, experts, and food writers, so check the list here. [via]

  Comments

New York has more than its share of sweaty discos and hip-hoppy nightclubs where the kids do the funky monkey or whatever the hell they're calling it these days, but what if you aspire to dancing of a fancier sort? Well, the Roaring Twenties are long past, but ballroom, swing, tango, salsa, and other kinds of high-class dancing can still be found in nightclubs and dance schools throughout the city. Whether you're looking to bust out your finest dancing moves, take advantage of a free lesson, or just watch the spectacular routines of the experts, it won't take you long to find your desired dancing scene. From pricey 1940s-era nightclubs to casual restaurants that push the tables aside after the dinner rush, aspiring Freds and Gingers can jitterbug, jive, and mambo their way across the city at these New York dancing destinations.

  Comments

The Degustation Advisory Team, a foodie group that organizes events mostly involving craft beer, just announced its Craft Beer Appreciation Class For Women on Monday, January 28. The class is $30 and covers how beer is brewed, the types and styles of beer, how to taste and evaluate beer, and the proper methods of storing and serving beer. And of course excellent beer will be served throughout the night. [NYC Agenda]

  Comments

According to a recent survey of by the Sky Real Lives channel, Londoners are the most likely of all Brits to make New Year's resolutions (at 55%). And while more than 70% of this 2,000-person sample group determined their good intentions were all but pre-doomed, the thoroughly unsurprising Top 10 New Year's Resolutions included the desire to get more exercise, lose weight, save money, stop smoking, learn a new language, and get green. In the spirit of optimism and self-improvement, forthwith are some London resources to help you make good on your earnest path to betterment in 2008.

  Comments

Everyone knows that the best way to learn French is to sleep with the natives, a learn-on-the-job crash course in which your desire to communicate with the objet of your affection -- and the subsequent desire to insult and/or break up with him in his own native language -- will speed things along considerably. If you're otherwise attached, then Paris is full of options for the foreigner wanting to perfect la langue de Molière. If you have an address in Paris, and the EDF electricity bill to prove it, you can sign up for city-sponsored classes run by the Mairie de Paris for a song. If not, here's a list of French language institutes for the serious student or the dilettante.

  Comments

The tango is basically sex set to music, but unfortunately, before you start swooning the heeled seductresses at a Milonga you need to learn a few things like the the Floating Cortado or Super Gancho. Otherwise, you'll just look like an over-dressed, under skilled artiste, which is to say, horrific lover. To help you out here is a guide to places and spaces covering 6 days of the week. Go here to work on your lead, see some pros, and two step your way into the arms of an enthusiastic partner.

  Comments

Learning to cook has never been trendier. And whether it's a professional-level class at one of the city's established culinary schools, a special cooking class for blokes, an early morning romp through an east London fish market, or a casual gastronomic workshop in a hip Clerkenwell loft, London has a cookery class to suit every taste. Here's a selection of the best food-related instruction London has to offer.

  Comments

As the fêtes de fin d'année approach, many a Paris cooking school offers special ateliers for Parisians and visitors eager to wow their friends and family with homemade foie gras or the latest trends in the Bûche de Noêl yule log, still a perennial Christmas favorite. The following is a pick of crash courses around town for ambitious hosts looking for holiday entertaining ideas. Or you can order an online bon cadeau, or gift certificate, for someone on your Christmas list who's always dreamed of knowing the secrets of a French chef.

  Comments

You don't have to have a degree in philosophy to get embroiled in a weighty conversation over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with friends in a Parisian cafe, questioning the nature of life, love, and existence. And you always arrive at the same conclusions, and move uncomfortably on to a less substantial topic. But wouldn't it be great if you had a bunch of professional philosophers around to help you break out of your hermeneutic circle? Here is a roundup of some of Paris' more reputable cafés philo, along with some institutions which sponsor conferences, debates, and lectures to get those wheels turning.

  Comments

Getting the best holiday card often starts with a fantastic photo. Figure out how to use all the bells and whistles on your digital device -- or just move beyond the cell-phone snapshot -- by taking a few classes. Next thing you'll know, all your family holiday pictures will have depth of field, good lighting, and meaningful aesthetic subtext.

  Comments

Forget French wine, Champagne, Cognac or Armagnac. The modern French trendster wants cocktails. Overpriced mixed drinks have become a fixture of the Paris bar scene in recent years, often poured by cutting-edge mixologists like Thierry Hernandez (le barman at the renowned Bar du Plaza Athénée). Now a crop of cours de cocktail have sprung up at famed bars and cooking schools around the city to teach Parisians the art of la mixologie. That's right -- another fancy excuse to drink, and a stealth form of scouting for a date who will at least share your passion for a showy beverage. Here are the cocktail classes getting the most buzz in Paris at the moment.

  Comments

Face facts. In LA, credentials mean nothing -- it's who you're sleeping with that counts. But if your current hookup isn't proving helpful to your career, you may want to pursue one of the unique occupations upon which the local economy truly depends: club promoter, stripper, pro surfer, New Age coach, standup comedian, and, of course, actor. These jobs are both authentically "Los Angeles"-- thus justifying your presence here -- and, more importantly, don't require much expertise beyond a dubious certificate or a few inexpensive classes. So, dump that insurance job, invest in a wetsuit, and take some classes, or risk being banished to Orange County with the rest of the corporate drones.

  Comments

Given the French reputation as bon vivants of the highest order, one would think that the natives were born with vinicultural savoir faire running through their Gallic veins. Such is not the case. Many French people drink Coca Light and beer instead and are as scared to confront a wine shop or a wine list as you are. You already know how to drink. But wine schools and classes catering to both the Parisian and the tourist alike can teach you how to swirl and sniff and taste like a connoisseur (with or without the attitude). Here's our list for the serious or lighthearted wine lover in search of an educated drink.

  Comments

I usually need a serious amount of booze under my belt before I can even start pretending to know how to dance. Until recently, I actually thought I was pretty good -- that was until my giggling date pulled me aside in a club and told me that my dance moves were "unique." Fuck it, I thought I was dancing like Hok. "What do you mean?" I said. "Stop drawing attention to yourself -- try moving from side to side, and moving your body more than your feet" she said. "Fuck off," I said agreeably. The next week I took my first dance lesson at Dance Central in Surry Hills. I was so nervous that I started sweating like a rapist. It actually turned out to be heaps of fun ,and I can now pop and lock like a nu skool beginner. Learning how to dance is great exercise, much more fun than aerobics; it's also a great place to hook up with nondrinkers, Christians, health freaks, fit dance chicks, and desperate loners.

  Comments

Grad school is an overpriced waste of time, but you're fed up with the cubicle and have a hankering for a career change. Look no further than these unusual specialty schools where you too can become a certified doula, comedian, bartender, SCUBA instructor, or stripper. These schools are so affordable that you can combine your favorites and carve out a lucrative niche for yourself as San Francisco's only Ashtanga pole-dancing clown.

  Comments