Guests work out amidst masterpieces at the Metropolitan Museum

Record ID: 394077

  • Title: Guests work out amidst masterpieces at the Metropolitan Museum
  • Date: 3rd March 2017
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 03, 2017) (REUTERS) MUSEUM WORKOUT GROUP LED BY MONICA BILL BARNES AND PARTNER ANNA BASS RUNNING THROUGH GALLERY VARIOUS OF GROUP POWER WALKING WITH FISTS IN AIR VARIOUS OF GROUP DOING JUMPING JACKS IN FRONT OF ARMORS
  • Embargoed: 17th March 2017 18:00
  • Keywords: Museum workout Metropolitan Museum of Art MetLiveArts Monica Bill Barnes
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA00166EP93T
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A group of 15 fitness enthusiasts on Friday (March 3) arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in their gym clothes and sneakers.
    They were greeted by two dancers in sparkly sequin dresses at the museum's grand staircase, ready to give them a workout of their life time.
    It was around 8:30 a.m., more than an hour before the opening of the world class museum, the sun drenched galleries completely empty with only an occasional guard passing by the entrance hall.
    Suddenly, the Bee Gee's "Staying Alive" blasted through the Greek wing of the museum, as the dancers, Monica Bill Barnes and partner Anna Bass, took the group for a 45-minute power walk through the massive museum.
    Silently guests mimicked the duo's movements, which range from squats to jumping jacks and stretches while looking at art.
    The interactive program is titled "Museum Workout," part of the museum's MetLiveArts series, that offers thought-provoking performances within the museum grounds.
    "It began when the museum approached the dance company about making a show for one of the galleries," Barnes, artistic director of Monica Bill Barnes & Company, told Reuters.
    "And the more that we, as a company discussed it, we felt like 'Well, it might be selfish but we want the whole museum.' We don't want to be confined to one gallery," she added.
    The routine takes guests through 35 galleries, occasionally stopping in front of masterpieces picked out by writer and illustrator Maira Kalman.
    Included in the "guided tour" are a statue of Perseus and the head of Medusa, an armor suit that belonged to King Henry VIII and a bronze statue of Roman goddess Diana.
    The movement is simple and repetitive, easy enough for guests to perform while enjoying the art, the dancers explained.
    The music, mostly disco and Motown tunes create a stark contrast with the formal setting of the museum as well as the voice of Kalman that was played in front of art pieces during exercise routines.
    "It feels by introducing music and movement and humor and irony, and the formalism that you have in dance and in this museum, it's all a way of trying to actually honor this building and honor the experience in here, but in a totally different way," said Robert Saenz de Viteri, director at the dance company.
    After the two-mile jog guests said they were mesmerized by the experience.
    "It makes me want to come back to power walk through the museum again, without a group basically. I think maybe you can do that with your headphones and just dance through the museum," said Amy Cao, a freelance content strategist from Brooklyn.
    Clare Shaheen, a wine distributor from Rochester New York said that she enjoyed the unique experience.
    "The great natural light, and just kind of doing something out of the ordinary. Rather than being in a gym you are around these masterpieces."
    Museum Workout premiered on January 19, and has performances through March 9. Tickets sold out within hours of their release, and museum officials say that there is a possibility that more dates will be added in the future.
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