Kelsea Ballerini celebrated her fans with a Galentine's Day concert
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'It's Galentine's Day, which happens to be my love language,' Ballerini said early in the show, and her many songs celebrating long-lasting bonds that could be between lovers or friends were some of the night's most well-received. The feisty 'If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Too),' from 'Patterns,' channels its message of fealty through some murder-ballad-worthy scenarios ('Our bodies are buried and they're in the same ditch/ So even if I wanted to, I can't snitch,' she grins at one point). 'I Would, Would You,' also from that album, details the lengths she'd go to in order to support a loved one; on Thursday, Ballerini and her band underscored those promises by mashing it up with Bill Withers' 1972 devotional 'Lean On Me.'
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Those songs got a boost from Ballerini clearly being grateful toward her fans; she noted that she'd played venues in Boston ranging from House of Blues to Roadrunner over the years, and midway through the show she did a spot-check of people around the room, receiving a galentine from one fan, welcoming a young attendee to her first concert with an autograph, and even posing for a from-the-stage selfie with an attendee who'd first taken a photo with Ballerini nearly ten years ago.
Near the end of the show, Ballerini gave her band a break and strapped on her guitar for 'Leave Me Again,' a delicate ballad from her 2023 EP 'Rolling Up the Welcome Mat' that flips the post-breakup script: 'I hope I never leave me again,' she sings after wishing her most recent ex well, underscoring her desire to remain true to herself even as her emotions get carried away by love's flights of fancy. The voice-and-guitar arrangement and the plainspoken, yet hopeful lyrics were a gorgeously wrapped Galentine's Day gift from Ballerini to the assembled—a reminder not just of her talent, but of the strength that comes from realizing that, as she said before launching into the song, 'being able to know who you are… is enough.'
KELSEA BALLERINI
With Ashe, MaRynn Taylor
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At TD Garden, Thursday
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On the flip side, contemporary classes may not have as much 'flow' from one move to the next; the transitions aren't inherently baked into a set exercise sequence, so you may have more idle time (read: rest!) as you change your springs or switch focuses. Some contemporary studios also offer low-key classes centered around stretching with traditional Pilates apparatus. So, is Lagree 'better' than Pilates? Nope! No single workout is inherently better than the other. In fact, Lagree himself suggests doing both his method and Pilates if you can swing it. 'I have a lot of students who do both Lagree and real Pilates, and they're having great results,' he says. 'So I'm always an advocate of doing cross-training and doing Pilates or doing, you know, Lagree and yoga.' If you had to pick between one of the two methods, consider your goals and how you move elsewhere in your fitness routine. 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On the flip side, you might try low-impact Lagree if you're used to training at high intensities and want to continue getting that burn in as you age or develop joint issues, says the founder. You might choose Lagree if you're looking to build up your muscular endurance and test out some unfamiliar movements ('giant spoon,' anyone?). Better yet, says Henderson, 'try them all. Try athletic, try contemporary, try Lagree—try it all and just see what feels the best. I think ultimately, we just want people to move their bodies.' Related: 10 Things to Know Before You Take Pilates Classes 13 Pilates Benefits That Will Make You Want to Switch Up Your Workout A Beginner Pilates Workout You Can Do at Home Get more of SELF's great fitness content delivered right to your inbox. Originally Appeared on Self
