No matter how many gyms open in Egypt, and no matter how many new instructors emerge on the scene, people still talk about Ingy El Solh. The aerobics instructor, dancer, professor, mother, grandmother never stops learning new techniques and always keeps her workouts interesting and highly effective.
When she was only 16, El-Solh opened her first dance studio in the basement of her house in Cairo. At the time, she was still a student, flying back and forth to London and the Rambert School of Ballet she was enrolled in.
Maintaining a balance is a skill El-Solh mastered; soon after she was also married with a son. That did not stop her from pursuing her dream.
“Nothing stopped me. When you have something you want to do, you hold on.
Sometimes it’s not really very clear where you’re going, but the more you get into it, the more it gets clearer and leads you on, she said.
Today, El-Solh’s aerobics classes are packed any day of the week. She also gives private training sessions back-to-back between her classes. Her popularity is no doubt due to her regularly updated and trendy workout styles, and of course the results.
From high impact Jane Fonda type aerobic, to Pilates and yoga integrated stretch based classes, El-Solh knows how to get you moving. She focuses on working the core of your body.
“It is not a question of thin or fat; it’s how can I do the best no matter what my body type, and how can I work on it to keep it the best, she explained.
Movement is something she sees everywhere. In university she studied English literature because, “poetry is a movement for me with words playing in my head, she said.
One of the main things that distinguishes El-Solh is her academic inclination to the field. She teaches internationally and attends many conferences worldwide.
“I love discovering more. You will always find something new, and you have to keep it fresh. The moment I stop I am six feet under, she said.
El-Solh also got into studying “movement and management which is about non verbal communication and body psychology. This she feels is very important in dealing with her members. “Their head is alone and their body is alone. My hope is to get the body and mind to link without aggravating anyone, she explained.
This led to her parallel career; teaching theater at The American University in Cairo. In a way it is the same thing to get people to come in, pause their lives, focus, and when they leave their life is still waiting for them outside.
Her next venture is working with children again, which she had stopped doing despite the high demand for it. Now she wants to offer a new class of “movement without inhibition to develop self-esteem.
She feels that people tend to be self-conscious. Even in her adult dance classes, people always tell her, “But I don’t know how to dance!
The point is not to become professional she explains, “You come, you dance, you move as far as you can go, you see what you can do, you have fun. It’s stress relief.
