This wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019ve met Phillip Mills, however it was the first time I\u2019ve actually had an organised meeting with him for an informal lunch. I walked up the stairs to LMI and entered the offices. The receptionist pointed to a door which I\u2019ve walked past many times now, indicating Phillips office. Wow, so now I know which is his office, right next to the Marketing Director\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We casually said hello and after deciding where we would go for lunch we went across the road to a small caf\u00e9 where we then spent about an hour chatting about Les Mills, the programs and how they started. Probably the thing that took me most by surprise was that Phillip taught, what is now known as BODYATTACK, for 10 years in the 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how did all the programs start? Where did the idea come from? The idea of pre-choreography wasn\u2019t a new model and it was well used in the US. While Phillip studied for his degree in Philosophy in the US he took an interest in the fitness industry and became familiar with what was known as Jazzercise. Later back in Auckland, Phillip was teaching aerobics, which until Jane Fonda came along wasn\u2019t know as aerobics, but rather, \u201cfloor classes\u201d or some other obscure name. The term \u201caerobics\u201d as we know it didn\u2019t exist. While he was teaching, Phillip became dissatisfied with the different standards in teaching amongst different instructors. So with the idea of the pre-choregraphy model he\u2019d seen in the US, he began to provide pre-choreography amongst his gyms to standardise the quality of instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first concept of BODYATTACK was born. These classes were known as Jazzercise, or maybe it was Jazzerjectics? Or is that what is now known as BODYJAM? There was various name changes for both BODYATTACK and BODYJAM. When BODYATTACK changed name it commenced back at BODYATTACK #1. BODYJAM resumed the numbering at around 18 or 19 once it was released internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confused yet? Yeah me too. One thing is for sure and that is that BODYATTACK is the oldest program and if it hadn\u2019t changed names we\u2019d be well over release 100. Scary thought huh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, for lunch I ordered a chicken and avocado foccacia and the man of LMI ordered the same. One thing I\u2019ve noticed about Auckland is that while it\u2019s similar to Australia, the food just isn\u2019t quite the same. Even Subway, while it\u2019s supposed to be the same it\u2019s just somehow different. I miss my home food. How would I cope in a different country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phillip has always seemed like such a quietly spoken man. Seems like he never wanted to talk much. But now over lunch he was quite keen to tell me all about his experiences. I was excited to hear them but I had to try and curb my extroverted impulses to speak without thinking\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phillip shares the role of Creative Director along with Jackie Mills and Emma Barry. What exactly is a Creative Director? More involved than I realised. The Creative Director oversees the entire creation of the program from the early days of selection of the music right through to the conclusion of the filming. Following the filming’s the choreographers (also known as Program Directors or PD\u2019s) receive CD\u2019s where they listen to thousands of songs for their suitability for the next release. For each track they\u2019ll pick 5 or 6 songs for consideration for the next release. The PD\u2019s then sit down with the Creative Directors and go through the songs they\u2019ve selected and decide together which would be most suitable for the release and which tracks go together best and once the selection is made choreographing of the tracks then begins. Trialing of the new releases then begins around 6 weeks prior to the filming’s and any number of changes to the choreography could be made during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this production schedule this means that the PD\u2019s only have about a 6 week window each quarter for travelling and presenting around the world. They can choreograph while they\u2019re travelling, but they have to be back for the trialling period to prepare for the filmings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found out a lot from Phillip about what goes on behind the scenes of Les Mills International. I hardly noticed our food disappear and before long it was time to head off for the BODYBALANCE class at 1.10pm where Jackie and the team were practicing the next filming release of\u00a0 BODYBALANCE 38. Phillip also came along to the class and while I went up the front to get the best experience of participating in Studio 1, Phillip slid down the back corner, presumably trying to stay unnoticed? How does someone that tall stay unobtrusive? Next time I head to Auckland I\u2019ll promise to find out how tall he is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019ve met Phillip Mills, however it was the first time I\u2019ve actually had an organised meeting with him for an informal lunch. I walked up the stairs to LMI and entered the offices. The receptionist pointed to a door which I\u2019ve walked past many times now, indicating Phillips office. Wow,Continue Reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11,4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-61","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-all","7":"category-bodyattack","8":"category-bodybalance","9":"category-bodyjam","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallylesmills.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}