Dance takes centre stage
Eliana Usma Brownlie – Eli for short – loves to dance. It’s the perfect way to stay fit. For Eli it’s creative, fun and much more appealing because of the company and support.
It may also be why ‘Entertrainers’ the company she and her sisters founded together seems to be doing so well in Colombo. “It’s always been about training people in a fun way so that it’s not a burden,” she says, adding that if its “something they really like to do, they will stick to it.”
Pix by M. A. Pushpa Kumara
A native Colombian with Australian citizenship and over 15 years international experience in the fitness industry, Eli also has a Law degree and a Masters in Business Administration. She first came to Sri Lanka in 2003, accompanying her husband on a three-year stint.
When their family returned to Sri Lanka last year, Eli knew she risked losing her licence as a fitness instructor if she didn’t practice.
This is what led her to connect with the Ministry of Sports who took her up on her offer to help train athletes and civil servants. Eli helped design their ‘Fit for Work’ campaign and has since been involved in preparing the Sri Lanka National Rugby Union for their international tournaments. Still, it’s ‘Entertrainers’ that takes up most of her time.
She’s led Fat Burning camps and encourages her clients to find different ways of staying fit but she says it’s not really about weight loss but is instead a way to claim health and happiness. When clients complain and say they don’t know why they are putting themselves through a fitness regime, Eli likes to tell them “Look, you’re doing this because you are the future of your family.”
Busy schedules can make the going hard, but Eli estimates the team draw in 300 people on an average week. Entertrainers is an ambitious enterprise – customers can choose from over 70 classes a week at the Lifestyle Gym in Kolpetty. On offer is everything from yoga to cycling to zumba and dance fit classes.
Some of these are taught by trainers that Eli herself has coached. Though ‘Entertrainers’ is barely a year old, they’ve already certified nine trainers. “We really wanted to show local instructors that they can make a living out of this as a profession,” says Eli, adding, “I’m really happy to have been their teacher because they’ve made me really proud.”
For her, the training has to be an on-going process – every year, trainers need to be updated on new research findings that suggest improved ways to train people.
“It’s important because this industry changes every day,” says Eli. She’s also pleased to report that ‘Entertrainers’ will host Sri Lanka’s first Zumba trainer certification program in January next year, with an expert coming down from the U.S to conduct the programme.
Eli is convinced that Entertrainers works so well in part because it brings people together to exercise. “It’s about creating a team environment,” she says. Eli knows how well this can work first hand – she and her sisters Laura and Clara have always enjoyed working out together. In fact, growing up, Eli says the love of dance runs in her family.
“My mum loved dancing,” she says. “In our culture, it’s pretty much like here, people really love dancing.
In Columbia though we think about dancing more as a connection…when we have parties we dance with our grandfathers and our fathers and our aunties, and it’s about celebrating life.”
As a young girl, Eli wasn’t interested in just dance (though she also studied ballet), but a dozen different sports as well.
Now with several fitness instructor certificates under belt, Eli says she very much enjoys living and working in Sri Lanka. “Entertrainers has helped a lot of people change their lifestyle,” she says. “For me that’s what makes my job worthwhile.”
Find Entertrainers online: www.entertrainers.net
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