Eccentric upbringing

Kelly trained with me in the authentic Lotte Berk technique and opened her own studio in California last year. Recently she suggested I write a blog as her students were so interested in Lotte, her life and her sex life. Sex, sex, sex. Yes, there was a lot of it. In my teens I was amazed that I had not turned to prostitution as a career, but happily I must have been about 12 when mother decided I was old enough for her to tell all. Well I wasn’t and as a role model it didn’t work for me.

I squirmed with embarrassment and discomfort. One day, rather bravely and brazenly I actually accused her of being a prostitute. Well, there is no need for me to explain her huge reaction. First was the deadly silence, then the aftermath. I even made it worse by asking my uncle Frank and his wife, also called Esther, to adopt me. I can’t imagine how my mother felt. No wonder she thought I was a difficult child. Now, in my mature years, I am rather pleased to have had such an eccentric upbringing. It held me in a good place for all my life lessons.

So, thanks mother.

What a survivor

Your mother is sex on legs. A man commented to me. I see her as having a charismatic sensuality. If there is such a thing, well there is now. Sex came into everything long before mother developed her exercise technique. She flirted outrageously, dressed provocatively. Her big black eyes drew men in like a moth to a flame, and all of them burnt.

Her exercises were the perfect vehicle for her to enjoy her sexuality. Beside firming and shaping your body I’m sure a lot of her popularity came from women who attended Lotte Berk classes who began to connect with their own sensuality and enjoy the feel of their own bodies. Some even commented that their husbands noticed a greater – well, I’m not going to say am I?

Mother used sexual banter in her classes and a lot of innuendo. What with her strong accent this became hilarious, laughter rocked in the studio. Mother believed in having fun with her mischievous personality but a tough work out, she succeeded in creating the classes unique atmosphere.

Mother enjoyed her fame and notoriety. It was hell for her when she retired from the theatre. Her life darkened. Affairs didn’t lift her mood, nothing did. Developing her exercise technique and opening her studio changed her life. She blossomed, earned money that dancing didn’t give her. From 49 her new life exploded bringing meaning back into her life. What a survivor.

It must be the exercises that keep me going!

I can’t believe my good fortune. First Bernie bounced into my life early in February. Red hair flowing, gorgeous smile, raucous laugh with a sunshine personality wanting to be trained. She soon became a Lotte Berk angel. Now she helps me train others and has become indispensable.

And thanks to my son Jo. Who a few years ago offered to do my emails which changed my life. Little did we know that the result would be so amazing and exciting. Women came to be trained from California, Canada, New York, New Jersey, Korea, Spain, Norway, Switzerland and Paris. The excellence of Lotte’s technique lives on. It’s all thanks to Jo we all stay in contact with each other. This brings the world into my home.

It is interesting and a little disappointing that there appears to be so little interest from women in Britain where it all started.

I’ve failed to understand the Internet but thanks to Jo it has breathed new life into my old life and I’m not ready to put my feet up for many years to come. It must be the exercises that keep me going! Thanks mother.

Complex and emotional

Lotte Berk my mother, the most complex and emotional person I have ever known, was adamant.

‘Don’t even try and please me. I hate it when people try and please me. What is it that saying? What does it mean?”

“I think it’s showing how much people care and admire you”.

“Rubbish, there is a hidden meaning behind all this trying to please stuff”.

“How do you feel when people give you fresh flowers? Isn’t that nice?”

“No, it’s annoying, I don’t want to find a vase and do all that arranging, I just throw them on the floor”.

“What good is that?”

“It’s good for the cat, she likes to play with them”.

Much later in my life I understood what mother meant. Of course she was right. Mother was deeply intuitive about how the mind works. Possibly because she had to discover and learn to come to terms with her own inner turmoil. Her exercise technique was created from her desire to express her feeling for her need for love and fun which may well be the reason they’re so popular with her followers who experience the fun, warmth and joy of life. Kelly, one of my trainees who is now practicing in California said, and I quote “Lotte Berk, not just a work out, but a work of art”. How right she is.

This wasn’t treats, this was an addiction

Healthy living was not a priority for my mother. Look inside her refrigerator, each shelf stuffed with chocolate. This wasn’t treats, this was an addiction.

Each time I visited mother in London we would go out for lunch. She really didn’t enjoy cooking. One of her favourite places to eat was Churchill’s, and a great teat for me. Mother always ordered the same lunch for both of us. A large plate of smoked salmon. Churchill’s do the best smoked salmon I’ve ever tasted. More often we went to her local crepery where mother ordered a lemon and sugar crepe for her lunch. I couldn’t survive on that and enjoyed a stuffed vegetable one. Luckily I prefer savoury foods. Next we’re off to mother’s favourite patisserie in Moscow Road. In the window on view was a gallery of the most fabulous cakes. Just looking I put on pounds. Mother indulged, I on the other hand let my eyes do the eating. Both my parents were sugar addicts.

Being dancers they burnt off the calories. Just as well that after retiring from dance mother evolved her unique exercise technique and kept her figure for ever.

As for me, after my second child I ended up three stone heavier, but that’s another story.