Andrea DeBellis on how her Nyla House in Dubai is raising the wellness barre

The NYLA Method amps up the traditional barre workout with signature moves.

Andrea DeBellis, the founder of NYLA House, says she wanted to offer more than fitness classes at her Dubai space. Sarah Dea / The National

Andrea DeBellis’s NYLA House in Jumeirah is a one-stop wellness destination for women. She talks about the New York Los Angeles fitness method

For the uninitiated, what is the NYLA Method?

The NYLA Method is a barre class with a twist. We have taken the traditional barre workout and evolved it by adding our own signature moves. We collaborated with experts in Pilates, yoga and physiotherapy to ensure that the NYLA Method was safe and effective. Although the barre classes are at the very core of what we do, we offer a healthy lifestyle in one space.

What does one of your barre workouts involve?

You can expect a high-octane, full-body workout with motivational music. Our hour-long class focuses on every single muscle in the whole body and focuses upon areas women struggle with the most: the hips, thighs, the butt, the abdominals and the back of the arms. So, everything from squats to curtsy lunges, weighted arm work and something fun that we call “back dancing” – think pelvic thrusts on the floor.

Before you opened NYLA House, you had pop-up studios across the UAE – what was the idea behind that?

We wanted to bring NYLA to the people so they could find out what we were all about before we opened. We also wanted to build a community of women who love doing our barre workouts. It also took us some time to find the perfect home for NYLA – we wanted the right space and energy for everything we offer.

At NYLA House, everything is under one roof.

Right. We wanted to create a space where women can spend time and have access to everything in one place. So besides fitness studios, there’s a raw food and juice bar, a holistic spa with a library and a blowout salon. We also stock fitness and yoga clothing. We want our clients to feel and look good.

What inspired you to set up the NYLA Method in the first place?

Barre fitness transformed my body and my life and I wanted to share this with other women and so I set up Barrecore [a barre studio in central London] and was delighted by the response. We had clients from this region who encouraged me to bring barre here and so NYLA was born.

You went from finance to fitness – how different is your life today?

When I worked in the finance world, I wasn’t enjoying my work and we spend over 30 per cent of our lives working – that’s an awful lot of time to be unhappy. Now, I’m doing what I’m passionate about. Owning a business is a 24/7 operation – you live, breathe and sleep it.

What are your passions besides fitness/wellness?

I love good food and travelling.

And, what does the future hold?

I hope to bring NYLA and everything we stand for to more women and more locations.

NYLA House, 675 Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah, Dubai. To book a class, go to www.nylamethod.com