Tarja and Alberto of T&A Fitness on the start of their studio and more
Sri Lanka’s wellness and fitness space is admittedly small, but nonetheless incredibly vibrant – from the full-on hardcore bodybuilding end of the spectrum to yoga, wellness, and spirituality, to everything in between.
The last two years or so has seen the emergence of something of a power couple in the Sri Lankan wellness space – Tarja de Silva and Alberto Ruiz – the husband and wife team behind the dance and fitness studio T&A Fitness.
Next weekend (16-18 September), in honour of World Wellness Weekend, Cinnamon City Hotels is partnering with T&A Fitness to host a weekend of wellness and fitness activities that highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
The Sunday Morning Brunch caught up with Tarja and Alberto for a quick chat on how their studio T&A Fitness came to be, how the two of them work within their own spaces of wellness and fitness, and how they will be marking World Wellness Weekend with Cinnamon City Hotels.
Tarja and Alberto’s story
A professional ballroom dancer, Tarja fell in love with ballroom dance at the age of 11 when she attended a dancesport championship (as a viewer).
“I was captivated by the costumes – I’ve always been into fashion since I was very small, and I work full-time in fashion, even today, as a product developer – then by the music as I had never heard of Latin music before, and by the attitude of the dancing. I was hooked,” Tarja recalled of that very first time she saw ballroom dancing in action.
Her love for dance led to her learning about ballroom dance, first under the tutelage of Tony Fernandez of Antonio’s Dance Circle, and then going on to dance competitively across all tiers of ballroom dancing up to the amateur level, both locally and internationally.
Ballroom dancing has several tiers of skill – beginner, novice, pre-amateur, amateur, and then professional. To be considered a professional dancer, one also has to be a teacher of ballroom dance, Tarja explained, something she has now achieved, and Tarja shared that she hoped to compete as a professional ballroom dancer in the not-too-distant future.
Alberto, who hails from Spain, is not a professional dancer, admitting that he dances ‘socially’. His forte is physical fitness, and back in Spain he worked in the stock exchange. While he was always into sports and fitness, he was first introduced to professional fitness when doing training with a view to joining the local police but instead moved to the UK to follow professional qualifications in fitness.
Tarja and Alberto met in the UK at a beginner dance class (salsa), where, Alberto notes, “she didn’t really notice me.” The two connected when dancing together during the class and when Alberto helped Tarja with the Spanish names for the different dances and moves, which led to the pair falling for each other (figuratively).
“There was a short-lived period where we were both together in the UK, but then I had to come back to Sri Lanka after finishing my studies,” Tarja explained of how the couple found their way to Sri Lanka full-time. “Alberto finished his fitness course and came to visit me here, and it all just fell into place.”
The two married before the pandemic, with Alberto working predominantly with one of Colombo’s biggest gyms and Tarja pioneering her own wellness concept DanceFit – a combination of ballroom dance, Latin American dance, and traditional fitness moves like jump squats or high knees (among many other moves) to create a powerful combination of dance and fitness to allow enthusiasts of either discipline to experiment with the other while staying fit.
T&A Fitness
T&A Fitness, Tarja and Alberto’s fitness and dance studio, began largely because of the pandemic when both Tarja and Aberto found themselves in lockdown with a lot of time on their hands. This led them to form what would eventually become T&A Fitness.
“At the very beginning, during lockdown, we did free Instagram live classes,” Alberto explained. “After a couple of months, we decided to stop with the free classes and try and make it into a business. We didn’t think many people would join, but they did. Tarja began doing dance and fitness classes, and then we found the perfect location for our studio [T&A Fitness is located on Flower Road] and we just kept going.”
“I’d always wanted my own studio and I’d always wanted to teach and Alberto had always wanted to do his own gym,” Tarja shared. “Thanks to the pandemic, we got it going online, and then got into the studio and the physical space. The dream became reality, by whatever means, and it has been the best thing.”
T&A Fitness has grown since its inception and now also has other dancers and fitness professionals offering classes as well. With their different interests, Tarja and Alberto each play to their strengths – Tarja handles the dance classes and Alberto handles the fitness classes, offering a roster of activities through the week, though Tarja only teaches in the evenings after her other workday has ended. “Our dynamic is very simple,” Tarja said of how she and Alberto work together, “we don’t mess with each other’s fortes.”
From a dance perspective, Tarja offers classes in Dance Fit, Latin ballroom dance, heels, a weekly Latin-themed dance class named ‘Latin Wednesdays,’ and an advanced dance class for children on Sundays. From a fitness perspective, Alberto offers classes in spin cycling, tabata, AMRAP, EMOM, HIIT and other varied fitness training. T&A Fitness has also expanded into wellness with yoga classes held weekly.
Celebrating World Wellness Weekend
As part of commemorating Wellness Weekend, T&A Fitness will be working with Cinnamon City Hotels on a number of activities spread across Cinnamon’s city hotels – the Cinnamon Grand, the Cinnamon Lakeside, and the Cinnamon Red.
Explaining some of what T&A Fitness will be conducting at the World Wellness Weekend event, Tarja shared: “We have some awesome teachers that teach under T&A Fitness, and one of them, Dilini, will be doing a yoga session at the Cinnamon Grand. Alberto’s most popular class is his spin class, and he will be holding a special class that weekend at the Cinnamon Grand. I will be conducting a Dance Fit class at the Cinnamon Lakeside.”
Tarja and Alberto both shared that their sessions at the Wellness Weekend were designed to be suitable for all audiences, from those who had never tried these activities, to those who were familiar with these activities as well, and the diversity of these activities made them suitable.
For example, a zen person can join the yoga session while a more active person can join Tarja’s Dance Fit session or Alberto’s spin class (Alberto did stress, however, that even beginners could join this class as participants would be able to cycle at the pace that best suited their capabilities).
The wellness and fitness space in Sri Lanka
With Alberto having made the move to Sri Lanka in 2015 from countries that have well-developed fitness cultures, Brunch asked Alberto how he feels about Sri Lanka’s own fitness culture and its evolution.
Noting that Sri Lanka’s fitness culture had grown incredibly over the last few years, he said that there was still quite a gap when it came to knowledge about health and fitness and this was something he worked closely with his clients to fix. “There is that thinking of ‘if you do weights, you will get really big and bulk up’ or doing things like fasting or not eating or stopping carbs to lose weight, or thinking that working out one day per week or only part of your body is enough, and that’s the kind of thing that needs to be fixed.”
The flip side of this is people going overboard, which in turn makes them miserable and unlikely to stay fit and healthy in the long term. “I do full body workouts and encourage moderation,” Alberto said. “If you like to go out, go out. If you like to eat, eat. If you like to drink, drink, but build fitness into your life and do it in moderation. You don’t have to be that depressing person who only goes to the gym.”
Tarja also weighed in on Sri Lankan fitness culture, noting that its growth over the last few years with so many options and great trainers becoming available was very inspiring. Dance culture too has seen a lot of growth over the last few years, and this is something Tarja is quite excited about.
“There are so many new schools coming up. T&A Fitness hosted its first dance competition in June and we’re looking at hosting another one soon. Through the gym, we want to keep bringing in new talent and promote dance and fitness. It’s so nice to see lots of new faces in the industry and we have bundles of talent. There is, of course, some politics in both the dance and the fitness spaces as with any other space, but I hope the next generation can learn to overcome this.”
The full calendar of events at Cinnamon City Hotels’ Wellness Weekend, many of which feature T&A Fitness, is below. For more information and to register for the programmes please call the following numbers +94778191855 or +94 713773265.
Friday, 16 September 2022, 4.30 p.m.
‘Johann in conversation with Savithri Rodrigo: Conquering your own Everest with mind, body, and soul’ – session with sundown cocktails and canapes
8 Degrees on the Lake, Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo
Saturday, 17 September 2022, 7 a.m.
‘Yoga with Dilini under the Nuga Tree’ – yoga session and breakfast
Nuga Gama, Cinnamon Grand, Colombo
Saturday, 17 September 2022, 4 p.m.
‘Spin with Alberto Ruiz’ – one-hour spin class and cocktails and canapés
Angsana Spa Rooftop, Cinnamon Grand, Colombo
Saturday, 17 September 2022, 5 p.m.
‘Dance Fit with Tarja’ – one-hour class, pool, and dinner buffet at the Dining Room
Poolside Terrace, Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo
Sunday, 18 September 2022, 5 p.m.
‘Art Spa with Dila’ – Art Spa, gift pack, and cocktails and canapés
Cloud Red Rooftop, Cinnamon Red Colombo