Guess What? Maya Tamara

Aerobics is not a term ballet instructor Maya Tamara, 36, cringes at.

"No one should. Why? A trim, muscled body is something everybody wants and nobody's getting younger," she said.

"Second, I know this because I run a school of both ballet and aerobics," said Maya, who devotes seven hours daily to teaching ballet and aerobics.

However, she warned against fast-pace aerobics for the elderly.

Attending an aerobics event Monday at Hotel Sheraton Bandara, Jakarta, Maya said the different techniques taught by master instructors from England, South Africa and Australia had something for everybody, including a top instructor like her.

At the event called Innovasia '98 By Reebok, she said one had to be "smart" to choose the best moves.

"Latin dancing, clubby music and African jumpy moves are fine for the young but teach them to the old ones and 50 percent of the strength in their legs will vanish ... it's dangerous for people that age."

"The new step techniques and high-lows with slower music are much better for the elderly."

Maya heads Namarina, an almost four-decades-old ballet and aerobics school set up by her mother, dancer Nanny Lubis. (ylt)