All The Right Moves

All The Right Moves

"What? I'm going to be doing what?"

That was Laura Sisk's first reaction when she found out that her character Ally was not only getting a job on LOVING, but a job as an aerobics instructor! Previously a full time mom to Tyler and an Alden University student, Ally's decision to enter the workforce showed new strength and determination to shoulder some of the load that Casey had heretofore refused to share. "It shows her independence and leadership," says Sisk. "And its something she's doing on her own; it gives her a sense of individuality." However supportive the actress was of the storyline in theory, the reality was a bit different; read: jumping up and down in spandex on national television! "and a bit unsettling, she admits. "I thought, 'Great, I'm going to be in these tight fitting things,'" Sisk moans, laughing. "'I won't eat for two years now!'"

But after the 'panic' died down, it was time to go to work. Both Sisk and the power-that-be at LOVING wanted Ally to appear professional, so they sought out the help of one of the best in the business: international fitness expert Kacy Duke. As aerobics director of the nationally known Equinox Gym in Manhattan, and designer choreographer of such fitness videos as "Lucky Vanous: The Ultimate Fat-Burning System", Duke knows her cardio. Her task was to give Sisk a crash course in Aerobics 101. "I told her the first thing is, 'I want you to be me. I want you to be like a real instructor,'" says Duke, "'from the lingo to the counting to the cueing.' And she took it seriously. She put her heart and soul into it. That to me is a true artist."

Sisk had about four days to learn the basics of aerobics instructing. She and Duke practiced for hours, both in the rehearsal hall at LOVING and at Duke's home. "She would put me in front of the mirror, in front of her, and instantly she would have me do the routine by myself," reports Sisk. "She'd go 'Come on, Laura, come on," and snap her fingers, and she'd make me say the dialogue: "Hi, my name's Ally Rescott Bowman, and I'm going to be your instructor today" Kacy's a great teacher."

The final test came the night before Sisk was to tape her first scene in the LOVING gym. The actress joined other members of the Equinox Gym in one of Duke's famous "high-low groove" classes. Even after all of Sisk's cardio-cramming, "Kacy kicked my butt!" she laughs. But Duke disagrees. "She stood right beside me and she did it," the teacher says of her pupil. "She gave it everything."

Duke, who appears as one of Ally's aerobics students on the show, says that we should applaud both Sisk and LOVING for their commitment to depicting reality. "LOVING really did their research," she says. "When Laura does a sit-up, it's going to be correct. You're not just seeing T and A like you might in some of these gym scenes they have on other soaps. People don't even realize that they can turn on LOVING and get some really good fitness tips." They do now.

Soap Opera Update May 1995

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