Monica Bill Barnes (left) and Anna Bass are offering literally breathtaking tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Paula Lobo/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reposted from NPR. Heard on Morning Addition reported by Sean Rameswaram:

Seeing a great work of art might quicken your pulse, but now New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is hoping you’ll break a sweat, too. The Met is currently offering a “Museum Workout” — part performance, part workout, part art tour.

On a recent morning, 15 of us gather in The Great Hall before the museum opens. We line up behind two tour guide dancers — both wearing sparkly cocktail dresses and sneakers. A guy with a portable speaker stands nearby.

image via www.monicabillbarnes.com

He presses play, and with disco propelling us forward, we power walk, we punch the air, we daintily jog through the otherwise empty Met at 9:00 in the morning. There’s a lot of light, a lot of antiquity … and some stink eye. Museum security looks like they’ve never seen anything like this.

“We were approached by the Metropolitan Museum to make a dance,” explains Monica Bill Barnes, one of the workout leaders. “We counteroffered, and asked to make a led tour that’s a workout.”

Barnes’ dance company wanted to get people moving in the Met — and jumping jacks and yoga poses seemed a lot easier than teaching amateurs a complicated dance routine. Read the fully story here. Go to Met info here.