FYI: I recently challenged myself to a double-dose of dance classes in one day. So, after I finished Contemporary, I scooted to the next studio ready for Hip Hop. How did it go? Not the greatest idea but after three hours of dance I felt like a dance superstar. In pain. Read about my adventures in Contemporary dance!
As relaxed as Contemporary had made me, I was beat. I could have called it a day from there, but as soon as the class ended I went straight to the next studio for Hip Hop. Just one studio below, the atmosphere was a complete 180 from the soft, unchoreographed feel and light music to the choreographed, hard-hitting movements to compliment the blaring music and a different kind of high energy.
Right away, the music was pumping and we started bopping to the beat. Usually the dance warmup is a way to get the joints moving so I was surprised (and a little down) that we really had to put so much energy into the warmup (I was saving that for the choreography). Bouncing from one side to the next, we kept our bodies moving and our heart rates up. We jumped like we had a skipping rope, bent our knees and got low as we shifted our weight from side to side.
Instead of getting right into the choreography, the first half of the class was more of a conditioning bootcamp. There were crunches that involved bicycle kicks, leg lowering, and side to side, yoga moves and even more cardio that work put more strain on my exhausted body. I was wiped out, sweating and we hadn’t even begun the choreography! As much as it hurt at the time, it felt great getting that kind of workout.
Now I've been told that it's good to try classes with different instructors, especially with Hip Hop because everyone has their own teaching style. What I liked about this particular instructor, was that he let the music play on loop so we could get a feel of the beats, even before we learned the combination. And just when I thought we were still continuing with the workout, he smoothly transitioned into the first part of the combination. He didn’t stop the music to teach us the move, he just let it play.
We started off slow, then repeated the movement a few times, then picked up the pace and emphasized where to punctuate the moves by making sounds. When he wanted us to give more attitude, flavour, swag –whatever you want to call it, he’d tell us. He kept the energy up with his booming, encouraging voice and when he danced with the class, he danced all out which made us want to push even more. And every time he said we'd do the combination one more time, I gave it my all. But then we'd have to do it again. And again. By the last move, I was out of energy and ready to collapse.
Honestly, a dance class (or classes) is one of the best workouts you can do!
You might also like:
The Proven Formula To Help You Look Cooler in Any Hip Hop Class
Adventures in Beginner Hip Hop: Bounce, Bounce, Yeah Maaaan
Adventures in Beginner Contemporary