This Workout Dance Class Is Like Zumba, But Not Embarrassing
Fitness classes have pros and cons.
On one hand, having an audience can make you push yourself and work out way harder. On the other hand, some classes are so chill that you feel like you wasted your time, and some are so difficult that you feel extremely out of shape and embarrassed.
When I agreed to try a Dance Body class, a class series created by professional dancer Katia Pryce, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
Pryce created the class after realizing that she always favored how her body looked when she was dancing and working out, rather than just working out. Pryce and her team now offer over 45 classes a week in NYC, Miami, and The Hamptons. They also rotate eight routines every two months, so if you go frequently you’ll start to learn them.
Like most people, I love dancing when I’m drunk, but I also have no real dance skills whatsoever. Not to mention that I hadn’t worked out in two weeks prior to taking the class, so I was feeling pretty out of shape.
When I showed up to the studio on a Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., I was slightly nervous. The instructor, Katia, explained that we’d do cardio and then move to sculpting. “Okay,” I thought to myself, “sounds pretty standard.”
But then, we launched into moves right away. And they were not the boring Zumba type moves that your grandma could follow along with.
I immediately told myself that I would not look at myself in the mirror, and instead follow along with Katia. Because first off, I would get lost quickly, and second off, I was sure that I looked like an idiot.
But that’s okay, because I probably always look a bit like an idiot when I’m dancing, and that doesn’t stop it from being fun. I quickly stopped worrying about what I looked like gyrating my hips and hopping around to the beat, and just tried to follow Katia the best I could.
Dance Body seemed like a more challenging and less embarrassing version of Zumba. It included the type of moves you actually wouldn’t be ashamed to do in public, because if you did them properly, you’d look like a dancer. The moves varied from more hip-hop style to ones that were definitely inspired by ballet.
All of the jumping around definitely tired me out by the end, but I weirdly realized that I hadn’t broken a sweat, which is odd for me. It might be because I’m not in shape right now, since fit people actually start sweating sooner during exercise.
My favorite part was definitely dancing to “Jou Jou On That Beat” and some Lil’ Wayne tracks, whereas the other tracks were mostly pop songs that had an EDM remix. Another thing I enjoyed about the class was that the studio was huge, and there weren’t a ton of people in the early class, so I had lots of room to move without worrying about bumping into someone when I fucked up a move.
Right when I was getting tired af, we switched up to some slower tracks for strength training, which is usually my favorite part of classes. This is partly probably because I always could use some booty work, if you catch my drift.
Overall, Dance Body was a really fun way to kick off my morning. It didn’t kill me so that I was sore the next day, but I definitely felt like I was pushed to be on my toes during the entire class – we only took one short break, after all. Sure, I may have assimilated better if I actually had dance experience, but it’s the same as going to a kickboxing class when you have no experience with MMA. You just have to learn to let go.
