If the title of this blog post sounds familiar, it's probably because you're an avid reader like I am of Brown Eyed Belle's blog.
I love that she posted that today because Monday's are indeed a day of dance for me.
I have been a ballet dancer for almost 25 years - I'm classically trained and prefer pointe. I've taken jazz and lyrical in the past, but when it comes to a genre like hip hop, I'm the stiff white girl who looks anything but 'gangsta'.
But Monday's are my hip hop days - and has quickly become my favorite and most looked forward to workout in my slew of activities.
Last year when I moved to Charleston, my best girlfriend told me about a hip hop class on Daniel Island for adults. She had always wanted to go but wasn't brave enough to venture alone - so now that I was in town and both of us having dance backgrounds, we wanted to give it a try.
Meet Angel Roberts. She's the type of woman you meet and think "Wow, she's got it together!" Before moving to Daniel Island, she was out in L.A. and worked as the stylist for 'That 70's Show'. When her and her husband had two little girls, they decided they wanted them to grow up in an all American town - and they found Daniel Island.
Once here Angel decided that she would put together a class for women that was a cross between exercise (think Cross Fit) and Hip Hop. She holds four classes - Daniel Island Elementary school gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays...and two classes on Tuesday - one on James Island and the other in West Ashley.
The class is only $10 for your first class of the week - and if you attend two, the second is only $5... what's great is you get way more than what you pay for. For only $10 you get an almost 2 hour long class - the first 15 or so minutes involves warm up exercises, drills across the gym, and fun partner exercises (again, think Cross Fit). Next you move on to the dance portion...she teaches a fun hip hop dance and you do the dance over and over until you've mastered it. She'll split the gym into two groups and you do the dance back and forth until you can barely go any longer. Then the class wraps up with floor exercises - planks, ab work, stretching - followed by a cool down.
There are all levels of ability and all ages in this class... Angel is so fun and upbeat, you don't even realize you're working out (or that you're not a professional hip hop dancer). She keeps you challenged and each week you learn a new dance so you're never bored.
I just realized I sound like I'm a marketer...but I really genuinely love this class and look forward to it every week. You leave the class drenched in sweat and feeling like a million bucks - and even when you wake up incredibly sore the next morning (which you will), you know it was because you got a crazy work out.
One of the local TV stations did a story on Angel and the class last week and I wanted to embed it in this post... but my stupid work Web filter will not let me get to it. I was actually interviewed for the story... right after class...when my hair was a mess and my makeup had sweated down to my chin. Niiice. Lol. I'll try to update this later and embed it.
Update: Here's the news report with me being interviewed!
For now though, I'll embed my favorite dance we've done so far... 'Carry Out' which is also one of my fave songs. I'm in this video for only a few seconds - you'll maybe see me in the second group of dancers when the camera pans to the left.. about the 1:37 mark I appear on the left. I'm in black pants with white stripes on the sides, grey shirt, hair in ponytail, about the second person from the left, in between the two in the front. Don't laugh. :)
Another dance we did I really liked... "I Need Somebody to Love".
So I'm ready for class tonight - even though it's going to be sweltering with the incredibly high temperatures here in Charleston today (heat index of 117..no joke). But with so much going on with work and unpacking my condo, etc., I'm looking forward to some dancing and working off the stress (and the pizza I ate Saturday night).
If you're in Charleston...you should definitely try out one of the classes! It's so fun! My best friend and I have inspired several of our other friends to start taking the class because they hear us talk about it so much.
You can see more on their Facebook page. She videos the dances each week so you can watch them after class.
I showed my boyfriend some of the videos and besides telling me I shouldn't be so stiff (gee thanks), he said that he thought the dances were 'hot', lol. And then said that my friend and I should start doing those dances in the bars and clubs... he was serious. Um... no.
But.. how cool would it be if we organized a flash mob of one of these dances somewhere in Charleston where it was crowded?? I just posted the idea on the Facebook page! :)
So...what's your favorite work out? What work out do you do that you love or that you always look forward to??
Happy Monday!
Posted in: About Me,Dance,Work Out
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