Entertainment

Dance Fit @ Frame Shoreditch

frame2I’m not normally a fan of mixed ability classes, particularly ones that involve dance as the core element. I generally believe that someone is going to be left feeling they didn’t get the work out they paid for, be it the beginners thrown in too deep or the more experienced who wont be pushed to their limit.

When I saw fitness hotspot Frame Shoreditch were offering a ‘’Dance Fit’’ class I have to admit I was skeptical. With a dance background myself, I had pre-conceived visions of a room full of less than agile women dressed in spandex, step tapping and perhaps throwing in the odd grape vine for good measure.

Oh how wrong was I!

Once the instructor/choreographer Joelle Scott arrived people piled into the studio. The class was packed and yes it was female heavy but I saw a couple of guys in attendance as well. Joelle is a huge character; cheeky and charming with a penchant for leotards and a figure that puts most of humanity to shame. Immediately he made the room feel at ease, joking that todays session was going to be really hard and that we ‘like, might die’. (I say he was joking but in retrospect I think there may have been elements of truth in that statement!)

frame1The lights were lowered and the music cranked up to resemble a nightclub. Class started with a warm up that included jogging in a circle interspersed with lunges, high knee raises, star jumps, squats and burpees. We moved on to some high intensity dance moves tailored to the particular genre of track whilst allowing us to work individual muscle groups.

From old school pop and RnB, to current dance hall anthems the eclectic playlist has been created to incorporate a range of dance styles. My favorite part, the carnival inspired section, saw us ‘’skin out, bogle and wine!’’

Small weights allowed my feeble arms to get the work out of their lives and the abs/glutes section was killer – I can’t lie. I thought I was strong but 12 minutes of crunch and leg raise rep’s is going to hurt. No one in the class wanted to be the first to drop out meaning that somehow we all got through it!

The grand finale was a much-needed cool down to Beyonce’s Partition. This routine really demonstrated how comfortable everyone was feeling by the end of the class; back bends, legs stretches and the type of writhing around Queen B would have been suitably proud of!

Although I had worried I might be self-conscious, you can’t help but get totally in the zone in this class. (I did rather embarrassingly find myself singing along really, really loudly to Mya’s Case of the Ex!) The beauty is that time flies by and before you know it your workout is complete.

Truth is, this is a high intensity 45 min full body cardio and conditioning workout that feels more like a party. And whilst it is definitely suited to all dance abilities, it is not for the faint hearted. Whether you’re male or female you will work out muscles you never knew existed, push your fitness to the limit and are guaranteed to sweat out a river but what an exhilarating way to kick start the week!

The Dance Fit class that I took part in runs on a Monday night at 8.15 but be warned it fills up PDQ. If you check Frames extremely user-friendly online timetable there are plenty of alternative Dance Fit classes throughout the week and I am reliably told that if you like Dance Fit you will LOVE Frame’s Rave.

Reviewer: Carolyn Owlett

Dance Fit classes are £11 for non-members and £9 for members. Booking in advance is highly recommended.
www.moveyourframe.com, /moveyourframe, @FRAMEShoreditch

 

29 New Inn Yard
Shoreditch
EC2A 3EY

Phone: 020 7033 1855
Email Shoreditch