Last week I reviewed 305 Fitness, and now, I need to tell you all about my experience with The Dance, another dance-cardio class, emphasis on dance, no emphasis on eating.
My roommate from law school has been capital-O-OBSESSED with this class, and has been raving about it, swearing it’s the most fun and best workout she has had in a long time. I had to try it out, even though at $35/class, I knew it was probably a one-time-thing. It’s held in Studio B, on the third floor of Bandier on 5th Avenue. I was 30 minutes early to class, and having enough self-knowledge to know that I cannot resist buying when I’m around workout clothes, I walked straight up to the studio without passing go, or collecting $200 in debt by shopping in the store on the ground level.
Amanda Kloots, a former Radio City Rockette-turned Broadway performer, created The Dance, as well as The Rope, an all-jump-rope workout, which I was definitely not ready for yet. Amanda was a ray of sunshine from the moment she walked in the room. She is about 6’1”, all legs and abs and blonde fitness-model physique. And that Rockette smile training did not fail her. How intimidating. She was a ball of energy, and her smile was intoxicating #nohomo. I had scoped out her Instagram (@amandakloots) before the class to see what I was up against and what I should wear. Most of the people were wearing crop tops, which was definitely not going to happen after my #30Years30IceCreams binge last month, so I decided for the exact opposite: a not-so-subtle tank top I received as a gift, that said “I Run For Ice Cream.” Fact, but embarrassing.
When I walked into class, I realized my epic wardrobe fail. Not only did I look like I had eaten ONE HUNDRED ice creams on my way over compared to everyone else, I was advertising it on my shirt! I was pretty sure I was the only one who had eaten all day in that room. Oh well. I guess I should have expected it from my Instagram pre-research. My friend insisted that I not go to the back row, so I sucked it up (literally, I was sucking in my stomach as much as I could), and readied myself for some dance.
I will admit, I am generally pretty coordinated. Both of my parents dance (they met in an international folk dance troupe!), I took classes in ballet, jazz, tap and Irish dance from the age of 2, til I was 12, AND my favorite fitness class to teach is step aerobics. However, I would never consider myself a “dancer.” This class was COMPLICATED! She taught the combos quickly and assumed you would catch on. I later learned that she does a lot of the same routines over again, which made me feel better because I was wondering how everyone was so much better than me! I guess I will have to go back (and spend another $35) to hone my The Dance skillz. This must be how they earn their money! There was only one prescribed water break during the whole class, which meant the cardio kept coming at me!
In summary: this class was a BLAST. I got a great sweat on, I learned fun dances, I shook my butt to Bootylicious, and every time I caught my reflection in the mirror, I had a huge smile on my face. My self-consciousness was all in my head, and Amanda definitely made me feel welcome, despite the fact that I was the size of a Tonka Truck compared to her Hot Wheels car-sized body. She even came over after class and asked if I was new, introduced herself, and told me I was “cute” because I was smiling the whole time. I didn’t admit that half of the time it was because I was laughing at myself as I was 3 beats behind. I would recommend this class to anyone with impeccable coordination, stamina, and rock-hard abs. Or substitute the rock-hard abs with unwavering self-confidence, and you will be good to go. As Amanda would say, #JumpSkipSmile!