My Ate Rachelle invited me to try out Step 1 Dance & Fitness' Wednesday 7pm beginner adult hip-hop…read moreclass with coach Joe H.
Personally, I'm more of a Zumba gal so this style of dance was really out of my comfort zone and I didn't know what to expect. First time in, and the drop-in price for the class was $15. While waiting for the previous [full] class to finish in that room (Zumba), restrooms were all the way down the hall and they also have an Elkay water bottle filler. There were at least two or three more rooms in use for youth/teen classes, and folding chairs along the hallway for parents/spectators too.
There were less than ten people total in the class by my estimate, and it is once a week recurring. It sounded like the past two weeks they were working on choreography moves, but this evening Joe wanted to focus on a basic skill tutorial/demo -- the Wave! The arm wave is one of the coolest foundational illusions in popping, where you make your arm look like a ripple of water.
After a warmup meditative movement set, he really broke it down step by step, practicing each position, first a cappella then with music, slow first then sped up, then added variations/flair.
Isolating each joint is the key: fingers/hands up, then pop wrist, elbow up, pop shoulder up, chest, then once at opposite shoulder, reverse the path down the other arm! He also showed us a trace wave transition into a body wave, popping the left knee, then right knee, hip, chest, head, then trace back to the arm/hand. You could even do the arm wave at shoulder level, down at your waist, with both arms parallel, or point at each pop of the body wave. He also showed us the difference between waving out versus waving in.
One water break pause during the hour, but otherwise it was fun to learn and follow along. The class after us was Beg/Int Contemporary Fusion 8pm, then Heels at 8:30pm. For adults they also have Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Line Dance, Fierce Funk, Soca Dance Fitness, Stretch Fusion and Sculpt & Define. https://step1danceandfitness.com/pdfs/Adult-schedule.pdf
