Whether it be a New Year’s resolution to become more active, a determination to improve your dancing or just a will to try something new, dance can be a great way for you to spend your time. During today’s post I want to let you know about possible routes into dance available in your local area. While not all options will be available everywhere it is likely that at least one option will be available to you, and if that option doesn’t appeal to you perhaps it is possible to set up an activity that it better suited.
One of the widest available dance based fitness class is Zumba. Searching the website (Zumba.com) to find a class is really simple and I find that there are over 30 Zumba classes on every week within a two mile radius of Bath. Zumba has become a big brand in terms of dance based fitness classes where instructors lead the session going through routines, that help improve body tone and make you burn off the calories. Most of these classes are focused on burning calories over technique, and so is great for those who want a good work out while busting some moves. Each instructor will have an individual take on each class so if you’ve been to one and didn’t like it as much as you thought you would, I would encourage trying a different instructor or perhaps taking a friend.
The next is looking for style specific classes for adults that are perhaps run through a dance school or are advertised locally by an independent artist. While many dance schools mainly run dance classes for children, it may be that within your local area one of these dance schools has an adult class. Many of these classes are primarily focused on ballet technique but it is possible to find classes for adults that range from tap to african. If you are really interested in an adult class and you know others in the area that would be too it may be worth just having a conversation with a local dance school teacher and seeing if it would be possible for them to create a class, it may be that they just thought no one would turn up!
If perhaps you don’t think committing to a weekly dance class is right for you then going and watching dance is a really good way to keep involved with what’s happening. A few dance companies also offer pre-show class, to either watch or be a part of, that would give you greater insight into what it takes to be a performing artist.
Another branch to having a theatre nearby that gets in dance artists is that quite often artists will also have a weekend workshop or class to tell you about the work, students in the area are quite often invited but many of these workshops are open to the public as well. While this may be a scary way to get involved in dance it can be highly varied and enjoyable.
If there are dance artists working within your local area, you can be sure that at some point they’ll want to do a piece of work using members of the public, while again this may sound daunting, there is nothing to be afraid of. No one should be asked to do anything they feel uncomfortable about doing and quite often the work will come from you can do instead of trying to force you into what you could be doing. If they wanted that they should be using professional dancers in their work not the public.
Another way to get involved with dance but not actually dance yourself, is to get hold of a volunteer role. Many dance schools always need chaperones in the local area, sewers are always appreciated, as well as extra hands to help out at dress rehearsals and shows. If you don’t have a child in the show it would definitely help as well as it would allow a different parent to watch the show each night. Other volunteer roles are also available most dance festivals’ work forces are made up of volunteers, selling tickets, showing you your seat and organising the certificates, along with much more.
This list isn’t exhaustive but it may help you to find roles or classes that you didn’t know about. The theatre is a great place to start to find out more about what goes on there and in the surrounding area as outreach. Many classes may also use a local gym or hall, just be aware that many teachers may not advertise their classes on line so it may be worth phoning them up to ask if they’ve any adult classes available.
More information:
Zumba – www.zumba.com
RADanceFitness 