Dancercise

Hip-hop and Latin classes blur the line between dance and aerobics ￳ and offer a uniquely fun workout

By AMY MAYER

Published on January 20, 2006

ON a Wednesday evening, six women arrive at the Holmes Studio of Dance, Music and Wellness in Easthampton carrying clean sneakers and greeting each other with comments about the cold weather. They'll soon be warm as they work out in their hip-hop dance class.

Whether it's dancing as an aerobic workout or aerobics made more dance-like, the fitness world is seeing a fusing of the two. Rosalie Peri, the fitness director at the Northampton Athletic Club and an experienced aerobics instructor, says this is a return to the origins of aerobics, which she says emerged from dance but has diverged from it over the past 25 years as classes like kickboxing and step aerobics gained popularity.

Mary Ann Holmes added an adult hip-hop class to her studio's lineup last year. Aerobics and adult dance classes have always been on the schedule, she says. But some of her newer dance classes offer a more thorough workout than traditional tap or jazz.

''The most cardiovascular has to be a hip-hop [class], definitely,'' says Holmes. She says that although all hip-hop classes are taught differently, as a workout they tend to resemble step aerobics.

Denise Blais of Easthampton says when the place where she did aerobics closed, some friends were taking Holmes' hip-hop class. She decided to give it a try.

''The hip-hop dance class is much more intense,'' she says. ''You get a much better workout.''

Matching movements to music

During the one-hour class, Blais and the other students work with Holmes on a series of steps they are perfecting for a performance later this month. Holmes says performing is optional, but it's an element many of her students enjoy. It's also something that differentiates her class from a dance-inspired aerobics class, such as the ones Peri teaches at the Northampton Athletic Club.

Holmes is small and fit and dresses in a tight-fitting top and loose pants that say ''Dance all night'' on the leg. On her feet she's got short white cotton socks and big black leather sneakers. She leads the students through some warm-up exercises and then the seven women move to the edges of the studio. Holmes cues a CD and the speakers blare Missy Elliott saying, ''My style cannot be imitated.'' The music and the attitude in Elliott's voice seem to spur the dancers, and most are smiling as they meet each other in the middle of the room and move toward the large mirror on the front wall. Holmes encourages the students to match their movements with the feel of the music.

She counts out a new step - ''one, two, hit, one, two, hit'' - and demonstrates how she wants the students to stab the air with their elbows. Sharp, almost jerky movements punctuate the routine.

Lori Ingraham of Easthampton says the class is fun and she thinks of it as a ''dancing experience - I guess the workout's just extra.'' Lori Dyer, also of Easthampton, says she started dancing because she was bringing her kids to the studio so often. Her daughters, Emily, 11, and Erika, 16, are watching their mother's class tonight. The workout aspect is no afterthought to her.

''It's equal to a step aerobics class, especially tonight,'' she says. ''It's a real good cardiovascular workout.''

The women run, walk, lunge and jump. They pivot and twist, swing their hips, raise and wave their arms over their heads and slide across the floor on their bottoms. The activity is interrupted only when Holmes stops the music to review or introduce a step or gesture. She goes over the new moves until each student has them down.

By the midway point of the class, the students are reaching for water bottles. At the end, Holmes leads them through a cool-down exercise with plenty of stretching. She says modern dance classes for adults, including hip-hop, street jazz and funk, have been increasing in popularity in the past few years. Many of her dance students are coming over from aerobics.

''It's such a great workout,'' she says of dancing. ''It helps you in so many ways.''

Where rhythm resides

For Rosalie Peri's students, the distinction between dance and aerobics is more subtle. The drop-in class on Friday mornings attracts nine women on this day. Peri puts on a Mark Anthony song, dons her headset microphone and gets moving. She encourages the students to loosen their arms and swing their hips to get their bodies warmed up for the workout.

She reviews a move derived from the traditional merengue. It involves leading with the hip and almost dragging one leg toward the other. Peri says the move comes from a Spanish king who had a bum leg; it's supposed to disguise the fact that he couldn't do more traditional steps. Peri admits that she doesn't know whether the story is true but says the image helps students get the right rhythm. (A quick Web review of merengue history could not corroborate the story. One site had a tale similar to Peri's, but instead of a Spanish king it was either a war hero who lost a leg or a group of chained-together slaves around whom the step was created. All agree the merengue was born in the Caribbean.)

''I really enjoy the Latin class,'' says Ann Dunphy of Northampton, ''because it combines the fun of dance so you don't feel so much like you're working out.'' Dunphy says she has never attempted to take her moves from the aerobics studio to the dance floor.

But for Emily Shapiro, the transition has been the opposite. She has been dancing since she was 3 or 4 years old, she says, and she majored in musical theater in college. She says she comes to the Latin dance aerobics class now because she can't afford separate dance lessons.

''In my mind they're really both the same thing,'' she says of dance and aerobics. ''Dancing has more cohesion and fluidity,'' she adds, but an aerobics class can be made dance-y and dancing can be done in a way similar to aerobics.

The hips have it

During this session, Shapiro improvises at times, lifting her arms over her head or adding extra hip movements to a set. Peri calls her the ''Latin diva'' and encourages her with calls of ''You go, girl!'' Peri also checks in with the other students, trying to keep all engaged in the class.

''I love this class and I love Rosalie,'' says Merle Feld of Northampton. ''She has such a love of life and love of movement. It's infectious.''

Occasionally, Peri adds a twirl into a set of steps and you can almost imagine her in a long dress with the skirt fluffing out and then settling back down around her legs, the way a woman might look while dancing tango at a club in Buenos Aires. But the overall feel is more exercise than dance class. One reason for this, Peri explains, is that in modern aerobic dance classes teachers make a point to change the lead, incorporating steps that work the left and right sides of the body evenly. Years ago, she says, she and a friend noticed they were developing muscles unevenly because they were always leading with the same side of their bodies. By teaching Latin dance with the lead on either side, Peri helps her students to strengthen their bodies symmetrically, she says.

Peri demonstrates a new flamenco step and explains it's ''like you're stepping over a big puddle and you've got a long dress on.'' She puts on a Carlos Santana CD and they try a set with the new move.

Ten minutes before the class ends, the students grab mats and oblong-shaped exercise balls from the back of the room and prepare for cool-down stretches. Peri says after a Latin class she focuses on the hips during cool-down because they play such a prominent role in the workout.

The bright lights and casual clothing of a studio - whether one for dance or aerobics - will never approach the ambiance of a nightclub. Put on the right music and get moving, though, and you get an hour of exercise and fun - with none of the social pressures.

Amy Mayer is a freelance writer and radio producer based in Shutesbury. She can be reached at newsroom@gazettenet.com.