DMF Review- Dance Motivation Fitness
So I think I’ve mentioned briefly in passing that I danced as a child growing up. Well, I’m not quite sure I gave this little nugget about myself the full focus it deserves. When I say I danced growing up I mean I lived and breathed dancing. Not only did I attend classes, I spent my summers going to open classes, I practiced in my basement, I thought about it while listening to music, I read about, I dreamt about, I went to shows to watch professionals. I literally lived to dance! In college I was a member of a prestigious dance company funded by my university. It was akin to playing a full-time sport except my season was nearly all year long. We arrived on campus early to practice, we danced nights and weekends. We even had t-shirts made that said “I can’t . . . I have dance” meant to inform the entire campus why we were always unavailable for social events.
O.k. I think you get it now. I kind of, sorta like dancing. Obviously it should come as no surprise to you then that my passion for dance easily translates into a passion for fitness, especially fitness classes. Just as I loved moving to music in ballet, contemporary and jazz classes, I love moving to music in Zumba, spin, and barre classes. Before the hubs and I moved to NYC, we lived in Sydney, Australia (where he is from) where I taught a Les Mills class called BodyJam, a dance based fitness class. So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that a new class was launching here in NYC focusing on cardio dance! I love Zumba but sometimes I want to move away from the Latin rhythms and focus solely on some good ol’ fashion jazz and hip hop inspired moves.
DMF was created by Lindi Duesenberg, whom I recognized from Physique 57 classes. It’s an hour long cardio dance program but I would better describe it as an hour long dance party! Lindi is incredibly welcoming and whether you have a ton of dance experience or no experience at all, you’ll feel at home with this class. I saw a few newbies introducing themselves to each other before class and the regulars were all smiling at everyone. What the heck!?! Normally when I go to new classes all the new people are hiding in the back and the regulars are uber possessive about their “spots.” Clearly that kind of thing doesn’t fly here at DMF. Everyone is here to let loose, have some fun and get their sweat on.
And sweat you will! I was literally dripping! You’re going to definitely want to bring a towel to this class! The moves are all dance based but Lindi keeps the intensity up by keeping you moving non-stop. She does very little breakdown of the moves but rather offers simple patterns with lots of repetition. Personally, I prefer this if you are new to dance but still want a great workout. And for all you experienced dancers out there, get ready for some funky flavor bringing back a little old school moves like the pony with some fun hip hop and even Latin styles.
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The classes at DMF work in blocks. You start out with a warm up song that prepares you for the good stuff to come. You then move on to your first cardio block which consists of several songs of choreography. Like with Zumba each song offers new choreography and while you may learn some moves in one song and repeat them in the next, the patterns always change keeping you interested and not taxing your memory. At the midpoint of class you switch gears a bit and focus on some lower body toning and standing ab work. Trust me; you’ll be so happy to have a little cardio break because by this point you’ll be a sweaty, panting mess. But don’t be fooled, the toning work is no walk in the park. After toning, you move into your second and final cardio block before cooling down.
Lindi manages to keep the energy up so that you don’t even realize an entire hour has gone by before you are cooling down. She remembers your name and isn’t afraid to call out and tell you who great you are doing. Personally, I love that kind of motivation! Not to mention, the music is awesome: a playlist anyone would want to groove to. Expect to have a lot of fun with this workout!
Classes are $25 each, $110 for 5 class package or $200 for a 10 class package. Plus there is a special on Gilt at the moment! So what are you waiting for? Get your dance on today!