Dance Fitness

As students of TU Dresden, we are allowed to take up to three of the sports classes the university offers. There's limited space available in the classes, so you have to wait for the open period and sign up for your favorite classes immediately to get a spot. The most popular classes fill up within minutes. I had planned to take Pilates and Tae Kwon Do, but didn't get spaces in either of them. Luckily, I got into Dance Fitness. I take it one afternoon a week, at a dance studio near Bahnhof Mitte, and absolutely love it.

My teacher is a young, energetic dancer who is very strong. We always start with a warm up, then go into a fitness part, then learn some choreography, and finally cool down and stretch. It's different every week. The choreography combines jazz, latin, hip-hop, and a little ballet. The fitness part is always exhausting - our teacher loves to yell at us to go faster (Schnell! Schnell!) and to move with more emphasis and power (Bam! Bam!). Sometimes when we are learning the choreography and are acting a little lazy or lackadaisical, she makes fun of us by imitating us. It always cracks me up. Overall, she is very positive and patient with us. The class is taught entirely in German, so I don't always understand what she's saying, but it's not too hard to follow along, and now at least I know the words for "left" and "right"!

There are usually about seven other students in the class with me, but the number fluctuates up and down from week to week. Some of the people there the first week didn't come back, and other people filled their places. All of the other students are young Germans, one guy and the rest girls. Everyone I've talked to has been really nice. At first I though it was strange that we all get dressed in one changing room, but I got used to it. Germans seem to be very comfortable with their bodies. I've heard stories from friends that in the saunas here women and men sit around naked together; I don't think I could do that!

Today was one of my favorite classes because I really liked the choreography. There were fewer students than usual so we all had plenty of space to move. The choreography was sweeping and set to dramatic music from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There were two particularly tricky floor moves. If I practiced those every day I would be really strong (and probably covered with bruises)! During the cool-down I started laughing when I realized she had chosen "Feliz Navidad" for the first song. This was followed by some other Christmas tunes. At the end she wished us all a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Our next class will be in January!