Get your kicks with exotic dance classes
Former Radio City Music Hall Rockette and current dance instructor Mia Price (center) teaches a class in Rockette tap dancing at A Dancer's Studio in Huntington. (September 26, 2009) Credit: /Yana Paskova
Would you like to kick sky-high like a Radio City Rockette? Move to the rhythm of an African drumbeat? Combine the beauty of dance with the power of martial arts?
Those are only a few of the unusual adult dance classes some studios are offering on Long Island.
Whether you want to move like a pro on the dance floor or get a workout like no other, here are a few:
Rockette Tap
When | Where: 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturday at Variations, A Dancer's Studio, 180 Spring Rd., Huntington
Info: 631-425-9220, variationsdancestudio.com
Cost: $17
Instructor Mia Price, a former Radio City Rockette who has danced in Broadway shows including "Spamalot," "Oklahoma" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie," leads a high-energy class that incorporates tap, dance combinations and - of course - those skyward high kicks the Rockettes are known for. Bring your tap shoes.
African Dance
When | Where: 7:30-9 p.m. Thursdays, starting Oct. 29 at Berest Dance Center, 12 S. Washington St., Port Washington
Info: 516 944-6687, berestdance.com
Cost: $20 (usually offered in a 10-class block for $170)
Students dance barefoot and learn traditional African dance steps accompanied by a live drummer on the bongos. After a 30-minute warm-up, they spend the next 40 minutes learning choreographed steps and the last half-hour putting those steps into dance combinations. Director Olga Berest says, "You not only sweat, but you are keying into the stomach area, without doing boring crunches."
Zumba
When | Where: 10:30-11:30 a.m. Mondays at Dany Holdstein's Two Worlds Dance and Fitness Center, 340 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale
Info: 516-484-6604, dhtw.com
Cost: $20 (15 classes for $270, with class card)
One of the hottest and most in-demand dance styles on the Island right now, Zumba is a high-energy fitness class that pairs fast and slow rhythms of Latin and international music with resistance training that works out every part of the body, studio manager Laura Stein says. "You're shaking it from top to bottom. You work up a really good sweat . . . and it really feels great."
Also try: Zumba classes are offered at Jam Dance & Fitness Center's three locations - Bellmore (227 Bedford Ave., 516-781-5090), Dix Hills (15 E. Deer Park Rd., 631-462-2444) and Great Neck (375 Great Neck Rd., 516-466-5647). Classes are $15 each, jamdanceandfitness.com.
Masala Bhangra Workout
When | Where: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Rhythms & Soul Dance Studio, 16 Wolcott Rd., Levittown
Info: 516-520-2934, rhythmsandsoul.com
Cost: $15 for drop-ins (new student packages available).
Masala mean "spicy" in Hindi. Bhangra is a folk dance from northern India. Mix the two, and you get a high-energy cardio workout that combines classic Bhangra and Bollywood moves with easy-to-follow routines. Workout clothes and sneakers are recommended.
Nia
When | Where: 4:30-5:30 p.m. Mondays and 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays at Showtime Dance Factory, 319 Middle Country Rd., Selden
Info: 631-880-3465
Cost: $12 a class ($45 a month for unlimited Nia classes)
Done barefoot using expressive, free-flowing and continuous movements, Nia is a cardio-dance program that engages the body, mind and spirit through a mixture - the dance arts, Tai Chi, yoga, Qigong (a Chinese exercise system), meditation and the martial arts, including Tae Kwon Do - "all rolled into a series of steps and stances and set to music," says instructor Patti Ann Bengen (niacenterliny.com). She says even people who can't stand for long periods or who use wheelchairs can do Nia.
>> Want more? See our dance event listings.
