AS(U) should try this too! My experience at Piladance
The Sun Devil Fitness Complex has a wide variety of group wellness classes. Some students may be afraid to try new things or may have never even heard of the wellness classes that ASU provides. That’s where I come in. I’m here to show everyone what these classes are all about by sharing my experience in hopes that it may encourage others to try the class as well.
This time I decided to try out the Piladance class. I didn’t know what to expect going into the class and I don’t mind doing some dancing. On any occasion, my go-to dances are hittin’ my folk or milly rocking like so.
(I was a little upset when I found out that no milly rocking was going to take place in the class, but I’m open to new ideas.)
I walked in and was greeted by a friendly face. Rina was my instructor for the day.
I asked her what the class was all about.
“Piladance…is a combination exercise of pilates and dance,” Rina responded. “It’s a brand new exercise that came from Japan. It’s a combination of anaerobic and aerobic exercises.”
I’m sure Rina was surprised to see me show up to the class —heck, I would be too — but I never felt unwelcome to the class. As the workouts went on, she made sure a noob like myself was doing okay.
The class appears to be broken down into three different sections. The first part is a bunch of pilates exercises. I’ve never done pilates prior to taking this class, so I didn’t know what to expect. The workouts Rina had me do made me focus on working out my inner core muscles while focusing on my breathing and proper pelvis positioning.
After working out my core, we started to break down the dance moves I’ll be bustin’ later through different workouts. It’s important to find rhythm while doing these workouts — it just makes everything a lot easier.
Once Rina broke down the dance moves for me, it was time to put it all together for the grand finale. The last dance had me incorporate everything that we had been doing throughout the class. This ranged from the breathing practices and pilates in the beginning to the dance moves she showed me later on.
Rina had me do a couple more dances with some new moves that I wasn’t expecting. It caught me off guard, but ya boi adjusted.
I know for sure I was getting a good workout because I was sweating all over the place! Best believe I was still getting it, though. I was in there like:
Once the dancing was over we cooled down with some stretches. Then the class ended with some breathing exercises and a hug: a self-hug to reward yourself for the hard work and effort. After all that sweating and dancing, I needed it!
Overall, I had a great workout and most importantly, a good time. You don’t need to be an experienced dancer to excel in this class, just an enthusiastic one. Rina is a wonderful instructor and assisted me every step of the way. I ended up doing two sessions of this class and as much fun as I had in Piladance: basic, I think it’s time I take my moves to the next level. The scheduled times for Piladance can be found on the group wellness page, along with other classes you may want to try. I had a great time trying it and you should try it too!
If you want more information about Piladance, Rina Okuma is your gal. You can contact her through email or Facebook, and you check out her informative videos on YouTube.
