What to do on a rainy day? Dance, dance it all off! Today, I tried my hands on Dancehall Jam levels 1 and 2.
Lesley Dimson
10:00am
Los Angeles, CA (raining)
People say it never rains in Southern California. Today isn’t one of those perfectly sunny days. The sky was gloomy and gray, and the wind was cold. My mind says stay in bed, but the body craved for some kind of movement. Something festive to beat the rainy day blues. I scrolled through the Hip Shake Fitness dance workouts as I sipped on my coffee and found the perfect perk up routine to do just that–Dancehall Jam!
Dancehall Jam Level 1
Zen divided the class into two parts. The first section consisted body isolation movements. I learned the body roll, chest roll and tick tocks. As a Pilates instructor, I am used to isolating muscle groups in a very linear manner. The upper body rolling in the video was wavy and circular, it was an effective way to awaken the spine. The second part was the Dancehall part, she teaches the Dirty Wine and the Gogo Wine. I have always admired gyrating dancers in reggae/dancehall parties, so Zen had my full attention. Then I learned the Butterfly, Frog Back and Gangster Rock. Are the step names funky, or what? Every instruction was quite easy to follow because Zen used very simple cues and counting.
At this point my legs and hips are on fire
My energy level was rising and so was the attitude put into each step. I just love how she always reminds us to have fun with it. It was time for the cool down. It was slow and sensual and the wine was back. I was so hooked and wanted to do more, so on to the second level I went…
On to level 2…
I absolutely love how the same segments from the previous lesson were brought into the Level 2 workout. Zen made the body isolation movements faster and added more arms for coordination. My body was warm, loose and grateful. It truly felt like I had my own party at home before noon. The Dancehall part had more intermediate still funky-sounding names such as Bogo, Pon di River, Willie Bounce (and it’s variations) and Thunder Clap. It was enjoyable to combine the learnings from Level 1 and able to spice it up with my own flavor. It was also refreshing to step out of my Pilates background but still stabilize and engage all muscle groups in spirals and circles.
My body was warm, loose and grateful.
Get Jammin’
I would recommend this workout to anyone who would like to get their bounce on. Thank you, Zen. I can now confidently wine-slow, fast and dirty. Get your jam on and get an online dance workout like never before!
About the author:
Lesley Dimson
Pilates instructor, hip shaker.
Instagram: @juicygloots