GROUP EXERCISE

The dance fitness

revolution Dance-based fitness classes are booming. Hayley Price looks at how health clubs and leisure operators are responding to the growing variety of offerings on the market

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ver since the dance fitness brand Zumba exploded onto the market in 2010 – its ‘exercise in disguise’ format meaning even non-gym-goers got involved – there’s been a shake-up of classes across the fitness sector. Consumer expectations have changed: fitness should be fun, fitness should be social, fitness should be more than just

doing press-ups for press-ups’ sake. And as Zumba has clearly demonstrated, dance fits this brief perfectly. No real surprise, then, that in the last two years, a range of quirky home-grown dance fitness classes have arrived on the UK scene – from Clubbercise, which engages audiences with dimmed lighting and glow sticks; to Burlexercise, which sees instructors hand participants weighted

feather boas for resistance training; to former Royal Ballet star Darcey Bussell’s DDMIX, which offers a mix of dance styles in one aerobic workout (see p8). Innovative classes are also moving in from overseas – barre being the most recent, which has brought the hip LA fitness scene to the UK. Meanwhile sessions such as Morning Gloryville – an immersive pre-work dance experience

Dance party workouts like Sh’bam have made fitness fun again

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healthclubmanagement.co.uk February 2016 ©Cybertrek 2016