It’s
the New Year and with it, comes new thinking, new promises and a renewed
commitment to getting into shape.
However, while New Year resolutions burn brightly at the beginning of
the year, it is often hard to stay the course as real life sets in and we find
ourselves back into the same old habits of yesteryear. Once sure fire way to
maintain the desire to do something about your health and to get into shape and
up those fitness levels, that is both fun and stimulating, is dance. Jazzart Dance in particular.
The Jazzart
Dance Company, based in Cape Town, has created a series of exciting public dance classes - for the whole family, all shapes and sizes and fitness levels -
to tune up the groove. The award-winning contemporary dance company is on a
mission to help South Africans get fit as well as providing a safe space for
people to express their inner most emotions – all through movement.
Dance may be a scary thought
for self-doubting beginners, but Jazzart’s welcoming approach to a physical workout provides
a safe space for exploration. “When we say we welcome everybody we mean just
that” says Ananda Fuchs, Jazzart dance teacher, who together with Sifiso
Kweyama, the artistic director has been teaching beginners and those with a bit
of experience for some years. Fuchs believes dance to be an incredible
discipline that can be learned at any age. “We take it easy (to start with),
almost anyone can benefit from one or two classes a week” she adds.
The dance classes are not only
about trimming down, it is about changed lives – enhancing health and
athleticism while using a rewarding system that satisfies both one’s interior
and exterior world.
The professional teachers
utilize the fluidity of choreography to
enable one to capitalise on beautiful movement, and this focused
exercise can “invigorate the
dancer’s energies and interrogate their inner connections,” interjects Kweyama.
Male and female school-going
dancers, adults and anyone who wants to add the art form to their
extracurricular activities are encouraged to join in, as well as those who have
been shy about their body shape, fitness level, or co-ordination.
The benefits of Jazzart dance classes include
building core strength, firm muscles without bulking up, improve balance and
co-ordination, losing centimetres and kilos, stepping out of your comfort zone
- learn something new, improved mental health and flexibility, increasing
energy levels, meeting new people and expressing yourself like never before –
own the moment.
The classes take place at the
Jazzart studio RR552 at Artscape on Mondays from 17H30 to 18H45 of beginners, Tuesdays
from 17H30 to 18H45 for Intermediate/advanced dancers and Saturdays at 10H00 to
11H00 for kiddies and continues for teens at 11H15 to 13H00. A class costs R80 per adult and R70 per
child. Packages are also available at R350 for five classes, R650 for 10
classes and R720 for Saturday classes per term. To book your lesson email dance@jazzart.co.za
or call on (021) 410 9848.
