Workout of the Week: Hip-Hop Dance

“Becky Hamm, a lifelong dancer, has taught hip-hop for four years. Hamm teaches many other fitness classes, including weight training and Pilates. What is the Workout: Hip-Hop is an exercise class that also acts as a dance class. While there is a focus on dancing and following choreography, the main focus is on getting your heart racing and working your body. The workout mostly consists of doing a series of hip-hop dance moves at a fast pace. What does it cost: $15 for a drop-in class. Who does it?: My class consisted of about 20 people of varying fitness levels. According to Hamm, the class usually fills up and brings in everyone from young women to middle aged men. Most of the choreography is same from class to class, so it's fine to drop in like I did. Going to the classes regularly can you give you the upper hand in doing moves like ‘The Beyonce’ and remembering all of the choreography. The dancing portion of the class starts with a few simple moves. Hamm teaches the move before everyone tries it out. Usually we'd practice the move a few times before we'd start from the beginning of the dance or from a previous move. Then once the move was ingrained in our memories we'd move to the next step. Most of the moves were fairly simple and involved ‘pops,’ ‘stomps’ and moving our butts. Hamm said that having fun is her main inspiration for teaching hip-hop. ‘I'm inspired by the people that come,’ she said, ‘When I see people enjoying it, it inspires me.’”

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/24/no-headline---2009-06-16-124216049787/