Dance Class, Leçon de Deux

[Prudence Warner]

Prudence stood in the dance studio as she waited for the students to arrive. In their last lesson she wore a leotard and tights, today she wore the outfit she had worn at Zumba camp, a pair of 3/4 black Zumba pants with a neon green stripe down the outside and a black sleeveless-tee that clearly started she an instructor. She still planned on continuing with their ballet training, but today she was going to start the session with a nicely paced warm-up - and she wasn't talking of working at the barre either.

As the girls arrived, Prue let them put their things away. She watched as they took their shoes off, leaving bare feet or replacing them for ballet slippers. She then walked over to the stereo, it was time to get things started.

"Can I have everyone in the centre of the floor. Find your own space so that you can move without hitting the person to either side of you, or the back or front. Some of you may have worked out from out free dancing last time that I'm a Zumba instructor. Today we are going to do a warm-up that I quite enjoy." She waited until the girls had followed her instructions and she pushed play on the stereo. "Don't stress if you find it hard to keep up, just do your best." She drew in a breath and let it out as the music started. She moved her hands into fifth position (arms up, elbows slightly bent and hands about the head, almost, but not touching) and then she started the warm up.

I found this on YouTube and liked it.

[oakley]

Hannah was quite tired from her long first day of school, but she felt fully energized now that she knew dance class was about the begin. She had yet to meet the dance instructor, but had visited the studio the day before, while exploring the academy and figuring out her schedule. Now she glanced around at the numerous other girls on the dance floor, and the occasional guy. They were all dressed similarly, tights or some kind of leggings, cutoff T-shirts and sweatshirts. Hannah blended in, wearing a pair of relatively thick white tights, and a cutoff-the-shoulder KISS sweatshirt.

Hannah had heard of Zumba before, but had never bothered to join in the fad everyone at home was doing. She liked her regular dance classes just fine. But she had watched friends do it, seen advertisements on TV, Hannah knew what it was. And her new dance instructor obviously loved it. Her pants were of Zumba brand as well as her cutoff tee, and the warmup she was now explaining was of the same decent as well. Hannah wasn't used to this kind of dance, but she had promised herself she would keep an open mind to new things and allow for new beginnings. Perhaps she'd like this new thing. Along with the other girls in her class, Hannah made her way to the center of the studio and watched her instructor, mirroring her steps. Understatement #1: Zumba was weird.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara walked into the dance studio, and finding a spot on the bench by herself, she slipped out of her tracksuit to reveal her black leotard and tights. She liked the class uniform of either leotard and tights or trousers and sleeveless tee-shirt. She sat down on the ground and pulled her ballet slippers out of her bag and swapped the tennis shoes she was wearing for the slippers. She then rose to her feet and glided over to the barre.

As she worked through a few exercises as she waited for class to start, she arched an eyebrow at Ms Warner's clothes. When she had fist met the woman the year before, the instructor had made no secret about the fact that she had trained as a Zumba instructor, even though she loved ballet, and would use it during her dance classes if she felt the need to change things up a little.

When they were told to find a space on the floor, Cara regretfully removed her fingers from the barre and found her own space. Taking in a deep breath, she mirrored the instructor's pose and then followed all the steps, easily keeping up as she had danced for as long as she could walk and mirroring an instructor was like second nature. The warm-up was good, but not something Cara would repeat by choice.

[Henrietta Charleston]

Henri stepped quickly, her feet already moving along with the beat on her Ipod. She was pumped for dance today, especially with such a great first lesson. The brunette’s dance back was daintily held in a hand, prepared from the day before. Henri liked to be prepared no matter what, it was simply one of things that lowered her stress level. Working with stress always proved to be a hopeless idea and Henri was quite glad she had tricks up her sleeve to get her to the most focused position she could be in. All day, she had been in classes, perhaps math being the most boring. Biology had actually been a success for her and this caused a grin to spread permanently on her face for the time being.

Henri popped cheerily through the door to the dance studio, happy to see she wasn’t late this time. Being late simply was a habit just waiting to be taken. A habit she really didn’t need with how nervous and perfect she felt she needed to be. Of course, it wasn’t a major thing she had deal with, but it was enough that the brunette wanted to get rid of it. Somewhat excited for what the teacher had planned for them today, she smiled softly at all the other students, giving everyone a nod in greeting.

Over the weeks she had come, Henri had become less shy in her classes, but there was always that little thing that kept her from completely opening up to others in fear that she would be taken in as weird. A new girl also caught her eye and she gave her a small shy grin as she sat down to slip her clothes off. Of course, with her dance clothes underneath. Henri then proceeded to take out her ballet slippers, tying them with flourish and meeting everyone else in the center of the studio. She raised a brow at the warm up, but started to do it. The thought of it nearly made her laugh, but it was fun so she would take it.

[Kate Holden]

Kate rushed down to the dance studio for her first class. This was what she had been waiting for. Leaving her ballet school had been one of the hardest parts of leaving home and she already missed Madame. She could only hope that she'd like her new teacher as much. She doubted that she could have a similar relationship with her as she had had with her old teacher, but she at least wanted to be comfortable around her. She carried her dance bag hooked in her elbow, wearing leggings and a large, light pink, cashmere sweater. These would come off when she entered the studio, but it would keep her somewhat warm for now.

When Kate found the studio, she stopped for a moment once inside, looking around. She nodded curtly towards the instructor in greeting and found herself putting her things away with the rest of the girls. She shed her leggings and sweater to reveal her black long sleeved leotard and tights. She'd twisted her hair back into a tight ballerina bun that slicked back even the baby hairs the grew and usually puffed out. Pulling out her ballet slippers, she ran her fingers over them a couple of times before putting them on and standing up, taking a deep breath. Class didn't seem to have started yet, so she found herself moving to the barre, giving the other girl on the barre her space.

When the teacher called out that it was time for class to start, Kate left the barre and found her space, shoulders held back and head held high. Whatever was coming, she'd be ready for. Even with this said, Kate was a bit surprised to find that they'd be warming up with zumba, but not displeased. Sure, she preferred the traditional warm-up, but this looked like fun too, and she was always open to new things. As long as they got back to her beloved ballet eventually, she'd be happy.

As soon as they started up, Kate found herself disliking the movements. She felt a bit undignified to say the least, but forced herself to fall into the warm-up's movements as best she could. A couple minutes into it, she felt much more comfortable, but still wasn't having the fun that some claimed zumba produced.

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam bounced her way to the dance studio. All of her classes had been boring, as usual, but hopefully dance would bring some life to her day. She carried her duffel bag over her shoulder and wore a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved over her leotard and tights. Not only was she bouncing her way to class, but was also putting her hair into a bun. Surprisingly, she managed to do it without making it look horrible. Her on the go training by her mother was finally beginning to pay off.

Sam reached the studio not far behind another, much younger, girl. She offered the instructor a small smile then began shedding her extra clothes. She sat down to trade in her Nike sliders for her ballet slippers. Reaching for her toes, Sam stretched her calf as much as possible. While she was sitting in her last class, she was given the joy of a rather painful calf crap. After a while of stretching her leg Sam jumped up and joined the group on the floor. She was happy to hear that they were doing Zumba. Though she loved ballet, she missed dancing with her friends to their songs on the wii sure it wasn’t like the actual class, but close enough.

She stood far enough away from the others, allowing herself enough room to dance. It wasn’t hard for her to keep up whatsoever, though it was hard for her to keep a small grin off of her face. Happily she continued warming up, feeling the pull in her calf lessen more and more.