Getting Hip to the Exercise Moves of Street Dance

The rap beat of Enigma that thumps through Paradise Dance & Aerobics Studio in Encino is accompanied by heavy breathing and a voice that sighs, “Mea culpa.”

“Mamma’s gonna wear you out!” shouts Paradise instructor Helena Saraydarian to 30 students packed stage left. Limbs akimbo a la Janet Jackson, the group veers right en masse, launching into an M.C. Hammer strut. A few arm movements later, a woman wearing an “I love the Underground” T-shirt gasps, “Hey, I’m doin’ the RoboCop!”

Growing weary of Enigma’s fading beat, Saraydarian slips on a Technotronics record as dancers scatter for their Vittel water bottles. Their dances, with names like the Cabbage Patch and the Running Man, are the moves of inner-city funk and MTV hip-hop music videos packaged as the latest aerobic dance craze.

Some call it cardio funk, cardio salsa, street jam, rocket, cardio hip-hop or just plain hip-hop. It’s danced to the tune of C&C; Music Factory, rapper Bobby Brown and even Gregorian chants with synthesizers. Devotees say it’s a Rhythm Nation revolution in how people think about, dress for and execute aerobic exercise.

“After doing plain aerobics for years, we’ve all made a simple discovery--it can get very mechanical and dry,” said instructor Russell Clark, who has choreographed TV shows such as “Cop Rock” and music videos starring Michael Jackson and David Bowie.

Pat Canter began taking The Jam class at Westlake Sporthouse two years ago because, she said: “I was bored of doing the same old aerobic moves over and over again. Street dance makes you feel like you’re alive, like you know how to move and jive--like you’re doing something creative.” The “over-30” Agoura Hills resident and high school secretary added, “We yell a lot too--it’s an adrenaline rush.”

“With street dance, you feel more connected to what’s going on--the street vernacular. People can now flip on the TV and see professional dancers doing the same moves they learned in class that afternoon,” Clark said.

“Street funk is now pervasive in the fitness industry,” said Annie Charron, L.A. Workout’s aerobics director. “Some gyms even use it as their drawing card to attract new members.”

For many, the new movement craze appears ideal for zapping away calories and stress. Heidi Ross began hip-hopping at Paradise six months ago and credits that and her diet with a loss of 40 pounds.

“There’s an Exercycle and rowing machine that are collecting dust in my closet right now because they are boring to use,” said Ross, 24, a Woodland Hills ticket broker who attends each of Saraydarian’s Exercise Dance Transition classes, offered three times a week at a cost of $9 per class. “I’ve dieted before, but I don’t keep my weight off unless I enjoy exercising.

“The cardio funk stuff really gives me energy. Even when I come to class tired, I leave with my system in high gear. And I’ve started using the steps when I go to dance clubs.”

Physicians and kinesiologists at the Aerobics and Fitness Assn. of America in Sherman Oaks say aerobics combined with funk are as effective for cardiovascular conditioning as traditional aerobics.

“But it lacks muscle conditioning,” said Robin Foss, international program director for the association that has 30,000 certified instructors in the United States. Some of “the classes don’t often focus on abdominal or other muscle groups, and they’re designed for advanced students who know enough to warm up on their own before class.”

Foss advises beginners to look for classes that combine low-impact aerobics, such as floor exercises, with the new dance moves.

West Hollywood resident Dallas Dansby never thought she would dance again after a back operation for a ruptured disk 10 years ago and surgery on a herniated disk two years ago. Today, she does the Troop twice a week in Saraydarian’s hip-hop class. “This has improved my flexibility and muscle tone,” said Dansby, 37, an interior designer. “I tell my friends I should make my own music video now.”

Many instructors say they teach street dance by starting the moves slowly and building up the pace and difficulty until an entire dance is mastered. Students, who are predominantly female, range in age from 18 to 65, with an average of about 25.

Some students said they must overcome initial inhibitions when learning the dance steps.

“I always tell them there’s no right or wrong way to dance,” said Vita Chipembere, 29, co-owner and instructor at Westlake Sporthouse in Westlake Village. “This is not about perfection or being synchronized. It’s about feeling the music and letting yourself move.”

Area gyms report a growing interest in the classes.

The Sporthouse offers a class called The Jam two days a week in a cavernous, 2,400-square-foot studio. Sporthouse management is considering adding a third class because of the increased demand--about 70 people attend the Jam classes each week. Cost is included in membership fees; non-members pay $7 per class.

L.A. Workout in Woodland Hills offers Cardio Jam, combining street dance combined with low-impact aerobics and stretching, and Cardio Hip-Hop, a power-packed session of straight street dance. About 120 people attend the twice-weekly classes. Cost of the classes are included in membership fees.

The origins of the aerobics-street dance merger are fuzzy. Hip-hop moves began appearing in gym classes in the late 1980s. Choreographer Clark, of Hollywood, who began teaching disco dancing for exercise in 1976, said he introduced hip-hop moves at Paradise two years ago.

Paradise colleague Saraydarian stopped the music for some mid-class instruction. “Let me hear some vocalization on that kick,” she said as she turned up the air conditioning. “And I don’t mean some operatic whimper but a real auuuughruuumph .”

Elaine Dorfman, of Tarzana, an 18-year veteran of aerobics classes, said such vocal aerobics help keep her energy up. “We make all kinds of animal sounds,” said Dorfman, 63, who attends an L.A. Workout class three days each week.

“The shouts mixed in with street dance are all about coming out of yourself,” Chipembere said. “And people are shy about that. But street dance forces you to come out--everyone has a deep desire to be a dancer hidden away somewhere in themselves. This is an incredible way to express that.”