Dance the stress away with some sassy release and watch your confidence come to life through the music in a great Heels class! Everyone needs an outlet from the real world whether that is from school, work, family or friends, or other worries, this is a perfect opportunity to escape. Every person has different interests and the dance facility, Breakout Studios, has plenty of ranging options to welcome anyone!
To get a feel for the studio, we decided to try out the heels class held at 7:30 pm every Thursday night. This is simply a dance that is typically taught in high heels to more upbeat and feminine music. When choosing what kind of shoe the dancer would like to wear for this class, they have complete freedom. In our class, they ranged from stilettos (tall, skinnier heels), block heels (chunky, thicker), and even boots! If a person wants to build confidence with dancing before adding heels, that is totally welcome as well.
Our Experiences
We took two different classes to really get the full experience and were blown away by how much fun it was! Once we arrived at the studio, we entered from the back of the building and walked into the office where we filled out an information sheet since it was our first time, and paid for the class. Then, we turned to our left to enter the actual studio itself. We walked in to see a mirror stretching across the front wall of the room and an open space of marley (dance flooring).
Before the class began, Yvette took the time to try to learn everyone’s name and make the class feel comfortable. Both weeks, our classes consisted of about 12 girls that were all of around college age. Yvette began by asking excitedly what kind of music everyone wanted to warm-up with. After choosing an upbeat, early 2000s playlist, we stretched and did exercises that loosened up our bodies to prepare for the dance itself. After that, we put our heels on (that we provided ourselves) and did across the floor activities in an attempt to gain confidence and comfort with the peers in our class. For this activity, we had to take turns strutting from the back of the room to the front and strike a pose at the end or even a couple poses. With fun music filling the air and other girls cheering each other on, this made everyone settle in and set the atmosphere for a non-judgmental and fun place to let loose!
What We’ve All Been Waiting For!
After warming up and getting settled in, we began learning the actual dance itself to the song “You Right” by Doja Cat week one and “Done For Me” by Charlie Puth week two. She taught in small portions of about 10 second increments that we practiced with and without music at different speeds. When we were ready, she continued to add on until the dance was complete.
Our classes consisted of all dance levels (very experienced dancers and dancers with little experience) and Yvette was sure to care for everyone’s needs. She paused multiple times to ask if anyone had any questions all throughout the teaching process. Both Dances had very feminine and sassy moves like hair whips, hip rolls, and facial expressions which allowed for us to add our own style within the choreography.
Once she had taught the whole dance, we were split into groups of 2-3 people to make sure everyone had enough room to do the dance without the fear of getting in the way of others. She would either mark the dance on the side of the floor (do the moves with us but not full out) or join us on the floor with full energy! The first couple of times, she ran through the dance with each group which let us become more comfortable with the choreography. After everyone got the dance down, we rotated performing in our groups for the final time while everyone else sat in the front and cheered on those that were performing.
Post Class Reflection
When class finished, we got the chance to talk to Yvette and ask her some questions as well to get to know her. We learned that she has been dancing since she was 5 years old, specifically at this studio since she was 10 and began working there as a teacher 2 years ago. Her favorite style of dance is either House or Lyrical which we laughed about because those are pretty much opposite styles. Not only does she teach Heels but she also teaches a Leaps and Turns class and anything else they happen to need a substitute for. She was an amazing teacher that made our first couple of classes such a fun experience and we will happily be coming back for more!
We would definitely recommend going to this class to anyone who wants to learn a dance in heels. It doesn’t matter if you have dance experience or not, all that matters is that you want to learn! Other people in this class also stated that they had a great time and will be coming back next week! The girls in the class were so encouraging and made our experience very positive. Although the majority of people that attend Heels classes are women, men are always welcome! Even with ranging experience levels, all dancers had fun and mess-ups were embraced and brushed off. Dance is supposed to be fun and not stressful and that is exactly how it felt in this class!
Breakout Studios is a dance studio that teaches many different styles of dance ranging from ballet to hip hop to belly dancing and more! They teach introduction to dance classes that are welcoming for beginner dancers as well as offering advanced classes. Their studio is located on Speedway and Craycroft and their class schedules can be found on their website at www.Breakoutstudios.online. For every day of the week, they have different schedules with morning, afternoon, and evening classes available.
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Jayden Elkin and Lindsey Riley are first year students at the University of Arizona. Jayden is a business major while Lindsey is majoring in pre nursing