On October 8, 2015 a new dancer named Corinne walked into the studio and proceeded to kill her first class. Since then she's become a great friend, rocks the right-side on the regular, and recently became a dance fitness instructor! I had the pleasure to interview her about her experience with Dallas Dance Fitness and life in general. I hope you will enjoy getting to know this amazing woman!
Alana: Tell us about your first class. What made you decide to try DDF?
Corinne: I was a lifelong dancer. It was always my favorite activity. As I got older I sort of fell out of dancing. I was always active physically – a regular gym goer, etc. but I never was able to find a dance class I liked. Then I saw someone’s Facebook post about DDF. I read a little bit about it and I was kind of curious, but sort of hesitant to go. Then our former nanny had a stroke. When she moved in with us so I could care for her, she sort of lit a fire in me because her FAVORITE thing in the world is to dance. And she couldn’t when she was with us. So I said, this is stupid, you’re a big girl, YOU can dance. She can’t. Go dance for her. So I went to my first class blind. I didn’t know anybody in the class. I didn’t really know what to expect. And so, I thought, well if this sucks, I never have to go back or see these people again. But I went and it was awesome! It was real choreography. It was SO much fun. It was an AWESOME workout – I was sweaty and red-faced at the end. And then at the end of class everybody came up to me and introduced themselves. They were so friendly and supportive and encouraging me to come back and I was kind of blown away. So I came back. And then I kept coming back. And now I couldn’t imagine my life without this workout and these women!
Alana: As a full-time attorney, how are able to stay so consistent with your workouts?
Corinne: I would say its total preparation and being organized. I’m really fortunate that I am allowed to work from home a couple of days per week. So I basically take those two days and use DDF as my lunch break. I get up earlier on those mornings, tackle my inbox and get ahead on my to-do list. And then I check out at 10 and go get my hour of sweat and get dance on and see my friends. I come home and make lunch and log back in and eat lunch while I work and it works! There are weeks when I can’t make it because there is a scheduling conflict but when I can control it I don’t schedule anything during that DDF time – that’s MY time.
Alana: What do you like to do in your free time?
Corinne: My biggest extra-curriculars are fitness related. Obviously DDF. I do that a couple times a week. I also try to dance with the YouTube film crew on Sundays because it’s a great workout and its super fun too. And, I do Pilates too. I feel that DDF and Pilates are a great complement to one another because Pilates was developed for injured dancers. So it’s all about strength training long lean dancer muscles but you still need cardio so that’s where DDF comes in. Both workouts are also great brain work. You really have to make your brain and your body work together and I hope that will keep my brain and my body healthy as I get older. Ok my other interests: I’m a total foodie – love to try new food! I love to go out to dinner. I love a good glass of wine and a dirty martini. I love to read, although Netflix has been cutting into my reading and I need to fix that. Love hanging out with my family. I have a daughter Ella who is 10 and she’s a dancer too. So we have lots of dance parties at our house! I hope as she gets older and cooler she will still let me dance with her. I love my dogs, I’m kind of a crazy dog lady. My husband and Ella and I love to play games. Card games and board games – we’re all really competitive and that’s just a really fun way for us to be unplugged and spend quality time together. Also love to go on family bike rides and hang out with my friends. I have a great group of girlfriends both inside and outside DDF.
Alana: Do you have a favorite DDF routine?
Corinne: So, I don’t have one particular routine that is my favorite. There are too many awesome ones! But I will say that my favorites tend to fall into two categories – one is something that’s big and you move a lot. I love to move around love big movement, I just think it’s fun. I’m kind of a ham so its not surprising that I love to take up a lot of space. In that category I love “Kill the Lights”, and I love “Stay” – it’s really fun and it’s harder choreo so it challenges you as a dancer. The other category I like are the ones with really fun intricate arm movements where you really have to put your brain to work. Love “Pray to God” and “That’s What I Like” – it’s a little brain teaser – and “…Baby One More Time” is really fun and sexy but cute. Once you get the routine down you feel so accomplished!
Alana: How has being a member of DDF affected you?
Corinne: How can I count the ways? Haha! Obviously it’s an awesome workout. I was an avid runner for about 10 years and I just started feeling it wearing on my body. I started getting a little bored with it and I couldn’t turn my brain off when I was running. So my run became a time to come up with my to do list or write a brief in my head or just STUFF. Dance is different. It’s an awesome cardio workout but you have to think about the choreography so you leave everything else behind. It’s just a great way for an hour to be completely in it on the dance floor. Aside from that, I’ve made some amazing, really strong friendships at DDF which I didn’t expect. It’s such a happy surprise and the women are amazing and at all stages of life. Met some awesome mommy mentors. Made some great friends who are in the thick of it with little kids like I am. I would say there’s someone for everyone in that class and there something for everyone in that class. It’s such an awesome community and I couldn’t imagine not knowing these women. It’s awesome. It’s so supportive. It’s how people should be – women supporting women and building each other up. It’s great and I hope to be Janis someday still on the dance floor 30 years from now. It’s added so much value to my life – not only with fitness but with these friendships.
A huge thank you to Corinne for taking the time to do this interview! If you have any questions, please contact us through the website, or you can DM us on Facebook or Instagram. We are Dallas Dance Fitness on both. Thanks for reading!