When dancing isn’t just fun
When the gym becomes too dreadful, there is another way to keep fit, tone muscles and lose weight
Keeping New Year’s resolutions is a difficult business. Back in January and February, the prospect of spending a few hours around people in tights angrily lifting metal was worth it if it meant the banishment of a few extra kilos. By March it had started wearing thin and now the idea of being in a gym bathroom, where nudity and personal space wage a silent war, fills you with a sense of existential dread. Working out at the gym can also become monotonous. There is a way to stay fit in a nonrepetitive and fun way: dancing.
The idea of dancing often fills sober people with a morbid sense of embarrassment. Perhaps it is because there is no middle ground when it comes to how you look. One left foot too many and you end up looking like a lamb chop being manipulated by a troop of unco-ordinated puppet strings rather than a poor man’s Fred Astaire. Once you shelve your ego, however, it is easy to see why dancing is a nifty way to keep fit.
To prove it, we caught up with Taryn Alberts, a professional dancer whose skills have taken her all over the world, landed her campaigns with brands like Nike and Nescafé and enthralled audiences at the MAMAs:
How did you get into dance?
I started dancing when I was about four or five years old. My mom says I could dance before I could walk. By the time I was nine I was taking free dance classes at the Newtown dance factory. You try to do what you can.
I turned pro when I was 17. We landed our first gig, which was with Danny K at the Dome in Northgate. It was crazy. That performance went live in seven countries. My parents were strict when it came to the dancing so I wasn’t even supposed to be at that performance.
What is your training like?
I feel like we train as hard as athletes. We will have week-long training sessions where we go from 10am to 5pm. That will just be us rehearsing moves over and over until we get them right. Before 10 you will have needed to get in your two hours of cardio or fitness training. Maybe swimming, running etc. You need that to gain the strength to perform. I will pick days where I will decide that today I’m going to run and do that as my cardio.
Let’s use the Metro Awards, for example. During a show like that there are about 10 performances in the entire show but 10 performances meaning a medley of four artists so it’s 10 times four. Then you have to remember let’s say 50 placements on stage. So you can imagine that if you don’t have the stamina and strength that you will have gained from your cardio and fitness, you won’t be able to do it. When you go on stage, your legs can’t give in.
How do you recover?
I usually sleep for two days after a performance, but I can’t these days because I have to get back to the hustle. Like with a soccer player or an athlete, ice baths are important, so is swimming. Epsom salts also helps a lot. I tell my dancers and people who train with me that the only thing that’s going to take that pain out of your body is Epsom salts. Then you’ve got to eat. I eat vegetables like mad. But it’s best to find things that work for your body.
How do you eat?
I started dancing when I was four or five years old. My mom says I could dance before I could walk
Definitely have breakfast. I have Jungle Oats and some coffee. We usually snack on some nuts and maybe sugary things during training. Always using slow mag as well. Don’t sleep with a heavy stomach.
Alberts is at the extreme end of the scale. Civilians can turn dance into a form of fun fitness just by joining a class, or hopping onto YouTube. The added benefit of dance is that not only will it give you a tasty pair of drumsticks but enough practice will see you saving on tequila shots as your rising confidence renders the Devil’s Nectar unnecessary.