SELENA WATKINS

According to Selena Watkins, ‘everyone can dance’. And it’s this can-do conviction she’s becoming famous for. Sharing snappy workout videos that aim to make movement fun has become something of a life mission. ‘Technology has made our lives so easy we’ve forgotten how to be active,’ she says. ‘I want to change that.’ With this ethos, it’s no surprise she was named Next Fitness Star 2016 by the US version of Women’s Health. Selena found her focus at just seven years old when she attended a free class at a dance school near her Brooklyn home. She returned

every day after school for 15 years, before going on to work all hours at a local radio station to fund the fees at one of NYC’S leading dance schools. ‘It was a crazy time,’ she says. ‘But I knew dance was meant to be my life.’ In 2012, Selena won Miss Black USA; her first experience of having a platform from which to spread her healthyliving message. When she lost her job at the radio station, it couldn’t have come at a better time. ‘It forced me to pursue my dream,’ she says. Which was? To begin teaching her own blend of cardio and African dance moves at gyms around the city, and become a dancer for the NBA Brooklynettes. Today, in addition to teaching up to 12 sessions at Soulcycle, Selena lifts weights two or three times a week to define and tone her legs and bum. ‘Being skinny isn’t natural for me and I prefer my booty big,’ she says. And when the soca music fires up, Selena really comes alive. Registering her Caribbean fusion workout in 2013 under the name Socanomics, she’s since released a DVD and leads two group classes per week. ‘People say it’s like Zumba only better,’ she says. ‘Dance trains the body at a deeper level – it improves cardio fitness, range of motion, spatial awareness and confidence. The more you move, the easier it gets.’ Time to step up.