Fitness studio in Miami offers virtual twerking classes
As fitness-minded folk ponder the eternal question — how can I stay safe from COVID-19 and still get in a good workout? — Simone Sobers has a suggestion.
This is the perfect time to learn to twerk.
Now we know what you’re thinking. Twerking isn’t for you. It’s too fast, too difficult. You’ll look foolish trying to learn. Anyway is twerking even a workout? Isn’t it just something the kids do in the clubs (which coronavirus has closed for God knows how long)?
No, says Sobers. A twerkout is a workout — even if you’re doing it virtually.
“It’s a full body workout,” says the Miami native, a graduate of Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School and classically trained ballerina. “You use your full body in almost all the twerking steps. It definitely targets the core. The motions we’re doing use a lot of core. And it’s definitely a booty builder.”
Booty building is the solid foundation of Sobers’ brand. She created the trademarked Boss Chick Dance Workout seven years ago in a small Miami studio, then began teaching and licensing other instructors in the ways of the workout, which blends the dance moves of hip hop, dancehall, Afrobeats and twerk. (For the record, twerk was born of the African dance Mapouka from the Cote d’Ivoire.)
Sobers was initially a little halfhearted about the online element of the brand, excited more by the intensity, ferocity and joy of the studio classes (which take place in 33 cities, including Istanbul, Dublin and Lisbon). Then came 2020. Coronavirus shut down gyms, and workout fanatics stuck at home turned on their laptops in search of distractions. Sobers swiftly adjusted her business model, livestreaming daily virtual workouts and creating an online instructor training program so that teachers get certified while stuck in quarantine.
The response was immediate. The classes, designed for women only, are drawing more participants than ever, not surprising at this emotional time when everybody needs stress relief. Virtual classes draw 30-35 students; studio classes generally max out at around 20. Sobers even added free workouts for women furloughed or laid off who can’t afford to pay for class. Participants love it.
“Simone brings a really positive and empowering vibe to every class, which has been especially helpful during these difficult times,” say Gemma Morales. “I am always really sweaty and really fulfilled at the end of class . . . . definitely one of the highlights of my week.”
“Simone’s energy lights up a room,” says Sydney Feldman, who has been dancing with Boss Chick for six years. “I have never seen anything like her program. . . . It’s fun, fast, intense, and the best part is the routines are always changing so you never get bored of doing the same old workout.”
There’s another benefit to the virtual classes, which include Twerking 101 (no, really), Soca Twerkout and high intensity moves: They’re conducted via Zoom, so shy first timers can turn off the camera.
“More women are willing to try it in their living rooms,” Sobers says. “This is a safe space. They don’t have to worry about being objectified or watched while they’re doing sensitive movements.”
Even though gyms are now open again in Miami-Dade County, Sobers is staying out of the studios and concentrating on the virtual classes; she plans to wait to start up in-person sessions. Twerking is not easy in a mask. But current conditions won’t postpone the brand’s annual summit for instructors in Miami. It will be entirely virtual and powered by donations, running July 12-19 (register online at www.boss chickzone.com/boss-chicksummit).
And if you’re still skeptical about twerking? Sobers wants to remind you it was originally a spiritual, not sexual, activity.
“It has been appropriated and taken out of context,” she says. “It was meant to be women dancing in a circle away from the male gaze. It was a way of getting closer to God. But here it got all this sexual context. Anything involving the pelvis and hips is seen as sexual here. But we have strength and tension and energy and power in the hip region. Twerking is a release, and it’s really empowering for women.”
BOSS CHICK DANCE WORKOUT
Cost: $19.99 a month
Sign up: www.bosschickdance workout.com/online-program