Chair dancing: ‘Enjoy your life – stop putting it off’
Cassi Cluff, 17, of Uintah, reaches her arm up and follows her hand with her gaze while practicing a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Instructor Lindsay Olsen, of Sunset, leads the group in a cool-down during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants fan their left legs while learning a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants lean back in their chairs during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Lisa Milewski, of South Ogden, checks her form in the mirror while rehearsing a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Joann Luu, of Ogden, warms up her feet with points and flexes at the beginning of Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Participants learned a short routine during Chair Dancing at Kairos in Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Pairs of mostly bare feet trickle into the warm dance studio. Blue and black yoga mats are rolled out and a folding chair is placed in the center of every mat. The instructor arrives. She sits on her chair as her fiery red hair cascades behind her. Different figures and different forms begin a wavy unison of warming up their shoulders.
Lindsay Olsen, 26, of Sunset, makes a joke about the importance of pointed toes as she warms up. She has been teaching Chair Dancing at Kairos Fitness since 2012. Stepping away from slower or contemporary music, that day Lindsay had choreographed a short routine to teach that accompanied a heavy bass hip-hop song.
Sweeping legs, the whipping of hair, arched backs, a few sultry figure eights with the hips and pointed toes accompanied the women’s smiles as they did their best to follow along with the routine.
Some of the women simply came to learn something new, some had more serious reasons for joining the class. “You need to do what you enjoy with your life. Stop putting it off,” Jodi Smith, 42, of North Ogden said. She joined Kairos after a close call to death with pneumonia, when she became more involved and active with her health three years ago. “This is my favorite class. It is a sexy sit and be fit class. You tell your body what to do, then look in the mirror and are like ‘damn, I look good!’ It is empowering to have that control over your body.”
Jodi’s three sons now attend different classes at Kairos Fitness, “No one is going to tell you that you are less than you really are. It is like a family.”
“I grew out of my last dance studio,” Cassi Cluff, 17, of Uintah said when talking about trying Chair Dancing for the first time. “I wanted something more my age, that has younger and older women which is where I am at. To be honest, I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. You’re free to do what you want without judgement. They are chill and accepting. It’s cool.”
Lindsay, who has been taking dance since middle school and uses those core skills to consider herself a mostly self-taught chair dancing instructor, enjoys the “let loose” aspect of the class. “I love when they [my students] get into it and you can tell by their energy. When your students are really excited you feel good.” Lindsay said chair dancing class participants “come to gain confidence and to take a break from adult life.”
“The chair is the best dancing partner ever,” Jodi said with a smile.