Fit Fearless Living

The first activity I tried was SOL Dance Experience. Several members of the See Jane Write network posted their thoughts to the Facebook group and I quickly became intrigued.  Dancing in the Dark? I will admit to sleeping with a night light at my age. Personally, I can sleep in broad daylight or with every light in the house shining brightly. I cannot remember the last time I slept in total darkness, much less danced in the dark.

If you read the review in the link posted above, the author makes a valid point about judging yourself. Have you ever taken a dance or exercise class that had full length mirrors facing you? I did recently and was distracted by the lady in the back row that looked out of place.  This was during a high energy Zumba class full of college students.  I was wearing my glasses, which quickly became damp and foggy and was surprised to finally realize the lady I was studying in the neon blue shirt was me. I knew I admired that shirt!  All of the Zumba, exercise and even  roller derby workouts I had done before were totally without mirrors and I can only assure you this had the greatest positive impact on my confidence. I never had the opportunity to compare myself with others or critique my performance during those activities and the SOL Dance Experience reinforced that confident feeling.

I attended a session at the Mountain Brook location and was warmly welcomed. As somewhat of an introvert, the members of the class made me feel at ease. The age group was varied from 20's to 60's. I found a glow in the dark marker and placed my water bottle behind me next to the wall.  The instructor gave me another glow in the dark dot to place next to my water so I could locate it once the lights went out.

When the lights went out, I did experience a moment of panic, but the instructor did such a good job preparing us, the panic quickly passed.  The energy in the room felt so positive and the music, such as Cher and Beyonce songs was spot on!

I really wish I had paid more attention to MTV music videos back in the day or just occasionally watched one recently as my catalog of dance moves quickly became repetitive.  I decided to throw in the few Zumba moves I could remember and at one point I was doing a modified side step squat.   The instructor led us in a few moves to cool down (wearing glow in the dark sleeves!)

My review:
Atmosphere: ***** Friendly staff and participants, lovely classroom
Intensity:  *****  (Use your own pace)
Crowd: ***** Great class size, roomy area
Music: ***** Spot on! Something everyone will be able to move to (and possibly sing along!)
Great for: Ages 18+  Anyone can participate
(They offer kids classes occasionally, check the website!)

I will absolutely return and highly recommend this experience!