Christina Lin Elliot’s job requires her to don two pairs of shoes throughout the day; a pair of trainers to take her class through a hip hop routine, and something a little less bulky to demonstrate a section of the evening’s contemporary dance class. The petite dance instructor at Shani Active explains that the smaller shoes make it easier for her to make the turns required for contemporary dance, to which she is no stranger.
Christina has performed as a dancer in California and New York, before relocating to Kenya six months ago to start up contemporary and hip hop classes at the gym. According to Christina, ‘It is all about sharing my love of dance with people here and also showing people to exercise and keep fit.’ As a fitness regime, dance is gaining popularity at an alarming rate. Not only does it help to improve your wellbeing, but Christina notes dance is diverse and offers a different routine week in week out.
‘It’s not just the same routine each time,’ she says. ‘Usually, in a class you go through some warm up and strengthening and then we learn a routine. You will learn the steps and the choreography to music. It changes every couple of weeks.’ Plus it’s not just the variety that does wonders for your wellness, it’s also the stress-relieving benefits that have clients coming back for more. ‘People come here at the end of the day and feel that was really the release they needed for stress,’ Christina says.
So why do certain people gravitate towards her hip hop classes, while others favour contemporary? Christina comments that hip hop appeals to people because the fact that they hear it daily means that they can relate to it, and the routines do not require a technical background – making it easier to pick up. Contemporary dance, on the other hand, is a more technical dance, with Christina describing it as ballet movement to modern music. The style may appeal as you carry out the steps with more poise and emotion, and you perform more intricate jumps and turns.
So which is Christina’s favourite? She says her preference is contemporary as ‘it is a little more emotional and expressive’ but is the technical side too challenging for her hip hop clients? Not at all, says Christina, who notes, ‘Last week I had a woman who came for my contemporary class. She is in my hip hop class but has never done contemporary before. It is a little tricky in the beginning because you are using different movements and muscles but now she is doing really great. The more you do it, the more familiar its gets.’