Wednesday, January 21, 2004 -- By Maureen McDonald / Special to The Detroit News
 'One, two, three and one, two, three," hums Sam Eng as he waltzes with his partner around a large, mirrored ballroom.
"My wife, Winnie, and I are taking every practice lesson we can to ready ourselves for the Viennese Strauss Ball," says Eng, a cardiovascular pharmacist at Oakwood Hospital.
The upcoming Austrian dance showcase represents prime time for the Engs and almost 1,000 others. Sponsors say the Viennese Strauss Ball, slated for Feb. 7 at Detroit's Cobo Center, is the largest dance event in Metro Detroit. Hailed for its pageantry and live orchestra, the ball features waltzes, polkas and marches, along with more modern jitterbug, swing and hustle performed by the better dancers in Metro Detroit.
While the evening's elegance may long live in the dancers' memories, their muscles will recall the event as well. Dancing the 140-by-40-foot dance floor, imported for the evening, provides a memorable workout.
"Square dancing and waltzing were two forms of exercise for the Austrian monarchy employed in the 19th century. It still makes you sweat and tone," says Frank Sinz, coordinator of the ball.
And even when the style of dance is hip-hop, swing or merengue, the result remains the same: dancing tones muscles and gives the cardiovascular system a workout.
But it's a workout that comes with style, says Madelyn Kleitch, 54, a certified trainer and registered nurse from Grosse Pointe Woods. Waltzing can burn almost as many calories as cross-country skiing, according to Kleitch.
"You can burn up to 1,000 calories in 60 minutes of continuous dance, and you get held by a partner while you are at it. It's an elegant form of exercise," Kleitch explains.
Blaire Miller, 33, an amateur dancer in Oakland County, says she dropped three dress sizes by competition dancing with dance partner and instructor Glenn Clark. Alicia Smith, 31, dropped from a size 24 to size 14 and gained body definition by teaching jazz, tap and Pilates at Artistry in Motion, a dance studio in Southfield.
"You're moving your arms, torso, legs all at once, you can't help but lose weight," Smith says. "You have so much fun, it doesn't feel like exercise."
Ultimate engagement
"Dancing not only shapes and tones your body, it is one of the few forms of exercise proven to ward off Alzheimer's disease. You vigorously exercise your mind as you remember the beats," Clark says before leading a new student in a partners' hustle.
Exercise professionals now label ballroom dancing as dance sport, especially when conducted in studios that eschew alcohol and run dance music back-to-back for more than an hour. "You are the exercise, not the machine. That is what makes it enticing," Clark says.
Dancing helps people gain balance, according to Kleitch, who dances with the Metropolitan Swing Dance Association. "You need to know where you are
in space and time. Dancing helps sharpen and hone that skill even better than yoga or Pilates," she says.
If you watch reruns of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, you might think you'd be laughed off the dance floor if you tried to emulate the experts.
"People get a perception that it's hard to dance because they went to a bar, moved their feet and felt embarrassed. General interest music isn't designed for sustained dancing," Clark says. "I purchase specially recorded music that holds a beat, it's easy to hear and represents a specific dance style. Every tune lasts two or three minutes."
Clark says beginners tend to brush their clothes on their partner's legs, move bowlegged and run out of steam early. However, at dance studios, regulars usually help acclimate newcomers by inviting them onto the floor to help them become familiar with routines.
Singles find ready partners at studio events, Clark adds. Unlike a singles bar where the emphasis is often on looks and attraction, the studio emphasizes technique and exercise.
For veteran dancers, experts say a few stretching, toning and strength classes help balance the body. Eva Powers, a professor of dance at Wayne State University, says Pilates, yoga and gyrotonics are the hot fads.
"If you are rehearsing dances that require a combination movement of the right side, you may want to take a stretching class to bring you back to center," Powers says. "If you overuse some parts and ignore others, you set yourself up for injury."
Inviting the young
Meanwhile, dance remains an attractive workout simply because it's enjoyable. While running, lifting weights or taking an aerobics class may sound like work, dance tends to sound like a good time. Clearly, that's a draw for more than a dozen teenagers who filled the studio of Artistry in Motion on a recent Sunday afternoon, rehearsing for a Youth Under Construction hip-hop audition at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
Instructor Alicia Smith says dance studios offer classes for children as young as 3 years old to help build posture, breathing and overall tone.
At age 8, Kyle Jones competes in dance competitions around the Midwest. Sweat pours as he demonstrates tap dancing.
Anthony Graves, 18, a senior at Robichaud High School in Inkster, leads the hip-hop and break dancers in several performances. His Uncle Tony taught him how to dance, using arms and legs for rhythm and torso for control.
"People think it looks easy," Graves says. "But it takes two or three hours a day of practice. You stay fit. Then you can eat whatever you want."
Riann Taylor, 13, of Oak Park disagrees. "Once you start getting fit, you like how you feel. If you dance six straight hours, you have to eat healthy food that sustains you. Otherwise, you get too tired to keep it up."
She adds, "Before I started dancing regularly, I had this pot belly. Now, I've got total muscle tone. My girlfriends were jealous because I could wear midriff tops and look good. Now they join me in classes here."
Sweat with swing |
