Dance Exercise Class Ideas

Dancing can be a fun and effective alternative to traditional cardio workouts. Make your dance exercise class more challenging and exciting with moves designed to improve coordination, flexibility and endurance. Focus on one kind of dance style, such as ballet or hip-hop, or incorporate movements from several styles to add variety to your routine.

  1. Ballet Exercises

    • Use modified ballet exercises to develop a long and lean dancer's look. "Second position plies," which are large squats with turned out legs and a straight back, tone the inner thighs and gluteus. You can also try leg lifts with pointed toes using a ballet barre or chair for balance. Target the calf muscles by practicing "releves," shifting your weight onto the balls of your feet and lifting your heels.

    Jazz Dance Isolations

    • Doing isolated movements develops precision and musicality while warming up each muscle group individually. Move each shoulder up and down to the beat of the music and then roll the shoulders in a circle forward and back as you keep the rest of your body still. To work your abdominal muscles and obliques, isolate your hips and ribs, moving them back and forth and side to side. Keep your knees bent to feel a wider range of motion in your hips.

    Hip-Hop Moves

    • Hip-hop dance moves make perfect additions to aerobics choreography. Start with a basic hip-hop walk, crossing one foot in front of the other and bending your knees with each step to work your legs and get your heart pumping. Pump up the cardio routine by sliding your feet from side to side. Add an upper body challenge by pumping your arms up and down with each slide. Hip-hop chest pops, which are sharp contractions of the back and pectoral muscles, can also help strengthen the upper body. Add these chest pops to basic aerobics moves such as lunges and marches.

    Dance Stretches

    • Stretching at the end of an exercise class helps improve flexibility and prevent injuries caused by tight muscles. Perform a dancer's lunge by bending one knee and extending the other leg long behind you. Keep your knees aligned with your toes and hold for several counts of music. Finish class with an intense wall straddle to stretch the hips and hamstrings. Lie on your back and scoot your bottom against the wall. Slide your legs open to a straddle position and hold for one to three minutes.