Energetic, exciting, and exhilarating, backed by exotic pulsating beats and centred around pure, unadulterated dancing fun…is Bokwa the new Zumba?
That’s what the whispers are around Abu Dhabi’s fitness enthusiasts who sampled the new dance fitness craze to hit the UAE this month.
But with the African dance-influenced Bokwa incorporating letters of the alphabet somehow into a serious sweat-inducing calorie scorcher, we wouldn’t quite call the two of the same family, but rather rivals that will fight it out in dance fitness studios this year.
Bokwa® was developed by international fitness personality Paul Mavi, a leading Los Angeles based Group Fitness Instructor.
Tapping into his native South African roots as a dancer and musician, he developed it for his own classes over an eight-year period, and now Bokwa has a loyal following across the globe with certified instructors and participants in dozens of countries, the UAE now among them thanks to Bokwa instructor and Abu Dhabi newcomer Jodi Clark.
The idea is to simply dance out the shape of letters and numbers with your feet while busting some daring and energizing cardio dance moves that you later realise make up a sort of choreographed routine when all put together.
In this way, Bowka also sneakily works and tests your brain’s motor skills and memory functions in a new and unique way. And to top it all off, driven by some hard, hopping rhythmic African, Latin, Popular Dance and House music beats, it’s bound to turn even those with two left feet into confident dancers.
From this month Clark is leading classes through Inspire Sports Management (who operate out of Hilton Abu Dhabi and Al Bateen Secondary School), and will teach at Eastern Mangroves Resort and Spa, and urges people not to be intimidated by all the hip-gyrating, speedy step work and occasional air guitar.
“I’m always a little bit apprehensive trying to describe Bokwa to newcomers – that we dance out numbers and letters of the alphabet, for one, sounds very strange. They think ”A”, how are you going to do that?’
“I remember when I first got sent on the Bokwa instructor course, I watched a video and was also thinking ‘Oh my God, how do people know what they’re doing (in that class)?!’ Because if you just walked into a class in the middle of it and you saw everyone in action you would think it’s a choreographed routine and think you can’t do it.
“But when I format the class I always start it off with some simple steps, basic letters like ‘L’ and ‘C’, and the way the class knows what to do is by sign language, so if I put my fingers into the shape of an ‘L’ or ‘C’ they would know what steps to do next. Once people start to understand the concept it kind of flows from there.”
With so many letters in the alphabet, dance combinations are endless and there is the potential for more difficult class routines as time progresses and people become comfortable with the format.
“Some letters even have more than one move!” adds Clark. “For example, for the letter ‘C’ there about three different remix steps for that. There’s the ‘L Walk’, the ‘L Shake’, the ‘L Swag’… And as people continue the classes they get hungry for it, they want to try remixes, combos and get creative.
“You don’t need to be a dancer or co-ordinated, just be able to enjoy the music and have some fun while burning calories. Try Bokwa. I know this sounds cringey and cheesy but you kind of want to look at it as an experience rather than a fitness class. It’s supposed to be fun and the time is supposed to go.”
Oh, and did we mention you can burn around 700 calories in one 50-55-minute session? Bokwa is now on at Al Bateen Secondary School on Saturdays from 10am.
For more information, visit www.inspiresports.ae or call 050 1575508/40/60. If you’re really unsure on your feet, Introductory Bokwa classes at Eastern Mangroves will take place on February 17th, with complimentary one hour sessions at 6pm and 7.15pm. For bookings please call 02 656 1152.
