Generic aerobic dance combines standard aerobic floor moves with basic dance steps, creating a vocabulary of moves like grapevines, step ball changes and knee-ups. Dance aerobics classes are almost always set to the standard eight-count music you’ll find in any group fitness class. But a few specific styles of aerobic dance have broken out of the mold, creating a distinctive niche based on their dance moves, music choice or a combination of both.
Zumba
Billed as a “fitness party” instead of an actual workout, Zumba nonetheless contains all of the elements of an aerobic workout. The mostly Latin-dance-based moves get and keep your major muscle groups moving rhythmically for an extended period of time, and the mix of upbeat music, energetic dance moves and infectious group enthusiasm makes an hourlong workout go by quickly. In a departure from the verbal cues you’ll find in most dance aerobics classes, Zumba instructors communicate mainly with gestures and signs. The Zumba philosophy emphasizes constant movement and enjoying the workout over perfect form.
Jazzercise
Before Zumba, there was Jazzercise. Founded in 1969, Jazzercise has evolved to combine jazz dance with other movement styles, including Pilates, kickboxing and yoga. Like Zumba, Jazzercise is available not just through group fitness classes but also DVDs and videos you can use to work out at home. Jazzercise posted its highest year of earnings more than 40 years after the company’s founding, clearly demonstrating its ability to maintain a fresh product by incorporating current workout trends.
Bollywood
Bollywood-themed classes occupy a growing niche in the world of aerobic dance. These classes are based on the same high-energy interpretation of traditional Indian dance moves, combined with hip-hop and other styles, that you’d find in so-called “Bollywood” movie dance scenes. Bollywood dancing works your entire body, with more head, upper-body and hand-and-finger articulation than you’ll find in most other types of aerobic dance.
Hip-hop
Hip-hop dancing has developed from a fringe dance practice to an accepted — if still fiercely independent — style with several well-defined niches. So it’s no surprise that hip-hop has also entered the world of aerobic dance, with classes that incorporate the same dance moves you might see in your favorite music video.
Hoop Dance
Hoop dancing — that is, dancing with hula hoops, not to be confused with the Native American dance style — tends to be more fluid than many other aerobics dance styles, borne out of the smooth movements you need to keep a hoop spinning on any given part of your body as you dance. However, the music and continuous rhythmic, large-muscle movements justify this relatively rare style as a type of aerobic dance; trying a class is the best way to find out if hoop dancing is for you.
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