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Pony Sweat is a dance-aerobics practice in the movement style of 80s dance-aerobics taught by Richard Simmons, Jane Fonda, and Judi Shepard Missett, however with zero emphasis on weight-loss or falsely idealized body shapes. Pony Sweat teaches dance aerobics as a practice of greater self-expression and moving emotion through the body. Pony Sweat seeks to build community for folks not comfortable in traditional fitness and dance spaces– much like the underground and outsider aerobics communities like Punk Rock Aerobics, Homorobics, and DEEEP Aerobics.
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I’ve been doing dance aerobics on and off since I was a child of the 80s with my mom and auntie. In my 20s I had a profound healing that was aided by my return to dance aerobics practice. I’ve taught Pony Sweat since 2014 as a self-taught instructor, then I became certified as an AFAA group-fitness instructor in 2017. Pony Sweat has a digital-zine where we make videos and write about how dance aerobics can be a practice in self-compassion, healing, and liberation, and how self-care must transmute to community care. I seek to facilitate a practice in self-compassion, anti-perfectionism, and freedom of thought and movement.
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Class is 55 minutes long and consists of a warm-up, stretches, isolations, some traditional fitness moves like squats and lunges, and choreographed routines set to a mixtape style playlist. Students are enthusiastically encouraged to make the moves their own, and to “take what they like, and fuck the rest.” The class is cardio heavy, and breaks are encouraged.
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I believe dance aerobics communities can be the sites of powerful healing and connection.
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Instagram: @ponysweat |
| Registration: |
Website: https://momence.com/s/797555 |
| Cost of Class |
Single Workshop Class Sliding Scale $15 – $25; Suggested $20 |
| Contact Information |
Emilia Richeson-Valiente: [email protected]
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Tue, May 3 @ 07:00 pm
7:00 pm — 7:55 pm (55′)
Emilia Richeson-Valiente (she/her/hers)
Street shoes are not allowed in the studio at any time.
