How This Dance Cardio Instructor Is Creating Community Even While Social Distancing
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I make sure to call people out by their name and encourage them. I really steer [my classes] in a positivity-only direction.
Anyone who's experienced the freedom that comes from dancing it out knows there's something exhilarating and empowering about letting your body go to work — the pure joy of movement is universal. "I work out my feelings through movement," hip-hop choreographer and dance cardio instructor Casie “Tynee” Goshow said. "Dance keeps me sane."
Then, suddenly things changed in the world — she's no longer able to teach her regular classes at New York City-based studio FORWARD__Space or work with local kids through her mentorship program, and all the stateside and international dance conventions and master classes she was set to teach were canceled. “At first, I started to completely panic,” Casie said. “Then, my heart was just like, ‘You need to do something.’”
For the past few weeks, Casie has been grappling with ways to both keep herself sane and serve her larger dance community. In her normal studio classes, Casie said, she focuses on building a connection with her students — “sometimes it's through a movement that encourages release, sometimes it's a quote about life and how we need to change or evolve, sometimes it's just looking at someone and letting them know that they are seen,” she said. “These small things matter."
She was determined to make the same feeling come across, even through a screen. “I just really try to be as positive as possible and as motivating as possible,” Casie said. “I give lots of eye contact in my classes, especially with Zoom. I make sure to call people out by their name and encourage them. I really steer it in a positivity-only direction." She also likes to share what’s happening in her own life as she’s teaching, especially now that her classes are streaming from her parents’ basement back in her hometown. “I'm just like, ‘Hey, are your parents driving you crazy yet?’ or anything that they can relate to,” she said.
Because community is so important to Casie, she wanted to be able to get people moving all at the same time like they would in her classes. “I’ve decided that every Thursday on my Instagram Live or YouTube Live, I go live at 5 p.m. and we just break it down for one hour,” Casie said. And despite the situation being far from ideal, Casie said she’s found a small silver lining to teaching virtual classes. “I’ve been doing Zoom classes with studios from all around the world,” she said. “I'm teaching a class with a studio in Australia next week, and then I’m teaching for a studio in Dubai, and then one in North Carolina. It's kind of amazing that I can now reach those kids.”
Beyond her live classes, Casie has prerecorded basic classes on her YouTube channel and is creating follow-along dance routines and choreography for FORWARD__Space’s new digital video database. No matter how you engage with her, Casie is hoping her classes serve to remind people to look at moving your body as a way to take care of your mental well-being. “At the end of the day, people still just want to be seen, and they want to feel encouraged and understood during this crazy time,” she said. “The only way to do that is to be honest and as motivating as possible with that 60 minutes that you get with them, just smiling and being there for them, like, ‘Hey, I'm here. Let's do this.’” That being said, she can’t help but look forward to the day when she’s back in the studio: “It's going to be this intense, magical disco ball of energy when I step back into that room with people,” she said, “and I just can't freaking wait.”
At the end of the day, people still just want to be seen, and they want to feel encouraged and understood.
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At the end of the day, people still just want to be seen, and they want to feel encouraged
and understood.
I make sure to call people out by their name and encourage them. I really steer [my classes] in a positivity-only direction.
Beyond her live classes, Casie has prerecorded basic classes on her YouTube channel and is creating follow-along dance routines and choreography for FORWARD__Space’s new digital video database. No matter how you engage with her, Casie is hoping her classes serve to remind people to look at moving your body as a way to take care of your mental well-being. “At the end of the day, people still just want to be seen, and they want to feel encouraged and understood during this crazy time,” she said. “The only way to do that is to be honest and as motivating as possible with that 60 minutes that you get with them, just smiling and being there for them, like, ‘Hey, I'm here. Let's do this.’” That being said, she can’t help but look forward to the day when she’s back in the studio: “It's going to be this intense, magical disco ball of energy when I step back into that room with people,” she said, “and I just can't freaking wait.”
Because community is so important to Casie, she wanted to be able to get people moving all at the same time like they would in her classes. “I’ve decided that every Thursday on my Instagram Live or YouTube Live, I go live at 5 p.m. and we just break it down for one hour,” Casie said. And despite the situation being far from ideal, Casie said she’s found a small silver lining to teaching virtual classes. “I’ve been doing Zoom classes with studios from all around the world,” she said. “I'm teaching a class with a studio in Australia next week, and then I’m teaching for a studio in Dubai, and then one in North Carolina. It's kind of amazing that I can now reach those kids.”
She was determined to make the same feeling come across, even through a screen. “I just really try to be as positive as possible and as motivating as possible,” Casie said. “I give lots of eye contact in my classes, especially with Zoom. I make sure to call people out by their name and encourage them. I really steer it in a positivity-only direction." She also likes to share what’s happening in her own life as she’s teaching, especially now that her classes are streaming from her parents’ basement back in her hometown. “I'm just like, ‘Hey, are your parents driving you crazy yet?’ or anything that they can relate to,” she said.
For the past few weeks, Casie has been grappling with ways to both keep herself sane and serve her larger dance community. In her normal studio classes, Casie said, she focuses on building a connection with her students — “sometimes it's through a movement that encourages release, sometimes it's a quote about life and how we need to change or evolve, sometimes it's just looking at someone and letting them know that they are seen,” she said. “These small things matter."
Anyone who's experienced the freedom that comes from dancing it out knows there's something exhilarating and empowering about letting your body go to work — the pure joy of movement is universal. "I work out my feelings through movement," hip-hop choreographer and dance cardio instructor Casie “Tynee” Goshow said. "Dance keeps me sane."
Then, suddenly things changed in the world — she's no longer able to teach her regular classes at New York City-based studio FORWARD__Space or work with local kids through her mentorship program, and all the stateside and international dance conventions and master classes she was set to teach were canceled. “At first, I started to completely panic,” Casie said. “Then, my heart was just like, ‘You need to do something.’”
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How This Dance Cardio Instructor Is Creating Community Even While Social Distancing
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