My first experience with FitSteps (FAB) with Emma Randall

Charlotte Norman, our Women’s Development Officer tells us about her first experience with FitSteps (FAB) with Emma Randall.

Now if you see me at a wedding, I am not one to shy away from a dance floor. When those disco lights are on and the music’s loud, this Dancing Queen will boldly boogie the night away. Place me in a class that requires some following of an actual step and structure move, and suddenly the dancing shoe is on the other foot and I’m not quite feeling like a queen anymore; suddenly my introverted part of me starts screaming that this situation is a bit beyond what I find comfortable and internally there’s a big red light flashing, a voice shouting ‘abort, ABORT’, and my brain is now telling me “you got too cocky kid, you’re not good at this” …Well, what I will say is this- it absolutely doesn’t matter.

Emma is so supportive, encouraging, so spirited and inviting of you just being there, moving, giving it your best. It absolutely doesn’t matter if your syncopation (just learnt that word and that I also can’t do it…..yet) is out, or you can’t do “the check”, your box step in fact doesn’t resemble a square shape at all, and your timing is so out you could be in another country, it’s ALL OKAY.

The class is made up of several dance styles, the Argentine Tango, Swing, Charleston and the American Smooth to name a few, and each style comes with 4 moves per song. You get to give the moves a try before the song kicks in and then off you go. Sometimes I had it and I was Ginger Rogers (if only for a millisecond)….and sometimes I didn’t. But what I absolutely did have was a good giggle and a shared experience with the other ladies.

Emma has absolutely got your back in this class- there’s no picking on you, singling you out, just sheer encouragement and love for what she does. Emma makes moving fun. My heart rate increased, my brain worked, my body moved, and my face didn’t stop smiling!