Skips, jumps, gallops, star jumps, turns and points is how I start my week. I’m Michelle from Dingwall and I love to do the Hustle…
Life is never dull as a Highland Hustle, Hustle Tots and Highland Dance teacher.
I started dancing from the age of three and I’m still going strong 34 years later. Once bitten with the dance bug, you’ll be smitten for life, believe me.
I started teaching highland dancing when I was 21 and thought this would be me until retirement… but then Highland Hustle skipped, hopped and ‘pas de bas-ed’ in to my life!
I spent a weekend training with Highland Hustle founder and champion dancer Gillian Urquhart – and had a fantastic weekend learning steps and ways to bring the techniques of Highland dancing to adults.
I returned home really excited to get going and my first class started in the North Kessock hall.
Some of the girls who attended my very first class still come along every week and I feel so grateful that they have supported me.
We start with our Warm up which at the moment it gets us all going as its little bit of Tiffany mixed with some Spice girls to give an all round fantastic and fun warm up. We then move quickly on to the Cardio track where we start to pick up the pace with lots of leg and arm work and our current tune is ‘Call me Al’. We then have our Social Cardio track and we move around the room in two circles passing a partner on the opposite circle each time so we are mixing with others in the class. It sounds complicated but when its flowing it works really well!
Then we move on to a lower intensity track followed by a second group track to ‘Hands up for Detroit’. We move on to my favourite of the class which is the high intensity track where we pick up the pace for one more blast! Then we finish with Toning which at the moment involves a little bit of plank and tummy work and we finish with our lovely cool down where we start to relax and cool down and lots of deep breaths as we made it! All the tracks have several options so you can select the level you want to work to. And then the best bit a wee blether with our friends and off we go feeling good!
I love teaching the new dances and moves and the music is always very motivating and fun. I started another class in Dingwall and I thought this was me, happy and content with my Hustle life. Until Gillian announced Hustle Tots!
This one’s for mums and little ones… more on this next week…
