New Off-Broadway studio hosts street fitness class

Tennis-shoe clad feet hit the pavement Sunday in tune to Latin-based dance music — their owners pounding along Washington Street and egging on shouts from a fitness instructor.

Mount Pleasant’s new fitness, acting and dance studio, Off-Broadway Performing Arts Studio, 118 S. Washington St., hosted a weekend full of fitness events to kick off its grand opening.

John Klak, owner of Off-Broadway, said renovations to the former office spaces have been completed, transforming the previously vacant building into two large dance studios and one smaller private studio.

To commemorate the finished renovations, Off-Broadway provided free children’s dance classes Saturday and a free fitness party in the street outside the studio Sunday afternoon.

“It was a great way to introduce the dance classes that Off-Broadway has to the community,” said manager Heather Trommer-Beardslee.

In addition to managing Off-Broadway, she also teaches a combination basic tumbling and jazz class called “jazznastics” for kids.

Jazznastics is only one of the dancing classes offered by Off-Broadway, other dance classes available include creative movement, jazz, tap, modern, ballroom and lyrical dance, Klak said. They offer fitness classes in Zumba and hip hop hustle.

Klak said the object of the free dance classes and the street fitness party was to allow potential students of Off-Broadway to familiarize themselves with the studio’s staff.

“This fitness party is a chance for everybody to see what each instructor does and what their routine is like,” he said.

Off-Broadway has five fitness instructors, four of which are Zumba certified.
As one of the Zumba certified fitness instructors, it was Trommer-Beardslee’s idea to host the outdoor street fitness party. She said she was pleased with the turn-out.

“It’s great,” the fitness instructor said. “It’s summer and it’s so hard to get people to come in the summer.”

Mount Pleasant resident Hilary Umbleby was immediately interested in future classes.

After stopping by the street dancing with her son Preston to see what it was all about, she signed up for hip hop hustle fitness classes that day.

“It’s definitely good fitness,” Umbleby said. “You get a good sweat going and I would say it’s just a kind of way to let your mind go. It’s stress release.”

Fitness classes are available for $6 a session and dance class costs range depending on the length of the lesson.