Shut Up & Dance touring the North Island this July

Shut Up & Dance are bringing their fun dance classes to the North Island. Seven classes in seven days, entrepreneurs Abby Damen, Clair Thomas and Lesa MacLeod-Whiting have decided to take a grass roots approach in meeting the demand for their fun, relaxed dance classes where you learn routines inspired by films and music videos.

Damen, Thomas and MacLeod-Whiting were met with a huge response across the country, following an unexpected piece by Seven Sharp when they first started their business. “We were so overwhelmed by the response and how many people wanted our classes in their town, so we thought: Why don’t we bring our classes to them?” says co-owner Lesa MacLeod-Whiting.

The three friends’ plan is pretty simple. Armed with their old but reliable Suzuki Swift, a positive, outlook, infectious passion for pop music, they’ve curated a motley collection of community spaces in each location. They will put on an epic, one-off dance class in each town from Carterton, Napier, Taupo, Tauranga, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Whanganui within a week.

“It’s super ambitious and borderline delusional - we’re basically pretending that we’re as amazing and popular as Beyonce - so the obvious next step for us would be to go on tour, but of course we’ll be using a local school hall or family-owned dance studio as our venue” says managing director Abby.

They're approaching this tour with the same values they run their business on: optimism and fun. Their humorous and satirical approach to fitness and life allows them to indulge in celebrity culture in a way that has an empowering and positive effect. "Instead of comparing yourself to Beyoncé and thinking you're not good enough, we're literally here to tell you to shut up and believe that you're Beyoncé instead - or at least her back up dancers" says Lesa with a wink.

Shut Up & Dance appeals to people who want to dance but perhaps feel there’s a barrier - whether it’s fitness or clumsiness - they are for anyone and everyone who wants to channel their inner diva without worrying about how it looks or if someone will be videoing them.

Londoner Clair Thomas met Damen and MacLeod-Whiting during her travels and the duo won her over with what Thomas describes as “the classic kiwi approach of less talking and more doing. One of the things that I love so much about kiwis is how when they say they’re going to do something, they just do it.”

Stop talking, start sweating indeed; their sassy namesake and tagline reflect their attitude towards fitness and dance in general, as well as their creative approach in taking on seven classes in seven days. “We want to bring our classes to New Zealand, so this is our way of doing it while we don’t have the resources or funds just yet” says Damen.

Shut Up & Dance offer fun, relaxed dance classes where you learn one dance, it’s repetitive and fun, and then you leave and get to go home. It's that simple. You can literally dance like no-one is watching because they don’t use mirrors or allow photos or videos in their classes. They’re touring the North Island between the 7th and 13th July. Spaces are limited for their one-off sessions. You can book at their website www.shutupanddance.co.

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