Sure, Pink’s ability to get a party started is widely known, but now it turns out she also has the power to get people in shape.
“Get Your Body Started,” an hour-long hip-hop dance/aerobics class based on Pink’s choreography, begins this month at all 400 North American Bally Total Fitness centers, running through July and maybe longer, depending on how it’s received.
While the name of the class is based on Pink’s popular single, “It’s not just ‘Get the Party Started’ over and over again, as much as our members would like that,” Bally spokesperson Jon Harris said. Instructors play a mix of Pink’s songs and incorporate several routines from her videos. The first 45 minutes are spent learning the routine, which is then performed for 15 intensive minutes.
“It’s your normal hip-hop, high-energy dancing – aside from the spinning on your head,” Pink said, referring to the dancefloor climax of her “Get the Party Started” video.
The idea for the class was hatched when Harris and other Bally brass heard “Get the Party Started” in November. “It had this great, infectious beat. It’s so energetic and exciting,” he said.
Bally used the song in a commercial in February. “Pink connected with our members and our audience in a big way – she’s fun, innovative, charismatic and athletic,” Harris said. “It was the most successful commercial we’ve ever run.”
Following the overwhelming response to the quick shots of trim body parts set to the song, Bally approached Pink about using her moves and tunes in the club itself. When she agreed, the company arranged for its instructors to learn the dances from Pink’s own choreographers. They came up with a 60-minute class that burns about 400 calories.
According to Pink, the class is so grueling, even she can’t finish it. “[For the video,] it was an eight-bar quick routine. With the aerobics class, you gotta do it for an hour straight,” she said. “More power to them, because I couldn’t do it.”
Even so, she is convinced the program will be good for anyone, whether they like going to the gym or not. “I figured, I have to work out and as much as I don’t like it, it would be fun to go somewhere and learn something and learn hip-hop moves and listen to music I like.”
In conjunction with the “Get Your Body Started” exercise class, Bally will roll out a dance contest beginning April 30 at select locations. Competitors are invited to learn the dance routine by taking the class and then perform it in front of a panel of judges.
Each local winner will get VIP passes to Pink’s The Party Tour 2002. Then all of the winners go on to compete for the grand prize: an onstage dance-off with the pink one herself.