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Within The Rhythm

Iu rec center meets HIp-hOp

Cardio

By Ellie Glicksman / Pictures by Lucy Hagan

Ella Winchell is a sophomore instructor of Hip-hop Cardio at the IU Rec Center. Winchell leads weekly dance fitness classes every Thursday, this has quickly become a ritual for many students. She blends fun dancing choreography with cardio movements, while playing high-energy songs that are known by most. Winchell’s classes are able to allow students to take a break from the stresses of schoolwork, classes and any other stressors in their lives. Behind the excitement of these classes, is the mind of Winchell who carefully curates every routine and matches it with different music.

The beat drops as you walk into a hiphop cardio class at the Indiana University Recreational Center. There is pulsing neon lights featured in a darkened room, speakers blasting familiar music, sounds of sneakers moving on the wooden floor. Students quickly pile into place within the room. It is Thursday night after a long day of hard and tiring classes. Nearly two dozen students are in the class, Ella Winchell stands at the front, smiling wide. Winchell calls out to the class “Welcome in, if you are new”, with a welcoming tone.

This is hip-hop cardio at IU.

It is October 16th, a Thursday night in the SRSC. As students pile into the room, the lights begin to flicker. Upbeat hip-hop music blares through the speakers, sophomore Ella Winchell stands at the front of the room, stretching. There is a mixture of familiar and new faces in the classroom, Winchell welcomes everyone in. From the outside this class just looks like a dance party, but in reality it is a carefully crafted workout class.

ella Winchell

Participated in a seven week course, to become a Certified Instructor at the IU Rec Center.

“Everytime I think of new songs for the routines in my classes I have to think of a way there can be recession for the movements” says Winchell. She explained that when there are moves people may not be able to do like a squat, she always has a backup option for those who cannot do the squat. Even something like jumping jacks, she always makes sure there is something everyone can do. Every routine that she creates is designed for people of all different skill levels, whether you have been dancing for years or just started that day. This creates a safe space for everyone, where there is no fear of judgment.

Music stands as an important pillar of every class. Winchell picks every song herself, making a playlist that has a mixture of songs that encourage high energy movement. “Music is a very important part of my class,” Winchell said. “It helps participants engage in the class more than if the music was quiet, or not fun or popular. In my class I like to have more hiphop music, because I kinda like to dance to hiphop, more then I do pop songs”

There is a lot of planning, creativity and consistency that goes into making these routines. Winchell sticks to teaching a class one day a week, less than most instructors who teach classes three to four classes a week. Winchell explained “For me I kinda have a little set time on Thursdays after class, so that I can get my playlist together for the classes so that helps a lot”.

“Other than that during the week I don’t think about it a lot, so it kinda helps that my class is late and then I have time to plan out my classes during the day”. Winchell is a student herself, so this helps her manage her classes she teaches, along with the

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Instructor Ella Winchell brings the energy to the IU Rec Center, showing her students how to move within the music. With the studio feeling more like a club than a workout class, participants look forward to attending weekly. At the end of every session Winchell guides her class through a full body stretch, allowing stuents to have the ability to recover after a high intensity workout.

schoolwork and classes she has.

For the music she uses for her classes, she usually discovers the songs naturally, through tiktok, spotify, etc. “I do have a few moves I like to use in a lot of my songs, it’s just kinda easier that way, but like I said before I like to find a song that I kind of feel would be good for my class that I heard on tiktok, I’ll use that song and listen to it a few times and think

about moves that would fit into the beats”. Winchell explained the most difficult part of her planning is finding different moves for each class. When she finds a song she likes, she stands up and goes through the moves herself to make sure they work. She also mentioned that sometimes she goes on youtube to find inspiration for new moves. Additionally, we asked Winchell: “how long have you been teaching classes at the Rec Center”. She explained that she had

to take a seven-week intensive Leader Tranning course to be able to teach these classes, last fall semester and she finally started teaching last semester in the spring. Winchell always has new groups of people in her classes, “a lot of people that come to my class are new people every week, so I do have my regulars that come every time, so I’ll always go talk to them and then the people that have never came before I always like to say in the beginning “Welcome in if your new”, because some people are definitionally nervous since it’s a dance class”. Winchell always makes sure to create a welcoming environment within her classes.

A freshman, Ava Dewitt, is a student in Winchell’s class. Dewitt danced her whole life, and stated that hip-hop cardio is different from a normal workout, because it is a

bunch of people doing the moves together. Ava explained that she tries to come every week and that “she is hoping to get exercise out of the class and to keep her body moving”.

In a huge campus like Indiana University Bloomington, it is important to have safe spaces to let out some energy, and keep your body moving. With constant stresses of exams, deadlines and expectations. Hip-Hop cardio with Winchell gives students an outlet to let off some steam and forget about the stressors of being a college student.

This is hip-hop cardio at IU.

“Everytime I think of new songs for the routines in my classes I have to think of a way there can be recession for the movements” says Winchell. She explained that

when there are moves people may not be able to do like a squat, she always has a backup option for those who cannot do the squat. Even something like jumping jacks, she always makes sure there is something everyone can do. Every routine that she creates is designed for people of all different skill levels, whether you have been dancing for years or just started that day. This creates a safe space for everyone, where there is no fear of judgment. Music stands as an important pillar of every class. Winchell picks every song herself, making a playlist that has a mixture of songs that encourage high energy movement. “Music is a very important part of my class,” Winchell said. “It helps participants engage in the class more than if the music was quiet, or not fun or popular. In my class I like to have more hiphop music, because