Famed dancer and instructor Louis van Amstel is visiting SJC Brooklyn in December to host a free Master Class.
The Dutch-American dancer and choreographer — a regular on the popular ABC series “Dancing with the Stars” — will host a class on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 6:30 p.m. in Tuohy Hall’s auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
The Master Class is part of the LaBlast Fitness regime founded by van Amstel, explained Jaime Vacca, executive director of student life at SJC Brooklyn. The class is similar to Zumba, but it’s based on all of the ballroom dances featured on “Dancing With The Stars” including disco, cha cha, jive and Viennese waltz. It’s partner-free, although the classes use many of the same patterns and techniques used in over 14 ballroom dances and genres of music from all eras. The classes also incorporate light weights to increase the effectiveness of the workouts.
Vacca was certified by van Amstel in 2017 to teach LaBlast Fitness. Since then, Vacca has taught fitness classes at two facilities in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
“I brought Louis to the center in Bensonhurst, where I teach, last February, and it was a huge success,” Vacca said. “I wanted him to come back to Brooklyn on his East Coast holiday tour — but this time to St. Joseph’s College.
“I wanted to introduce LaBlast (and Louis) to the SJC Community with the hopes of getting students, faculty, staff and alumni together to experience this fun workout before the holidays,” she added.
The campus’ Office of Student Involvement, Dance Team and Dance Club are sponsoring the class.
Register for the class here.
