By Sarah Nichols Seriousness is not permitted once you walk through the doors of Sadye Osterloh’s fitness class. A room full of standard athletic wear and faces of dripping intensity is instead replaced with neon colors and laughter as people dance their way through their workout. Welcome to the Dorky Dance Fitness class. Osterloh, the creator of the class, is a member of the Bellingham Circus Guild where she teaches trapeze classes. “I used to do warm-ups in my trapeze classes that were 10 to 15 minutes long,” Osterloh said. “I started playing dorky songs and dances to have fun and get the body warmed up, but also to get rid of nervousness and ego.” This warm-up was so popular among her students that Osterloh decided to turn it into a class, she said. At the end of August 2018, the first Dorky Dance Fitness class had been held and everyone was hooked, Osterloh said. Jen Owen, a Dorky Dance enthusiast, began taking classes in October. Every Wednesday she commutes from Arlington for the class, she said. “I’ve been going through a really hard time this past year, and no matter how you are feeling, you spend an hour with Sadye and it’s like therapy,” Owen said. With a room filled with eight to 20 people wearing neon leotards and tights, judgement is left at the door and “dorkiness” is celebrated according to Osterloh. “You will leave feeling super happy, strong, sweaty and really good about yourself and your body in multiple ways,” Osterloh said. Osterloh’s classes offer a range of cardio and strength training movements with modifications that allow each person to be in control of the intensity of their workout, she said. Dorky Dance Fitness participant Sarah Miles attends classes with her co-workers from the Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital. “It’s something we will continue to do together weekly. We don’t do a lot of out-of-work activities together, so this worked out perfectly,” she said. “It was a really stressful day at the hospital so it was really nice to sweat it out with the co-workers and be goofy.” For those who do not live in Bellingham and would like to experience a Dorky Dance Fitness Class, Osterloh said an online 21-Day Challenge class is available online. The class is offered for a $29.99 sign-up fee, which includes daily emails and kindness challenges. It also includes bonus challenge videos that are 20 to 30-minute-long, such as grocery shopping workout ideas or a sneaky squat bathroom challenge.
