Seven's On Call with Dr. Jay Adlersberg.
It's movement to music, it's athletic and it's sexy. Latin dancing is all those things and much more to a bunch of New Yorkers who show up a couple times a week to reproduce what's done on one of the hottest shows on TV.
"Dancing with the Stars" is a hit reality show on ABC. That's, in part, due to the lessons from professional dance teachers, like champion dancer Melanie LePatin.
But Melanie and her award-winning partner Tony Meredith are teaching a true reality class, real people from every walk of life, who take a half-hour class with Tony and Melanie twice a week. The experience is harmonious rhythm for the mind and body. It's called Dance Times Square.
"People work boring jobs or stressful jobs," LePatin said. "But when they walk into the studio, it's a whole different mindset. It takes them to a different place."
It takes them to a place of muscle movement and aerobic exercise, to break a sweat and to maintain your weight.
At each of these classes, people can burn more than 100 calories in a half hour. Who takes these classes? A lawyer, an accountant, a financier, a pilot and many others.
Jerry Feldman is the dean of an optometry college. Dancing helped him knock off some pounds.
"Before I started dancing, I was 20, 30 pounds heavier," he said. "I know it works."
It also works to relax Elaine Warshaw, who is a teacher.
"It gets your mind off everything else," she said. "Nothing is more important than putting one foot in front of the other."
And it works for Judith Pinto, who has been a regular there for seven years. She is a 64-year-old breast cancer survivor and grandmother.
"I'm a size four, 119 ponds, in great health," she said. "I'm 10 years cancer-free. Its great for the mind and the body."
The classes cost $12 each, which is a bargain. Tourists can stop in for one or several sessions. Corporations get a discount and can even schedule their own hours to keep their workers happy and fit.
For more on Dance Times Square, click here or call 212-994-9500.
