It’s 7:30 P.M., and I’m waiting in line for Throwback Ratchet Zooba, a hip-hopdance cardioclass.
I cant help but notice that the crowd lurking near the door is overwhelmingly whitecue the internal eye roll.
Being a black woman in the predominantly white fitness scene of New York City, this is the norm.
Design by Jocelyn Runice
And it can get awkward at times.
Looking at the crowd outside Ratchet Zooba, I’m ready for more of the same.
I was never really a hardcore fitness person.
My dad owned a nightclub, so Ive been around music all my life.
As word started to spread, social media powerhouses likeHannah Bronfmanstarted attending her classes.
Thats when things really took offand more white people started showing up.
(Now, classes are about 80 percent white and 20 percent African American, Rahmaan says.)
As her audience began to expand, Rahmaan extended her class offerings to include work by more diverse artists.
One of her most popular classes went through the choreography in Justin Biebers Sorry video.
Heres the truth: The music in the Throwback Ratchet Zooba class is damn good.
No surprise given Rahmaan’s Def Jam pedigree.
Thesong selectionis exactly what I listen to in my headphones when Im running on the treadmill alone.
Typically Im stuck doingcardioto Coldplay, ugh.
Almost every song that played was my jam at one time in my life.
The choreography was infused with some of my favorite old-school dances.
Can you teach me how to dance like that?
my classmates would ask.
Today, I often feel that same kind of freakishness in hip-hop dance classes.
It seems that ever since Miley Cyrus took twerking mainstream, its cool to be ratchet.
But there needs to be a respectful understanding of where the music and dances come from.
There’s a thin line between cultural melting pot and cultural appropriation.
It’s a lot to wrap your head aroundespecially when you’re sweaty and trying to stick to choreography.
The woman next to me demurred; I was dropping it to the floor and sticking my tongue out.
I was no longer worried about whether white girls twerking is cultural appropriation.
I was feeling myselfand thats the whole purpose.
I look at my classes all the time and say, ‘Take that,Trump!’
It is a beautiful mix, and they dance together and its all fun.
None of that stuff comes into the classrooms.
For me, there is one thing that trumps everything, and thats supporting ablack business.
Ive always been taught its important to support black women doing amazing things.
They’ll probably find me there, showing them all how it’s done.
