You hear a catchy song and the movement just starts to come - you are feelin' it and your body begins create and then boom - you've come up with some bombdigity choreography to share with your class. You may even feel inclined to post it to social media for the world to see and love (of course following music licensing laws).
As a fitness instructor, you know the time it takes behind the scenes to prepare for a 1 hour class. When all is said and done - the bottom line is that we really don't do it for the money because well, it ends up being pennies for the hours of work.
With all businesses, there is so much behind the scenes to create a magical product that is ultimately seen by consumers. Take that cute workout outfit you've got on, for example. The outfit started as a design in someone's head, then it went to the drawing board, the clothing designer who pins and tucks and sews to create a prototype (and a million processes in between including the changes in fabric, textures and ultimately the final look). By the time you see that fabulous display at the clothing store it has gone through so many prototypes and handled by so many different processes before you are drawn to the display table.
Did you know that this is the same type of process that is involved with UpBeat Choreography? The Choreography is the magic (our final product), but it is only a small piece to the UpBeat business puzzle.
Long before any choreography is seen in an UpBeat class, one of the UpBeat creators chooses a song and breaks it down. We analyze the verse, chorus, and bridge and match a specific movement to coincide with the lyric. Adjusting counts and testing it at home, being sure the movement is purposeful and has a particular focus. Providing a SPECIFIC muscle focus to each track is vital; it allows not only for the signature muscle-endurance burnout of barre, but it simplifies the class mapping process IMMENSELY. It is one of the reasons UpBeat is so successful in making putting a class together truly a plug and play experience.
Sometimes choreography almost creates itself, other times it takes many drafts. At this point in the choreography process we share the piece with the other members of the UpBeat team. Each person then learns the choreography and begins to test it in our classes, noting the learn level as an instructor. We pay attention to how the choreography is received by participants of all ages, fitness journeys, and location dynamics. We discuss and analyze each piece of choreography bringing our own different perspectives. Transitions are scrutinized and tweaked. Sometimes a piece requires research and discussion on certain aspects of specific body movement. On rare occasions the choreography is ready to go with small changes and can be scheduled for a quick release, however, most of the time it takes a few months and in some instances even longer (we have some we've been reworking for more than a year!) before it's ready to roll in the library. In addition, some songs are changed so much so that the original isn't even recognized as the same track. We even have tracks that began with one song and ended up being released as a completely different song.
Some songs you see in live streams and tested in LIVE classes will never be released because they pose safety issues, don't stay true to the UpBeat brand, don't follow a specific enough focus, or a myriad of other reasons. Rest assured: the songs you see in the UpBeat library have been through this rigorous testing process to ensure safety, effectiveness, and an all around good time in the most UpBeat fashion!
We want you to be the best (read most fun!), safest, and most effective instructors in the entire barre community! And we aim to make that goal as easy for you as possible. So the next time you see your weekly song drops, you can appreciate and trust the process behind the magic that takes your classes out of this world!