Jazzercise Seattle Studio

How can it be that no one has reviewed this yet? This studio opened June 2013 and seems to be pretty popular and it is awesome.
It’s right on Aurora next to a Vern Fonk — there are a couple of parking spots out front so you may need to park on a side street.
I prefer short reviews but this is long because I like Jazzercise and I cannot lie.
I like exercise that is fun, and doesn’t feel so much like exercise that I make excuses to avoid going. I have a pretty simple exercise rule — if it makes me puke I don’t want to do it.
I’ve tried bootcamps, bikram, bodypump and all kinds of other exercise not beginning with B. They work great when I do them but I end up quitting because I find them boring or just hate going. And some of them broke the above rule.
Zumba is fun but I didn’t like the generic music. Hula hooping is great fun but classes few and far between. Deep water aerobics is great but not many classes a week.
I was fed up of all the group exercise classes in Seattle being for pilates or yoga. Yawn. I had found myself hankering after the group aerobic classes of my college days. I even heard tell of Punk Aerobics classes but sadly not in my neighbourhood and sat at my computer day job fantasizing about training to be an fitness instructor so I could pick the playlist for aerobics classes.
So anyway that’s why I thought I’d give Jazzercise a shot when a studio opened nearby. I’d never been before and I was totally expecting women my mother’s age rocking spandex and their heyday hairstyles. Frankly, I felt a little swindled that this was not the case. I secretly wanted to wear a shiny leotard. I wanted it to be like just this Jazzercise video on Youtube with a dancing elephant:
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Instead the class was a total mixture of age groups, mainly women and a couple of guys. And they were dancing to Macklemore! I’m in! The music is very varied — some old stuff but mainly lot’s of popular stuff that is irresistible to dance to but I wouldn’t admit to listening to in front of my cool Seattle indie music friends eg. Meggan Trainor, Ke$ha, Pitbull etc.
The instructors are all great and very upbeat. Clear cueing and instruction. They will correct form but not in an embarrassing, calling you out publicly for failing sort of way like at some places (looking at you Bikram). Classes are a mixture of aerobic, dance (but not difficult dance) steps and then some stretching with hand weights and floor stuff on yoga mats. They mix up all sorts of different styles. The good thing is it gets changed up every song so it moves along quickly. Apparently Jazzercise classes being a franchise follow a formula so they are consistent no matter where you attend so you soon get the hang of it. There are lots of regulars and people are friendly (but not in a creepy cult way).
It is fun! Fun music, fun steps (not enough jazz hands but whatever) and I look forward to going. I went almost daily for months until I had to stop for a while due to a health issue. And then I missed it instead of feeling smug that I had a good excuse for skipping exercise.
If you’re new to exercise and intimidated by gyms then this is a very positive environment. Oh, and unlike most dance studios there are no huge mirrors on the wall for you to admire/​critique the size of your ass. This also really helps you maintain the self pretense that you are a backup dancer in a Beyonce video. Side note — I totally thought the porn shop right across the street on Aurora had followed suit with their handwritten note on the door saying «No Mirrors» but my friend advised it actually said «No Minors» which does make more sense.