Fieldwork Diary Entry (January 30, 2013)

Tonight I made it to a Glambop Fitness, Charle-swing class at the Mission Hall in Parsons Green.  Having contacted Glambop prior to attending, they knew why I was coming and what my purpose was. 

Mission Hall is a small church which has been converted into a community space.  Glambop's classes are held in a loft type studio at the top of the church.  Upon arrival I introduced myself to Naomi who is one half of Glambop Fitness. Naomi was very friendly and it turns out that both she and Sara (the other half of Glambop) are Roehampton dance graduates, both having completed the BA Dance programme in 2010.

We fell into a conversation about Roehampton, during which Naomi offered up the reason why she and Sara decided to formulate Charle-swing.  They had evaluated the dance fitness market after graduating and found that apart from Zumba. there was very little on offer in terms of a dance fitness activity.  Naomi is a personal trainer as well as dancer.  She said they devised Charle-swing as a dance method to get fit without having to be as 'sexy' as Zumba.   Charle-swing was designed to be fun, carefree and something you could just do without caring what you looked like.  She then warned me that the class was a real workout.  After this conversation, I really had no idea what to expect.

Apart from myself, there were four other females in the class.  From speaking to them I found out they were all regulars and they verified that the class was a workout.  They were all dressed in gym type clothing with trainers and looked between early 20's to mid 30s.  All were Caucasian in appearance. 

The studio had no mirrors so when class began, Naomi chose which side was to be the front and we all placed ourselves accordingly to face her.  Once the music started for the first exercise, there was no gradual build-up.  The pace was fast and consistent from the very beginning.  The swing and Charleston dance origins of the exercises was evident but done in an aerobic class style.  I felt concerned about the lack of a warm up as I was cold and the studio was cold so I moderated my actions  until I felt a bit warmer.  That didn't take long as Naomi really put us through the paces.

During the class I knew I wanted to film it and I also felt that Glambop were onto something that potentially could be successful in the dance aerobic market.  Naomi had told me before class that she and Sara worked full-time and found it hard to find time to devote to building up Glambop Fitness which they started in October 2012.   They currently have classes in Parsons Green as well as Canary Wharf with potentially a third class in Waterloo in the near future.  I hope they can make it a success.

After class, I thank Naomi and we discuss the possibility of me interviewing her and Sara as well as the class being filmed in the next few weeks.   She is open to both suggestions and we agree to discuss further through email.  I leave feeling hopeful and excited about this new experience in my fieldwork journey.  I liked how Glambop Fitness was a completely new fieldwork site for me in all ways and how positive the experience had been.  I go away thinking how Charle-swing is definitely a workout and wonder if my muscles will be sore the next day.