Brukwine ‘BRUK OUT’
IT’S a new trend in pop circles and has celebrities like Uzo Aduba, Kreesha Turner, and Academy Award winner Lupita Nyongo, dancing up a storm.
We’re talking about Brukwine, a workout created three years ago by dancers/choreographers Tamara Marrow and Autavia Bailey.
Both are former dancers for Grammy-winning artiste Sean Paul.
Brukwine Addiction (the name of their Instagram page) has thousands of followers, including celebrities. The workouts are held in Midtown, New York City, 8th Avenue in Manhattan, and in Brooklyn at 4th Avenue.
They are so popular that reggae and dancehall artistes have contacted Marrow and Bailey to have their songs played during the sessions.
According to Marrow (who has Jamaican roots), “Brukwine is first and foremost a workout. It can be done in heels or sneakers. The idea is that every woman deserves to feel sexy and confident. Women who have 9 to 5 office jobs can come to Brukwine classes, let loose, let their inner sexy out, all while sweating sexy. And yes, you do sweat. You leave drenched in sweat. You can burn up to 1,000 calories per class.”
Jamaican music, she added, is an integral part of the Brukwine class.
“We use a lot of dancehall songs because the class focuses on movement of the waist and wining. We have a lot of the big dancehall artistes who send us their music so we can do it in class,” said Marrow. “We are very grateful to artistes such as Tifa, Charly Blacks, Stacious, Mavado, Kranium, Konshens, TOK, and Kreesha Turner, who have all showed support.”
Marrow’s grandparents are Jamaican, while Bailey was born in Washington DC. They toured with Sean Paul for eight years and have also worked with Missy Elliott, Diddy, J Lo, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga.
Brukwine, Marrow pointed out, is not a fad.
“We started this class because of our love for dance and knowing that it is a way to work out without even realising it. We get a lot of women who take Brukwine who never go to a gym or work out,” she said. It’s a safe haven for woman to come in; sweat, burn calories, feel confident, and let loose without judgement.”
