Body Step 80

The first filming of the quarter was Body Step 80, and given that I'd made significant recovery from injury, I wanted it to be the first full Step filming I'd done since Body Step 74. I'd done a little bit of BS78, but then retreated when my ankle came close to rolling a couple of times. I was pretty much determined that I was going to get through the class in one piece.

And boy, am I glad I did!

But before I jump forward, let's jump back.

One thing you'll notice when you get the DVD is that this is the one release this quarter where the presenters are not wearing the new Les Mills clothing line. I had been talking to some of the Step presenters leading up to the filming, and there was a lot of concern about the official Les Mills outfits that they had been designate to wear. Pretty much, they didn't fit, and were shaped really awkwardly. And they were GREY! Come on, how could you assign a GREY top for such a milestone release; it is after all, the 80th release for Body Step.

Thankfully, the BS team didn't go ahead with the official Les Mills clothing line, and instead, came along in layered bright coloured tops with brightly coloured shorts. Check out some of the photos of the Step presenting team on my good friend Glen Stollery's blog. The Step presenting team were made up of Amanda from the USA, Vanessa from the UK, Sarah Robinson, Lisa Osborne, Ruthie T (OMFG!) who made a return for the 20th Anniversary release, and of course, Mark Nu'u. Sarah and Amanda were wearing bright pink and yellow, Vanessa and Lisa was in bright pink and grey, and

I'd had some hard times at the gym in the days leading up to the filming, and I was actually resenting a lot of people being there. To the point where I hid down the back and didn't want to be around anyone I knew. During Step, I would hide anyway, since I'm so bloody useless at it, but I would've missed being near everyone I knew. Not this time. I was missing one person in particular who by all rights should have been there, but couldn't. That person, I'm sure is reading, and knows exactly who they are. I really missed you that day.

I had positioned myself in the back to the side, out of the view of the camera. Not long after I'd set up, an LMI staff member came up to me and said, "Hi! Would you be fine with moving into the centre? We want to make it look like there's more people in the room for the DVD."

Here's what I should've said.

"No! You don't want a loon like me stumbling around on the DVD!"

But here's what I did say.

"Sure, no problem!"

I just so happened to be placed behind Ginny Crocker - awesome Jammer and it was great being able to follow her footwork since she looked like she knew exactly what she was doing.

Before the class started and while sound checking was in place, Mark stood up and said, "Can we get Fred, Amy and Hector up onstage, please?"

Now, I know Fred, Amy and Hector, and had heard rumours flying around throughout the week, but didn't believe any of them (ahahaha - you get used to rumours at Les Mills Auckland Central, you really do. Always sleep with one eye open, Safer Communities Together.), and was surprised that this one was not only confirmed, but had been understated. I'd heard about Fred, but not that Amy and Hector - two of the most wonderful, nicest, down to earth and genuine people that I know - were also part of the picture.

Mark arranged Fred, Amy and Hector to test the camera shot, and then my favourite part of the release took hold. Mark turned to Fred and said, "You're wearing THAT?" Fred was wearing a skintight light grey t-shirt (if you look at the second photo on Glen Stollery's blog, you'll see Fred on the far right and the t-shirt he's wearing), and suddenly, Fred looked very insecure and uncomfortable. I laughed... not at him, but at the fact that someone who is so loud and exuberant in every day settings could suddenly become all self conscious that quickly.

...

Oh who am I kidding, I laughed my ass off AT him, mwahahaha. You don't want me as your friend, I'm evil. I laugh at you, and then I write about it on the internet.

Fred, Amy and Hector trundled off the stage, and the team got into place to film the introduction.

And enter in Sarah Robinson + Microphone Issues. Poor Sarah's microphone wasn't turned on during the intro, so she ended up saying, "[Lots of cardio peaks] and hello hello, hello... helloooooooooooo, hello....".

Disclaimer: I don't know if she actually said 'lots of cardio peaks', I can't remember what exactly she was that she said, but it was something 'Body Step'py. Vanessa gives some great tips in the introduction of how to present BS80 at your clubs around the world - bright colours, leg warmers, and big hair. The team were definitely testament to that with their outfits, and it set the mood for a great release.

As for BS80?

I'm not a regular Body Stepper, so I can't compare this with other releases. The only other Step release I've done in its entirety is BS74, and that is one release that I do enjoy. I'm happy to say, as far as my personal opinion goes, BS80 is on the same level. I hadn't seen the release before, and I had a great time doing it.

Filming hiccups... poor Amanda had to refilm the end of one track about 4-5 times to transition into the next track, and it's actually quite difficult to try and pick up partway through a track and be able to know immediately how many sets are left. Amanda was great though, she was simply awesome at the filming, and will look fantastic on the DVD.

As tends to happen, I had completely hydrated myself before class, and was drinking a lot of water during the class. On a hot January day, that tends to happen. I actually needed to go to the bathroom and thought, "Just hold on until the end of the filming." Ah... no. Somehow though, I rushed off to the bathroom as they began the next track, but something must have happened and they stopped filming. So when I came back, I literally hadn't missed a thing, as the master class participants were all standing around looking impatient. I know they were peeved to be waiting, but I was one relieved Marshmallow. (In uh... more than one way.)

I'm going to slightly spoil one of the tracks, but it ties into what I was mentioning earlier in the post. The 'speed' track this time, isn't your traditional speed track. It's like there are almost two party tracks in this release. It's in this track that Fred, Amy and Hector all file in onstage partway through the track and set up behind the presenting team and join in. Amy is a fantastic Body Step instructor, though Fred and Hector are participants so it was quite something seeing them up onstage. I know that Hector is contemplating doing his Step module (and I think he'd be awesome), but as of now, two of those guys onstage are ordinary members. Or not-so-ordinary members. But they're members, whatever else they are.

This particular track is to Step what the Hairspray track is to Combat. It'll probably become one of the most hated tracks by instructors and simultaneously become the requested tracks by members. At least Steppers are slightly(!) used to Mark Nu'u's penchant for incredibly cheesy songs - especially after the monstrosity in BS79 that was the Lou Bega cover of 'I Got A Girl'. Now that is Camembert upon Brie upon Gouda as far as cheese goes.

... Dammit, now I'm hungry. That is the last time I try to be witty with food groups.

I scuppered off towards the end of Step to put on my Pump gloves and I spotted Stollery and his partner sitting at the back of the room, observing the madness. Well, I spotted them beforehand, since it was really, really, REALLY difficult trying to miss Stollery with his OMG FLUORESCENT YELLOW shirt. What was especially amusing was that Stacy was wearing pink, which seriously matched the Step presenting teams pink-yellow layering. Apparently it was not planned, but I think there was inside job there somehow. :-P

I said to him as I rushed by, "You're all decked out for Step!" He spluttered in a Oh Don't Be Silly I Don't Do Step The Notion Of That Is Preposterous I Say I Say I Say manner, but maaaan, the colour matching was uncanny.

There's a loud, vibrant bunch of people in the front row this time, I could certainly hear them and see how the camera loved them from the back. Team Canada took up most of the front row, although I must say, while every Canadian I spoke to was lovely and kind - one of my best friends Missy being the best Canadian in the world :-D, I missed her this time around, especially in Vive and Jam - I was thoroughly unimpressed that everyone else was literally roped off from entering the room while the Canadians were given preferential treatment and allowed to claim their spots in the front before anyone else was allowed in. Come on, what's up with that? There were other people who had travelled just as long a distance that didn't even get a chance to be in the front. Quite often on this blog, I write objectively and avoid opinion since I'm aware of how people get influenced by what they read on the web - I find it very sad that a bunch of Jam participants found a thread on the LM Forums about how 'BJ51 sucks', and pre-launch, they approached the instructor and asked if they could skip BJ51 altogether based just on what they'd read in that thread... without even seeing the choreography! - but this is something that bothers me, and I don't think it would hurt to bring it to light. All of us were lined up in the stairwell before the filming, completely confused as to why there were a good number of people already in the room. Of course, as soon as we tried to go in, we were promptly pushed back by an LMI staff member, so really, what gives?

Thankfully I wanted to be at the back anyway, but it was a shame for anyone who was denied even the chance to get near the front.

Just as well, my Step experience wasn't soured as a result of this. I think there's a lot of opportunity for clubs around the world to have fun with this release. And my legs were certainly wobbly afterwards, even with low impact options and no risers, so there's still the awesome workout that you would expect from any Body Step.

A fitting release to celebrate 20 years of Body Step. Hats off to the team for a wicked release. It was an honour for me to be a part of it.