“Since I was 13, I’ve loved to watch people dance. I would go on YouTube and, when cleaning the house, just bust in a couple dance moves – that’s what I’ve been doing. Then, I thought I should get out of my shell and make it a hobby, so I started joining CBS dance classes. I had never been to any dance classes before,” she says.

But she was hooked. She started going regularly, then became a board member and eventually president of the organisation.

Volunteer teachers

By the time the class is ready to begin, ten girls have lined up on the floor.

“One of the great things about the classes is that they are free. We’re all in need of a bit of extra money but want to pursue our hobbies,” Beiza Kateh says.

There are some loyal participants who always show up, but some students come sporadically, or just once. Beiza Kateh wants to emphasise how accessible and flexible the classes are for students’ schedules.

“If you pay for a dance class elsewhere, you have to show up. Here you don’t pay, you have the freedom to come last minute, and if you get sick, you don’t lose any money, which is liberating for students economically and time management-wise.”

All CBS Dance teachers are students and volunteers. They choose themselves what to teach.

This week, CBS Dance is offering ballet, K-pop and hip-hop. What makes it onto the schedule depends on the teachers’ availability and interests. After the bachata teacher graduated, Latin American dances are absent. Beiza Kateh would love to see more participants and teachers and dreams of being able to offer more dances, such as popping, or house, or why not couples dance?

Ruby Yang, a volunteer dance teacher who teaches girly hip-hop, and Beiza Kateh. Photo: Anna Holte.

Levels can vary and are announced on the schedule, but everyone is welcome regardless. Some teachers post the choreography online before so that students can practice ahead of the class.

Beiza Kateh usually runs online polls between two songs and lets the participants vote. This week’s winner was “Solo” by Jennie, a singer who normally performs in one of the world’s most famous K-pop bands Blackpink.

Counting to eight

But the class begins by going over the routine without music.

The start position has the dancers turned facing the back of the room, each with one hand on their left hip and the same leg stretched slightly backwards on the toe. As the routine starts, they slowly turn towards the front while rolling their shoulders back. The rubbery black floor squeaks as all eleven sneakers twist at the same time.

The dance involves a lot of elaborate and quick movements of the arms and upper body, which Beiza Kateh goes through step by step.

“Arms cross, caress your face and if you have long hair, flip it,” Beiza Kateh says flipping the ends of her long black hair outwards while talking through the moves.

“When you do it altogether it’s gonna look so good.”

Though she calls herself a beginner teacher, she seems natural in the role and peppers her detailed descriptions of dance moves with jokes and encouraging remarks about how great everyone looks.

“Everyone ready? Three, two, one,” as they repeat the motions slowly while Beiza Kateh counts to eight and then starts the routine over.

“If you can’t see yourself in the mirror, move!” she shouts assertively.

“Great. Now it’s gonna get faster,” Beiza Ketah says.

At the front of the classroom, a small tripod holds her smartphone playing the video of the routine.

After a short break, it is time to add music, first at a slower speed.

The song starts with a drawn-out percussion and a squealing whistle effect before Jennie sings: “I’m going solo.”

The routine starts with serious and sensual faces with eyes fixed on the mirror and synchronised movements, but after the hair flip, movements speed up and suddenly dancers find themselves spinning in opposite directions, resulting in a few smiles and laughs across the room.

But the dancers are determined. When the music stops for a quick break, half of the girls keep repeating different moves to themselves following their own movements attentively in the mirror.

Photo: Anna Holte.

Then the moves are repeated over again until it is time to set the music to full speed.

At the end of each class, CBS Dance makes a video to upload on social media. Today’s class is intermediate and has run over by more than half an hour. Beiza Kateh tells anyone who needs to leave. But no one seems in a hurry.

Beiza Kateh spends a good deal of time getting everyone lined up correctly to fit in the frame.

Florine Jourdain, an exchange student from France, is sitting on one of the benches while half of the group is filming. She found the event online and just showed up. It was her first time trying K-pop.

“I’ve done other types of dance, but this was difficult. It’s really fast,” she says.

Emma Caloi, a third-year bachelor’s student from Italy studying international business has been coming to the classes for a year.

Emma Caloi has been dancing with CBS Dance regularly for a year. Photo: Anna Holte.

“I really like to dance. I did gymnastics when I was younger and sort of missed it and I didn’t have the space at home. These are free and near my house so I thought I would give it a go.”

She was especially attracted by the K-pop, a music style she already listened to.

“I usually know the songs. The music and the choruses are fun because usually it’s not a single style of music but a mix.”

She also likes that she meets a lot of different people and students from other universities here.

“A little bit of movement and exercise never hurts and it’s fun. I’ve tried to convince my friends to come and they say: ‘Oh I’m not a good dancer’. But you don’t need to be. It’s just moving your body. For me it’s a way to make peace with yourself.”

CBS Dance offers up to six dance classes per week in Dalgas Have, depending on the availability of the volunteer teachers. Photo: Anna Holte.

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