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Snellville, GA (Gwinnett Daily Post) — As Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” pumped through Momentum Arts’ fitness studio, the dozen or so dance class participants clapped their green drumsticks together, the hard plastic reverberating to the song’s beat.
“Good, now forward,” Maggie Walls shouted over the music, facing the group as she bent down to demonstrate, beating her sticks on the studio’s rubber floor.
Though the loud music that filled the Snellville studio Tuesday night was typical of any high-intensity fitness class several weeks into the New Year, Walls’ Pound class was unique, much like her studio, which, in addition to offering adult dance and fitness class, offers youth theater, music and art classes.
A nonprofit, Momentum Arts’ goal is to provide the southern Gwinnett community affordable music, dance, theater and wellness programs, Walls said.
“We — I have four children who are teens who do music, dance, theater, all that stuff — saw the need for some affordable programming for the kids in the area,” Walls said. “I started offering programming for that age group and really just started with theater and got like 28 kids our first run with no advertising, so we saw very quickly there was a need for that. The kids programs just kind of built from there.”
Those programs led Walls to receive nonprofit status in July 2017, which, in turn, has helped her offer reduced-price adult fitness classes at the studio she opened in March.
“We wanted to offer drop-in, no commitment classes for people who didn’t necessarily feel comfortable working out, didn’t know how to start or maybe are different body types for the normal people that work out,” she said. “(We also wanted) them to have crazy things that they could try, because we do have Zumba, but you can find Zumba anywhere. So we started offering dance-based fitness that was a little more technical based.”
Those classes include Pound, hip-hop, Afro-fusion, Refit, Broadway Fit and others, which are unique simply because they are not mainstream dance classes.
But they’re distinct for another reason: the instructors.
“Our instructors are very varied in their bodies,” said Walls, who has been full-figured most of her life. “We have your kind of typical athletic-looking instructors, but then we also have a lot of instructors that are varying shapes and sizes. I teach most of the classes and I hear that all the time — people walk in and go, ‘Oh’ when they see me and then are surprised, but are like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.’ They (also) know I’ve been through (weight and fitness) challenges and they know I know the modifications for body type.”
Walls said she often hears feedback that the differing body sizes are a breath of fresh air, compared to more traditional studios.
“We hear that a lot — that ‘I’ve gone to 100 places and I’ve never felt as welcome as I do here,’ or ‘I was always scared to work out, and I love it (here),’” Walls said. “People are, in general, pretty friendly here too, so they’re really welcoming and will show everybody where to get your sticks or (where to) stand. It’s got such a weird, friendly vibe and I think that’s because everyone feels like we’re in the same boat.”
Pound regular Shari Hoffman said that’s a big reason why she attends Walls’ classes.
“The songs are great, Maggie’s great and I feel good when I’m done,” she said. “When I started, I started with Zumba and it was a really small class and I felt kind of awkward showing up, but (another Pound participant) and two other ladies just made me feel really welcome.”
Tuesday night Pound participant Sarah Kooymans echoed Hoffman.
“I started doing Zumba with Maggie when she was at the Centerville Community Center and then she opened up here and she’s been a big help with me losing weight,” Kooymans said. “I think it’s great that there are so many different body types that are able to do Zumba and Pound and it does away with the notion of the super-skinny ’80s model videos, so it’s very cool.”
For more information about Momentum Arts, visit momentumatlanta.com.
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