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Learn to Break Dance and Vogue at East Village Studio

By Lisha Arino | September 8, 2014 12:21pm
 Exile Professional Gym on Second Avenue between East First and Second streets, offers classes in hip-hop and house dance styles like break dancing and vogue, making it the first dance studio in the city to focus on “street dance,” said Sho Koshimura, the studio’s public relations director.
Exile Professional Gym Opens in the East Village
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EAST VILLAGE — A new dance studio is taking its moves from the streets and clubs of New York City.

Exile Professional Gym, which opened on Labor Day on Second Avenue between East First and Second streets, offers classes in hip-hop and house dance styles like break dancing and vogue.

“Street dance is from the street. It’s not from the studio,” said Sho Koshimura, the studio’s public relations director.

In addition to widely recognized street dance styles, the studio also offers classes in “lite feet,” a hip-hop dance form that started in East Harlem, and “flexing,” a style with reggae roots that started in Brooklyn, Koshimura said.

The studio, also known as EXPG, is the company’s first outpost in New York. The company already has 10 locations in Japan and Taiwan that teach moves that originated in New York City.

“It’s crazy that it takes a company from overseas to create something like this,” said Soraya Lundy, who teaches hip-hop classes at the studio.

While other dance schools offer hip-hop classes, Lundy said it's unusual to find so many sub-styles taught at a single studio.

Classes at the East Village location are taught by 30 New York-based instructors who have performed with artists like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Shakira and appeared in films like "Step Up 2: The Streets" and "Dreamgirls," according to the studio’s website.

The studio will also offer workshops with guest instructors, Koshimura said.

Classes take place in two studios: a 1,000-square-foot space that can hold up to 40 students and a 700-square-foot space that can hold up to 30 students.

Classes are open to all levels, from beginner to advanced, Koshimura said, and the studio also offers a kids' hip-hop classes for children who are 5 to 10 years old. The cost ranges from $20 per class to a monthly $120 pass that covers eight classes, according to the studio's website.

Exile Professional Gym, 27 Second Ave., is open seven days a week from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call (646) 461-2123.