It can be difficult to leave the dorm to workout at the gym, but Nakreshia Borno’s CFunk dance class at the Wellness Center spices up exercise with its pop, lock and twerk.
The University of Miami’s Women’s Commission, Yellow Rose Society and Wellness Center are teaming up to bring the CFunk workout to the Lakeside Patio Stage for Women’s History Month, making Monday a little bit funkier.
Programming chair and active CFunk participant Jacqueline Alonso described how CFunk ties into the Women’s Commission’s goal to empower women.
“CFunk is a high-energy dance fitness course that gets you to have a ton of fun without you even realizing that you are working out,” Alonso said. “The CFunk motto is, ‘When in doubt, shake it out. If you don’t get it, make it up.’ There is no shame in a CFunk class and that is what we want our members to feel, no shame and no judgment.”
Sophomore Dezare Sellers started going to CFunk when she heard about it from one of her floormates. Once she tried it, she kept coming back for more hip-hop dancing.
“I would describe CFunk as my way to get a party without leaving campus,” Sellers said. “I used go to parties all the time just for the dancing, but they don’t happen all the time. Now I get to have the same fun, twice a week, every week.”
Borno started leading CFunk classes while she was a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It all began when she spoke to her academic mentor about her future.
“He asked me what do I love to do and would I still enjoy it even if I didn’t get paid to do it. I told him I enjoy dance and I enjoy fitness, and then he said, ‘Well, that can be your career,’” Borno said.
Borno began taking Cardio Funk and taught the class after the original instructor left. In 2012, she started her own business. She changed the title from Cardio Funk to CFunk to add her own special flavor.
Borno later relocated to the Miami area, rebuilding her clientele. She started working at UM and at Florida International University.
“Really, every semester it gets bigger and bigger and bigger,” she said. “I think it’s spreading by word of mouth and social media and all those good things.”
CFunk takes dance styles from different cultures, from Latin dance to Caribbean Soca. Every song has choreography that most of the participants have learned by going to class whenever they can.
The song “Yeah!” by Usher allows special participation from the students. According to sophomore Zoey Spiegelman, the class splits and has a dance battle, making it “really fun.”
“I love the song, and it reminds me of when I was younger and danced to it with my friends,” Spiegelman said. “The teacher, Nakreshia, is absolutely incredible and she always makes the class extremely interactive and interesting.”
CFunk allows the participants to bring out his or her fun side.
“It’s fun, sassy, spunky … If you’re in that class, you can be any alter ego that you want to be,” Borno said. “It’s like you’re free. Your soul is free, your body is free, your mind is free.”
IF YOU GO
What: Free CFunk class
When: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Lakeside Patio
CFunk is offered at the Wellness Center at 4:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and at 4:20 p.m Thursdays.
The free Monday class will be offered in partnership with the Women’s Commission and the Yellow Rose Society.