2011 July 11 « Wayne Joseph’s Blog

Funk-aerobics with Angela Woods at Hawaiian Immersion School

: Angela Woods

Exercise should always be fun and when you add music and movement you get dance.

Angela Woods and her husband put together a performing arts school called N2 Dance where they teach a variety of different movement forms which includes Hip-Hop, ballet, jazz and something called Funk-aerobics.

Ms. Woods got her college degree in math education with a minor in Hawaiian and started off as a math teacher during the day and a dance instructor in the afternoon and into the evening.

“After I had my first son I retired from teaching math and just ran the dance studio,” Woods said.

Two more children later Woods has expanded her dance classes into a Hawaiian Immersion School where she now has to speak only in the native language.

“Our dance classes are held at the Immersion school and are conducted in the Hawaiian language,” she said. “I am continually learning new words to use in my instruction. Our written communication with the parents is done in both Hawaiian and English as it is definitely a mental exercise to translate my thoughts into two languages and to look up new words to make sure that I am communicating correctly.”

Born in Washington State Woods and her family moved to Oahu when she was five years old.

“I played a little volleyball when I was in the 8^th grade and I danced hula in a halau,” she said.

Woods went onto become a cheerleader at Kaiser High School where she also ran several miles a day to stay in shape.

Most of Woods exercise comes from teaching dance classes and her favorite workout is something called funk-aerobics.

“I teach Funk-aerobics three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” she said. “It has become my biggest source of physical exercise. Unlike the other dance classes that I teach, I actually do dance for the full hour. It is something that I love to do and provides me with the best method of getting in a full workout.”

Woods love for dance extends to her students and their parents as she tries to get the entire family involved.

“We started the Funk aerobics classes as a way to get the parents and other school teachers involved. In our concert that we just recently had a few weeks ago, we had our Funk-aerobics students perform a Funk-aerobics routine as a fun way to have parents and teachers in the show as well as to show others how Funk aerobics is,” Woods said.

Woods also takes care of her body by making sure she eats the right foods.

“I have always been pretty careful about eating very little refined sugar and flour while consuming lots of fruits and vegetables,” she said.

It was shortly after giving birth to her third child that Woods discovered the need for her to adapt to the ‘Specific Carbohydrate Diet.’

“I had several health problems after giving birth to my third son, including a near death experience which required me to get 10 blood transfusions,” Woods said.

Woods third born son also had health related issues which lead to her modifying her diet.

“The diet consist of lots of fruits and veggies, nuts, beans, meat, yogurt, eggs and cheese,” she said. “The only sweetener that is used is honey. The diet did miracles for my son’s health problems and because I was nursing him at the time and he was so sensitive to things that I ate, I also started on this diet.”

Woods discovered that both her and her son benefited from the new diet and now, nearly three years later, she continues to stay on it.

Following the birth of her third child Woods began to experience something called exercise intolerance.

“Weight bearing and anaerobic activity continues as the biggest physical problem for me,” she said. “Although Hip-Hop dance is very aerobic because of the sharp movements and tricks, it also requires quite a bit of muscle endurance, so dancing Hip-Hop for more than brief period is very difficult for me.”

With those struggles came another form of dance which appeals more to her body.

“Teaching funk-aerobics almost one year now I’ve noticed that my muscle endurance has significantly increased,” she said. “I’m hoping to get back to or even surpass the muscle endurance I once had.”

Woods continues to share her love for dance with anyone who is interested to learn and cites her involvement with a variety of concerts that N2 Dance puts on as her high points.

“Some of my fondest memories are the events that I am involved in and the concerts that we hold here on the Big Island,” she said. “We also take a trip every year to Oahu so that our dance students can participate in a dance competition as we are so very proud of them.”

To learn more about Woods and her N2 Dance you can go to www.n2-dance.com.

And someday should you happen to see a jogger with two left feet remember to smile, say “woof” and never shy away from “Running with the Big Dog.”

Email the Big Dog at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.

July 11, 2011 Posted by waynejoseph | Health and Fitness, Profiles | Angela Woods, Funk Aerobics, Hawaiian Immersion School, Hip-Hop, N2 Dance, Specific Carbohydrate Diet | Leave a comment