Dancing Through Life: The Healing Power of Showtunes with Danella Mercati | Ep 155

Hey, Hads. I have a question for you.

Go for it.

What if you could do more musical theater?

I mean, yes, please.

And what if you also did that musical theater with a bunch of people ages like 12 to 90?

So sweet.

And what if there was glitter and jazz hands involved?

I mean, that would be a must. That would be required.

And all of that being packaged with a bright, shiny unicorn bow that was trauma-informed and all about emotional fitness and emotional well-being.

Check, check, check. I am so sold.

You guys, if anybody listening feels the same way that Hadz and I do, is I think you're going to really love this conversation. We are talking about Chi-Chi Fit. If you've heard of it, you love it. If you haven't heard of it, stay tuned because this is going to be such a fun conversation. If you're not a theater nerd, it's OK. You will become a Chi-Chi Fit nerd, I guarantee, by the end of this podcast. So Hadlee, can you introduce us to who our guest is?

Yes. So we interviewed Danella Mercati. And she is a former West End performer who turned her love of musical theater into a fitness program called Chi Chi Fit, which has grown into a global movement with classes offered across the UK, the US, and Australia. Her dance classes are set to all of your favorite show tunes, all of the musicals that you love, and they're designed to help you boost your mental well-being, stay active, and just kind of rediscover joy through the emotional power of music and movement. So she talks about how— Yes, it's a fitness class, but it's way, way more than just a fitness class.

Yeah, I can't wait. Actually, let's go listen to it again right now, and I'm gonna bring my sparkly hat. You want to come?

Sounds fabulous.

All right, everyone, we'll see you on the other side.

Bye. Let's get into it. I would love to hear— do you want to just start by telling us a little bit about your journey? It sounds like you have a very Interesting and unique path to what you're doing.

Yeah, well, not only do I have a sort of interesting and unique path to what I'm doing, over the years of doing it, it has evolved into something I could never have imagined and definitely moved itself so wholeheartedly into the well-being position that it now is that I feel it's almost more well-being than fitness, if that's possible from a dance fitness brand. But let me explain. I'm a theater kid. I'm a theater kid. I— it was just in my blood, literally, from a child. I've always loved— I mean, whilst I loved stage and theater, it was the musicals that really resonated with me. So I was really fortunate. I went on and trained at an incredible school in, um, the UK, Guildford School of Acting, did the 3-year musical theater, um, diploma. lived and breathed shows for 3 years. You know, it was hard work, it was intense, it was everything I wanted, really. But leaving that world with all that sort of expertise, but also mixed in with my other passion and also my kind of, I guess, prepping for a resting job when I was an out-of-work actress. My family's business and my mom's world was all Chinese medicine. And a very alternative way of being. So acupuncture, Chinese herbs, tuina, Chinese massage. So all of that was happening in my childhood all the way through my teenage years. And actually, my mom, who sadly we lost at the start of this year, but she's left a lot within me, um, she really encouraged me to just learn everything to do with health and wellness, your body. Because whether you use it as a professional tool, you've got it for you, you've got it for your friends, you've got it for your family. And whilst I briefly did use it all as a professionally, and, and all the massage that I trained in with her, I've never used the acupuncture professionally, but I still do stick needles in myself, um, when I've overdanced and I need it, and it's so effective. But that's, that's a whole other thing. But those 2 worlds, kind of musical theater and just generally health and wellness were just plodding along in my life for many years. They never combined. I never really considered it until— I can't even say until I had a light bulb moment. I wasn't looking for it. You know, it's like when they say you find the perfect partner when you're really not looking. I found my perfect place in the world when I wasn't looking, 'cause I thought I was in it, everything was lovely. And so it was when I was in a fitness class trying to kind of give some feedback to the instructor who'd asked for my feedback that I started creating what I would do. And then I realized what I would do is sort of what she was doing, but her— the genre wasn't authentic to me. I wasn't particularly interested in that genre. I was like, I think if I was to ever do something like this, it would have to be something I really, really loved. You know, I'd have to be like dancing along to show— show tunes. And literally, yeah, it was literally— and then I was almost annoyed that I'd had this idea because it was so brilliant. And it was— I was like, how has it taken me 40 years? It was literally in my 40th year that I— that this came to me and it sat in my brain like you get, you know, you get music earworms. I had like a— Oh yeah. Earworm. And it just sat in my brain for only a couple of weeks. I did say to my husband, as soon as I returned, I went, I've got this amazing idea that I think I'm gonna have to do. And he was like, you're doing enough. I don't think you need to do anything else. And I was like, okay. And then a couple of weeks later, I was like, it's literally fizzing around me. I think I have to do this thing. So that's kind of how the Brainwave came, and it was mixing dance and fitness with show tunes. And ultimately where that path has led over 10 years, as it— nearly 10 years— as it's grown and evolved is just more than I could have ever dreamed of. Um, it's so, so for your listeners who might, may not be familiar with Gigi Fit, it's musical theater inspired dance fitness kind of Like black and white. What it really is, as I've discovered over the years, it's a whole immersive experience where the music taps into your mind, into your heart. The routines, which are really accessible to anyone— it's really inclusive, and that's a massive part of it. It's for anybody, whether you've got two left feet, whether you've danced a step in your life, or whether you're a professional dancer. It, it will— you'll find your way with it and you'll find your perfect place with it. But it has so many dimensions in a class. And it's this, this is the magic. And I didn't anticipate this because until you start doing it and growing it and developing it, you don't know these things. But for me, it's, it's my self-help. It's my mental wellness space. The show tunes make you feel a little bit more glitzy, a little bit more glamorous. It takes people out of the everyday. transports you in that time into like magical places. The lyrics can be really moving, they can be quite triggering, there can be a lot of releases. But because you're moving your body and you're sweating, there's the endorphins, there's the fitness, there's literally— it's this like infusion of all things good, good, and community. I genuinely had no idea the power of community, the health benefits of community. I mean, I know research now is sort of— you guys have probably covered a lot of this and know so much of this, but I had to kind of live it and find it and feel it to, to understand it. And I think probably it's the the, the most important element. It's social. People, people get together in a really positive space where even if they arrive feeling rotten or angry at their boss or frustrated by their children or all of these things, the minute you press play on those musics and the first song that pops up is There's No Business Like Show Business, like, gone. Whatever was there's gone. And then when you're taken on a journey where you dip into Wicked and you get lyrics like, unlimited, our future is unlimited, you start feeling positive again, you start believing. And, you know, then the energy picks up and we're in Hairspray the Musical and we're really, you know, where you can't stop the motion of the ocean and you feel like a dancer. It's like before you know it, you've gone on a journey of self-help. Yes. And you— so I think for me, I, and again, why I really resonated with what you girls cover in, in, in all your expertise is wellness. It's, it's a place where there are so many levels to the difference it makes.

I so agree. I was a theater kid, and I also directed some summer theater programs for middle schoolers when I was in high school. And I just saw how these kids would come in at the beginning of the 6 weeks, and they would be, you know, like kind of shy and whatever. And I had the same experience when I was in 6th grade when I was in the summer theater program. And By the end, the confidence and the ability to regulate emotions even, it is wild how these things, musical theater, can be so helpful. My boss at the time was like, I know nothing about— he was the rec department boss. And he was like, I know nothing about theater, literally nothing. But you can do whatever you want because I am so aware that these kids get the most out of theater, like more out of theater than any of the other sports or anything that I'm in charge of, because it really just brings that, that part out of you. And so I am in full alignment with what you're saying. And really, it is so much more than just like fitness, which that's also fun too. You know, who doesn't want to go dance to musical theater songs?

Yeah.

And there's so much more to it.

And I guess it opens the door to maybe people who want to get fit, but they don't want to be in a gym for, for varying reasons. I hate the gym. I literally— I want to be fit, but I can't do it in a gym. So I'm, I'm there. And, you know, maybe people who don't want to go pounding the pavements, it's finding something, um, that they will hopefully love how it makes them— how the experience makes them feel. So therefore they want to come back and feel it again and again. And this is fact. This is, this is what happens. And I mean, it's problematic. I can't fit more people in my classes. I can't offer more classes. I'm trying to train up more instructors all over the country, all over the world, so that they can be delivering it because it's not a one-woman show. You know, I've got— we're spreading the ripples, but it's only because my drive, like, my drive is to go, people, I just want to tap in. I wanted Chi Chi Fit to touch as many lives as possible. So if it To each individual, what it does to everybody who I've met and it's done it to—it's something they need to experience in their life, and it could just be the answer. And you know what you were saying about school days? I get so many adults coming to their first Chichi Fit class, you know, stepping out of their comfort zone, a little bit unsure of what they're gonna get, and coming up to me at the end going, "It took me back to being 15, 16 when I was in the school shows," and I'm like, "Why did you stop? Why did you let that part of your life? Because it's not accessible. But now it is." is, you know, I— with Chi Chi Fit, we're like making those teenage years when you were in Grease the Musical at school, um, and you were a Pink Lady. Yeah. Um, it's accessible to adults, and it gives me a real thrill. And, and you, um, again, you said, you know, like year 6, 6th graders— I forget what you call them in America. Year 6 is in the UK. Um, a year 6 child who is shy has a lifetime ahead still to grow. An adult who you find in your class who never has developed confidence, for me and for all our instructors, it is the biggest sort of most satisfying reward when you can get that adult to eventually end up on your front row giving it the jazz hands. Wow. Because they found a place where they've grown in confidence, they, they feel accepted, they feel part of something, And they shine. They actually shine in that time, something they've never felt in their life. So it's like, it's never too late if we can find growth. And don't get me wrong, Chi Chi Fit has a Chi Chi Kids program, which is purely devised for children, because if we can get kids to grow in confidence, to, um, get fit— I know we've got to work quite hard in this day and age to get children more active. It's not a normal, natural thing as it was in our childhoods. Well, in my childhood, it's a very sedentary life they live now with this kind of screen, screen life. So Chi Chi Kids was sort of developed to secretly get kids burning energy. So it's a fitness class disguised in a kind of showbiz, theater-y experience where parents sell it to the kid. You're gonna do all the songs from shows. But really what I'm trying to do is get their hearts pumping, get them moving, get them social, get them looking in each other's eyes, getting them to find real-life friendships outside of the school. So yeah, it's lots of ages and lots of special things within those groups that I'm always trying to find and develop in those individuals.

I'm seeing this, you know, I'm coming at it from a psychological neuroscience perspective, and I see that you're able to, as you were talking about the soundtracks and, you know, we're, we're having this feeling and this feeling and that feeling that may go with the movement and the dance and the song, that you could take people quite intentionally through a therapeutic process. Without them having to even talk about the therapeutic process. It's a very somatic-based exercise, and there's a lot of really cool emerging research coming out too about sound and music. And I won't get too into the weeds for this, but there's something called our vestibular ocular reflex, and that's in the inner ear, and it helps us with movement and balance, but is also really important for processing trauma. So when we combine music and movement, we have the opportunity to program that. So perhaps somebody comes in and they're really struggling, but they could talk circles around their therapist and not feel like they're getting good results. Theoretically, they could perhaps go in and do dance, do Chi Chi Fit, or something that, that feels right and in alignment for them. And they can somatically or in the body work through much of this. And I see huge potential for that because we know in the clinical science that trauma and stress and overwhelm and adversity doesn't just start in the brain, that it begins in the body. And so what you're bringing to this conversation is this very sterile clinical psychology world, is you're bringing some light, you're bringing some joy, maybe even, may I say, some absurdity and some nostalgia. Yeah. To the conversation. And I think that it can be looked at from the fitness world as like, this is good fitness. And I think it's got a lot of potential to be looked at as a valid clinically studied therapeutic dance program.

Yeah, well, interestingly, you know how you're encouraged— well, basically sort of who you surround yourself with, what you put your— what you watch, what you listen to, what you tell yourself, all of these things are feeding what's going on inside you and how it's going to ultimately make you feel. So, you know, people are encouraged to speak, you know, do affirmations, for example, speak positively, positively to themselves. Now, in Chi Chi Fit, I don't, I don't go as far as to say all those things that you've just cleverly said, because I think people will think I'm a bit like, it's just, aren't we just coming to dance? And I'm like, the rest they can figure out as they go along, that they're basically in therapy as well. In the best possible way. But I piece together a playlist. My playlists every week are pieced together based on how I want them to feel in here and here, not in here and here. Um, I know they're going to get stronger and fitter. I've never been stronger and fitter in my life, and all I do is Gigi Fit, so I know it's got— it gets those results. That's kind of moving your body and burning energy and using resistance bands and all the things that we do throughout the class. So it really does have the fitness element. It's kind of obvious. I don't need to shout about you're going to get fit if you do that. that regularly enough, but the rest is the surprise. And so these songs, I piece together a playlist and I tell my class, I'm like, oh my gosh, you are gonna leave today's session feeling like you can take on the world. Or I've had a really difficult week, particularly in the phase of losing my mom, and then my daughter was having heart surgery. There was a lot going on in my world and I was like, guys, put together a class today purely for my needs. I need, I need comfort. I need a hug of a song. I need connection. I need strength. And I know there'll be some of you in here who need all of that too. So my playlist, and it's like, I haven't put a playlist together to go, right, we're gonna burn 575 calories in 45 minutes. I've put a journey together. So when they leave, they may have wept. I may have wept. We've sweated. We've done so many things, but I've chosen songs that will leave them thinking, feeling, caring. I don't know, all of those things. And I get feedback that kind of sometimes just overwhelms. Like one of the ladies who's been coming to my class regularly, she was one of the quiet ones. She hid at the back and kept saying, I can't do it. I don't want anybody to see me. The lovely thing is in, in Chi Chi Fit, you lose inhibitions pretty quick because nobody watches each other. They've all got their eyes on their instructor. So in my case, me, and they're like lasering you because if they take their eyes off you, they've lost where they're at. So the good news is no one's looking at each other. So you've got that freedom to be and dance however you are able and feels right for you. So that's really beautiful because that's the starting point. If you're inhibited, it's barriers are up. But if inhibitions have gone, Mm-hmm. So that's really incredible. This lady came up to me. She's been gradually shuffling her way to the front over the weeks and months. And she came up to me very recently and said, I don't know if this is more information than I should share with you, but it's really important that I do. I've had a lifetime of therapy and counseling because I had— I'm dealing with a lot of trauma from childhood abuse, sexual, physical, all sorts. I mean, it shocked me. And she said, but Chi Chi Fit has been the most healing experience of my life. I wish I'd found you 20 years ago. And I'm like, wow, that's her experience of it. You know, someone else will say to me after a class, what keeps me coming back? Because I'll say, I hope you come back next week, and blah blah blah, and I'll give some kind of little blurb to reel them in, and they'll say things like, I'll come back next week because this makes me feel young.

Oh.

And it's like, well, that's a lovely feeling. I know I— you wanna come and feel that again and again. And so it is, it's just really exciting. It's, it's really exciting that something I really thought was just like a fitness class is making such a difference on so many layers and levels. So I'm permanently excited about what I can do and what my instructors can do and how the growth will start tapping into as many people as we possibly can touch to feel better because of show tunes and a dance. Literally.

Are you teaching a class today?

Not today, no. Today's— well, today's day off in the real studio and on In the morning today, I record on-demand classes so that we've got an on-demand studio because obviously not everyone is fortunate enough to have a Chi Chi Fit instructor in their town or their locality. So for those people, they can join me online, well, on demand, do it in their own time. And there's a huge choice of— so I'm always trying to add new, new, um, shows we call them to the repertoire. So you could do a themed class, it could be an entire musical. Like, you might just do songs from Hamilton. Or it could be a strength session, again, all to show tunes. So I do all sorts of things. I do more gentle ones if you want a class that just exactly that, a hug of a class. You haven't got much energy, but you need to be filled up, and you want to start your day moving, or just a bit of mobility, you know, if it's just a wake-up call. So Thursdays is Filming classes. So I kind of do a class, but not with real people.

So if we were to— if we were to get to take a class with you today, just like a little sneak peek, like, how might our day start? So like, the music comes on, do— like, there's movements that are happening. Like, I'm putting you on the spot asking you this question, but if we had like just a teensy little like 90-second intro of like, all right, this song is playing, everybody, we're gonna stretch to the sky. Like, what do we got?

Cool. So everyone, it's basically you get your 3-minute call to get onto stage. So it's a very theatrical experience. I want people to feel like they're part of a theater company. I mean, Broadway and the West End, you know, they feel so distant to our everyday lives. So what I'm trying to do is bring that kind of showbiz magic into the room. So straight away, the setting isn't a hall to get fit, it's a stage. The curtain's going to go up, there's an audience out there who are going to adore you. It's just a bit more glitter and glam. So 3-minute call whilst everyone's chatting to each other, and I love that moment at the beginning of class. Everyone's having a little catch-up and they've all made friends because of Chi Chi Fit, and that makes me really happy too. It's the nature of all kind of group exercise classes is finding your tribe, finding friends, finding friends at different times of life that you perhaps wouldn't have ever found. So that makes me really happy. They get their 3-minute call onto stage, feet together, standing tall, curtain up. It's a full house. And the music— we tend to start with an intro, maybe from The Sound of Music, where it's literally just presenting, circling, rolling your shoulders. Just showbiz and maybe a little bit of jazz hands, literally 30 seconds till everyone's kind of, right, I'm feeling it. I'm now in the show. And then we roll through maybe 3, 4 warm-up routines. So let me think of what, what is my playlist this week? Because I've got a class in the morning. It'll be maybe Sound of Music to start as our class opener. And I think we go straight into— Oh, I love that. Another Day of Sun from La La Land, which is just so uplifting. And, you know, we're in the UK, we don't always get enough sun. So somehow we're all transported to La La Land where it's eternally sunshine.

Every time I'm in LA, my husband is like, let's play, let's play that song. Like, he loves it. He always, always wants to play it. And

then you need to dance on top of the car because that's what they do. Yeah, yeah. Jump out on the freeway. In fact, we've just trained our first ChiChi Fit instructor in Los Angeles.

Oh!

So we are dibbling our way into your pond, um, which is again super exciting because according to her, she was like, in the dance fitness world, obviously there's Zumba, and don't get me wrong, they're like, they've been my biggest, um, inspiration from the day they existed, which a long time ago now. I just loved how they brought dancing and the inclusivity of it all into every— into people's lives as a form of fitness. It was the— they were the first to do it, and they made fitness fun. Yeah. And they made it about going and having a good time without the focus always being on— like, I refuse in Chi Chi Fit In any of our marketing or promotion, I never talk about weight loss, calories burning. It's not that. I— exactly that place, Nicole, that you said where it's a— it's more of a psychological experience. If you go somewhere and do something that's really good for you, that makes you feel all the feels and essentially comes out feeling better, it's easier to make the right food choices. It's easier to be a better more patient parent because you're happy. It's— you sleep better because you're happy. All of these things start falling into place kind of intrinsically, not because you went and set about a process of trying to tick these things off. Just did something that you loved, that was good for you, that made you feel great, that made you feel confident, that empowered you, that filled you with a social group that Was a bit of an accountability, friends who cheer you on, a positive experience. And I always feel like if I can help people feel that, then the rest of their life, it will start filtering into their lives and everything else will start improving. That's my theory. It works for me.

Yeah. And Dr. Nicole was talking about like the lightness and So much of what we kind of think of as like healing and, you know, going to therapy and doing all the like deep work— we've talked about in the past on past episodes how yes, that's needed, we need to go in deep, but we also need the levity, we also need the lightness, we need that joy, and we need to infuse our life with that joy. And so it's, you know, I find that a lot of people that I talk to Are like, oh, well, I need to do this workout because I'm— it's going to get me to this place. But what if your exercise and your movement brought you to a place of joy and that was the whole goal? So I just love that.

And then for— if, if people are in a place of sort of joy and feel good, then those other things, a lot of the work that you guys do, that they do, people need to do, you know, the whole, the health, the wellness, considering what's going, what you're doing in here, what you're eating, what all of these things, they really matter. But I feel like if you can come at them from a really high place to start, you kind of want them all. They don't become a chore anymore. Yeah. They become another nourishment to keep you in this, on that level that feels good. So that's my thing. It's like everything becomes easier in life if you're in a good place. But I realize it's hard to just be in a good place. You know, life throws curveballs day in, day out at all of us. So yeah, it was just a surprise that a dance fitness class could be sort of leverage for— and I'm a little bit, you know, crazy about, well, alternative medicines generally, but food and nutrition and all those things that we can do. to live and feel better. Feel better. I think everything— that word feel is probably my most used word in everything I do. Chi Chi Fit is about the way it makes you feel. The way you feel is about how you then make decisions in life. It's all— if you nourish yourself with the right foods, it's about how you feel. Everything starts— all the feels start adding up, and then it's easier to maintain because you're like, That feels good. That might be the simplest thing.

One of my old teachers used to always say that disease cannot exist in a bliss-filled state.

Who said that?

One of my teachers, my late mentor, Jim Sensenig. He used to always say— Say it again.

Say it again.

Disease cannot exist in a bliss-filled state.

And can I just say how powerful this is? And again, as seems to be my way, I learned through experience. I've always kind of, you know, I've been a little bit smug about my phenomenal immune system that just has just got my back. For 5 years, I'd never canceled a Chi Chi Fit class, and everyone's like, how'd you never get ill? I was like, I just don't get ill. I don't get ill. I just don't get ill. But because I was in mostly, mostly in a state of bliss. I love my job. I love my— I work really hard, you know. I actually work 7 days a week mostly. But I love everything I do. I love being a mom. I love growing my children. I love my chickens. I love so much about my life that I think that keeps me in a state of bliss. And so disease can't— But 2025 hit. My mom was really poorly. It was emotionally painful watching her suffer, having her die in pretty much in my arms. The aftermath, the funeral, the family dynamics that shifted, the all sorts. My emotional state got literally diseased for 4 months. And I came down with the worst virus I think I've ever had in my life. It was absolute clear cut. If you allow, if everything has just been whipped from underneath you and you are literally broken, your immune system is broken too. And it's the only time something's got in and got me because I was not in, I couldn't be in a state of bliss. Um, and I've had to work really, really hard. One, uh, getting well. Which, thank you. Mm-hmm. I'm telling you, I was like, it was good 8 weeks of struggling through every day thinking, when will I ever feel well again? But also a real learning curve that because emotional stress, negative emotional stress is so damaging. Mm-hmm. And so I experienced it firsthand, and now I have to fill myself up with chi chi and sparkles.

And how, how have you been since that time? So you, like, you noticed it, you experienced it, you're alchemizing that into the work that you do and the being that you are. You're adding Chi Chi and Sparkles. And so how has May treated you?

Well, May was the turning point, thankfully, because I, I, I have to say, I wasn't— I didn't kind of talk my own talk. I didn't do what I say because I'm impatient. I didn't wanna let people down. I didn't wanna miss my classes. They are so much part of my own needs and therapy and the people I love surrounding myself with and the exercise my body loves to do that I was bullying myself. I wasn't being good to myself instead of making allowances that life happens and it's— been hard on me and, and sort of letting people know because I'm very good at being that because it's my job to make other people's lives sparkly and Chi-Chi is that. But it doesn't mean—

And it's easy to perform when you're a performer.

Yeah. So I was a bit mean to myself. I did all the wrong things. I pressurized myself. I didn't give myself the rest I needed. I had acupuncture almost every day. But even that, I find acupuncture is a bit of a miracle in many ways, but not if you're not doing the other things right. So I would love to give you a really lovely positive, the thing that I finally did that made a difference. I didn't. Time eventually, time healed. And, you know, I do still believe ultimately if your system is a healthy system in general, you do recover. And I just had to keep telling my body, you can do this. You can get well. You will feel good again. Your mind will feel good again. It's okay to grieve. That'll come in its own ways. It's okay for life to change, and you need time to adjust to it. It's— everything's okay, but you have to make that allowance. And I, I took some time to allow it. But no, I, I, May started and I shared a post on Instagram, which is a song from the musical Camelot, and it's the lusty month of May where everyone goes astray, and it's just full of kind of joy and color and merriment and positivity and sunshine and flowers. And I was like, just totally cheechified my mind and went, Fill yourself up with all of that and just get out there and get back into the dance room and, and do to yourself what you do to others. You know, fill, create playlists that are affirmations in a song that are psychological journeys. So yeah, but it's good to sometimes be at the receiving end and go, I need this now. How can I fix my own self? So I'm always grateful in hindsight. It wasn't very fun at the time.

It's a slog at the time, but I really honor the all vibes welcome that you bring to Qi Qi Fit. And it's like, you may come and you may cry through this entire class, and you may not feel uplifted from this ab track today, but you're going to do it again, and you're going to do it again, and you're going to keep coming back. You're going to keep showing up for yourself. You're going to honor the process of grief, and you're going to honor the process of Taking one step a day. And it sounds like you're doing that process yourself. You're not just talking about it from that place of like, I've arrived, I got this, babes. But you're in the slog of what it is to be human with grief and loss and fear and joy and pain and lust and all of that. You're in that in a way that, that feels very accepting and acknowledging. And you're still— you're showing up to play every single day.

Yeah. And there are so many songs that take, that take all of those emotions and, and you can move through them with those songs, which is so cool.

I have to say, it was really lovely when the movie Wicked was brought onto the main screen because the one thing about musicals is, you know, it's, it's still frustratingly quite an exclusive world, theater, because it's expensive. And that bothers me a little bit. But when they bring it to the screen and it's accessible to so many more people, for me, that's a real Chi-Chi win because some people can't— well, but this is, this is another kind of observation. I thought you would only enjoy Chi-Chi Fit if you love musicals.

Ah.

You know, I've had people who go, I've never seen a musical in my life, I really don't know much about them. And I'm like, You might not like this class. It's like so showbiz, and it's so theatrical. Like, even the playlist picked song by song because I want you to go on a journey of feels. It's really theatrical. It's, it's absurd in some ways. I mean, when we— Sometimes when we've got our glittery gold hats and we're literally high kicking, and I've got everything from 21 to 82 years old in the same space, And we all feel like stars. I actually— we're high kicking, I'm going, guys, this is a fitness class. How cool is this? Because it feels so far removed from going to get fit because it's so fun and ridiculous and glamorous and glitzy and everything. So it's— yeah, it's just— I've kind of lost my train of thought of the purpose of sharing that little bit with you. But yeah, the inclusivity of it is really, really beautiful. All these different ages dancing alongside each other and making it work for them is quite heartwarming for me. So

I love that. And absurdity also takes us out of our conscious mind and into our subconscious. And so you're, you're doing the amazing work with that absurdity. I love it.

Yeah.

Yeah. So good. Well, okay, so I would love to know how people can find you. We can also, like, give a link to all of the cities that you're in. As well as the on-demand link that you were talking about, because I'm going to get a group of my friends together here in San Diego and like do those classes. I'm psyched. Oh,

well, like the one thing I can do is give you a link for your listeners so they can all just do a free class and have a go. We can—

amazing—

free class with Chi Chi Fit. It'll be a lovely class that's designed especially for people for their very first experience. So I can make sure to send you that link and you can share that with your listeners. Um, yeah, so our website's probably the best place, chi-chi-fit.co.uk. And, um, if there's a local class, it's unlikely to be in the States because there's not many instructors yet. We've got one in Indiana and one in Los Angeles, but the dream is for it through your audience and your listeners. You know, maybe there's people there going— they'll maybe try a class and go, I could lead this. It's the most Rewarding job. I feel, I feel like job is even the wrong word to describe, but I guess there's no other word. It is a job, but it's just too much fun. It's like your own health, your own fitness, your own therapy, your own friends, your own everything, your own community, and you get paid. So it's, it's a bit like an actress when you leave drama school and you're like, I would do it for nothing. And then they offer to pay you to be on stage and you're like, You're gonna paint the thing I love more than anything? That's like what being a Chi Chi Fit instructor is. Um, we offer on-demand training as well, so you don't even need to physically be available. We only launched it in January of this year because I'm a perfectionist and I needed to spend 5 years training people in real life with real people to know what they wanted, what they needed, and how to package it and present it in a way that's feels, um, like close. I don't want people to feel far removed. I want them to feel like they're with me in the room. I want them to feel that they've joined a really wonderful cast. I want them to feel that they've gone on this incredible journey that's very inspiring, even on their training days. Even if they train and go, I'm never going to do anything with this, but that was just the best experience. I want them to feel that as well. But also, it's so Well put together. I say that without trying to sound too arrogant, but the feedback is—

the

feedback's been everything I wanted it to be, which is literally, I feel— Own it.

Yes.

I feel like I'm— you're speaking to me. I felt like I had my hand held. I felt like I'd stepped onto this incredible stage that I was so worthy of. Um, and I felt like the guide really set me up to go, I feel confident to step into those shoes. So that's really exciting. So that's an option. And the only way we can spread Chi Chi Joy is to have more people who are not me stepping into that little Chi Chi spotlight and doing their own classes. Or on-demand classes. Join the on-demand studio and you can dance to your heart's content. And again, I really like to consider, because I come at all of it from a real wellness angle, not just like a fitness angle, I try and consider all the different classes. I try and consider life, you know. I'm a mom, I'm a working mom, I've, I've got a lot. I've got elderly, an elderly father, you know, I've got all those things that we're all juggling. And it's like, what do I want from day to day? What do I need? And so I try and make sure that the on-demand studio offers bite-sized pieces, big workouts, little ones, mindset workouts where it's just songs that will literally take you to where you need to be. So that's super fun as well. And yeah, and hopefully at some point there'll be instructors around San Diego and spread throughout the state so people can go and arrive at a live class, because nothing beats the real experience, partly because that's the additional layer where you're meeting people, the social element, the making friends, the finding your tribe, and the community aspect. And that's special. So yeah, it would be just wonderful to get some shiny new cast members reaching out and, you know, helping me spread the kind of— well, expand the mission to sparkle everyone up with a little bit of showbiz magic and a good old song from a show.

Yeah. So listeners, anyone who's interested, you can reach out and, and, and do the on-demand training. That would be amazing.

You can also find Chi Chi Fit on Instagram, right? chi-chi-fit.dancefit. And you're pretty active on there. I think that's one of the ways that we can—

It's a very poppy place. Yeah, if you need a little bit of joy in your life, our Instagram page is kind of fun. Dips in and out of musicals as well. If you do have a passion for musicals, shares a lot of our community. Does a lot of sort of motivational, positive stuff. So it's probably a nice little pick-me-up place as well to lift you into a— transport you into a little world of musicals. I do feel like if you live life like it's a musical, you can— things just feel better.

Oh my gosh. My family always is like, you literally live in a musical, don't you? And I'm like, Yeah, main

character. Oh

my gosh, this has been such an amazing conversation. I know I'm excited to, to take some classes. I actually have some dance instructor besties that were theater kids also, so— and they're therapists. And so I'm going to be sending them your way. I'm really excited. So everybody who's listening, Go and click on the link to do the free class. Let's all get Chi Chi fit and have fun together. And be sure to follow online. Keep on Instagram because things are always added on there, and it's a nice positive place. If we're going to be on social media, let's be on positive social media. And, uh, if you like this podcast, please share it with a friend and leave us little words of encouragement. It helps the algorithm make sure that you keep seeing more great content like this. And so thank you so much for being here. This has been great.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

All right. And thanks everyone for listening.