A large room with pink dim lighting, a red couch in the corner. warm up. A twist here, a few finger snaps there, a body role there. 20 young women are spread out in the room – they are wearing black high heels, black tights, black jerseys and black knee pads. In the front row, directly behind the dance teacher, is a petite young woman with wavy dark brown hair that hangs loosely over her shoulders. music starts. “Breathe in, breathe out, hands behind ears.” Her gaze goes to the mirror, she follows the movements of the teacher as if she were her shadow.
Chiara di Geronimo is the name of the dancer who quickly bends down to tighten the straps of her high-heeled shoes. She’s here almost every night to dance. “I don’t miss a course, no matter what, I cancel everything else,” says Chiara. “When I had a boyfriend, I still came here for his birthday.” Why? “Because there is really a very special energy here,” she says. Chiara wears a big grin on her face when she talks about dancing in high heels.
At the heels dance course in the Munich Studio Fabinesa. center front: dance teacher Julia Fank.
(Photo: Fabinesa)
The dance studio where Chiara spends her evenings is on Landsberger Strasse and is called Fabinesa. Fabinesa is just one of several studios in Munich offering high-heel dance classes. Originally known mainly in the USA, the trend dance style has long since found its way to Germany. Many know dancing on high heels mainly from Instagram. The courses are popular with young women in particular, but also with some men. The special thing about the dance style: It embodies female strength – it is sensual and at the same time very challenging in terms of sport.
The dance studio is her “safe space”
Four years ago, dancing at Fabinesa got Chiara out of a deep hole, she says. She was in the hospital and followed the opening of the dance studio Fabinesa on social media. “I really wanted to start dancing, and in fact it motivated me so much that I got well again,” says Chiara. She had never danced before, at least not in dance schools.
The studio is a real “safe space,” a place where you feel safe and secure, says Chiara. Motivate each other instead of putting pressure on each other. “We always emphasize that you come here for yourself,” says Julia Fank, the owner of Fabinesa. High heels are often meant to seduce others, but here in the studio it’s about sport and self-confidence. Julia wants to give the dancers the feeling “that you can be wow as a woman – you can be strong, you can be very soft – why do you have to choose a role”. Hearing that the students feel comfortable with her is important to her. “There are so many people who believe in God and so few of them believe in themselves,” says Julia. Dancing on high heels – solo – has a strong emancipatory component. It’s about femininity and sexiness, but for yourself. And, similar to pole dancing, it’s about freeing yourself from a stigma and putting the sporty focus on it.
“It’s feminine, it’s sexy, yes it’s super musical and technical,” says Julia. She moved to Germany from Kiev nine years ago and opened her own dance studio in 2019. At that time there was hardly any competition for high-heel courses in Munich. When she dances, she slips into a role like an actress. Strong voice, expression down to the last finger, her hair flying through the air. “Side, boom, side, boom”, just a few instructions are enough for her students to understand their movements.
Self-empowerment – but suitable for the stage
Today’s lesson is for advanced students, only “the girls with experience or the highly motivated come,” says Julia. The “Fabinesa Girls”, as the dancers call themselves, are practicing a wheel. Julia is doing gymnastics and the girls are copying her. Independent of the choreography for the first time – later everything should be brought together. While most practice without heels, Chiara has left hers on and moves lightly through the room. When the sequence is over, she does a few more steps or waves her hair again.
“The most complicated thing is the high speed,” says Julia. Abrupt, unexpected footsteps mix with slow, pulling movements. “Step, turn, sit, floor, zap, head, ah.” In addition, the technique is difficult, “you have to do it 100 times so that after the 101st time it might work”. The dancers wear knee pads to keep up the intense sessions.
Shake your hair for you! Self-empowerment in the dance hall.
(Photo: Fabinesa)
Do they really only practice all this for themselves? Well, mostly at least. Chiara likes to post videos of herself on Instagram and is happy to be encouraged by other young dancers. And Julia tells how enthusiastic her boyfriend is about her excited mood after the heels courses. She walks to the car with her hips swinging when he picks her up from the dance studio in the evening. The “Fabinesa Girls” have also planned a small show for July. It’s about self-empowerment for them, but the whole thing should also be suitable for the stage.
spirit of optimism. “It’s hot,” says Julia and everyone laughs. Finally out of the tight shoes. A couple of girls play music on their phones and keep practicing. You help each other, whether experienced or brand new here – the “safe space” that Chiara and Julia talk about is palpable. Chiara walks past the girls and cheers them on. Soon she may also be able to take on a beginner’s course and, like Julia, be at the forefront.
High heel dance classes in Munich:
Performing Arts Studios focuses on aesthetic, sensual dancing: Bergmannstraße 22, pa-studios.netPhone: 089/50059533 (Thurs 4pm – 7pm Heels Basics, Thurs 7pm – 8.15pm Heels I-II)
Munich Poledance offers high-heel courses on the pole: Leonrodplatz 2, www.munich-poledance.deTelephone: 0159/06736735 (Wed 18.30-19.30 Heels Pole II, Wed 19.45-20.45 Heels Pole Int., Thu 19.35-20.35 Heels Pole I)
Fabinesa Dance, Landsberger Strasse 18-20, www.fabinesa.dePhone: 0176/83115889 (Monday 7.30pm-8.30pm Heels I-II, Thurs 8.30pm-9.30pm High Heels)