The Silhouette

Can you feel it? The Silhouette is building her own following.  Ms. Mancini commented herself that she started her 8:30 some weeks ago with just 4 riders now half the studio is filled and if she was a recording on the Billboard Charts there’d be a bullet next to her time slot as this female meteor is blazing a white trail across the EQ sky.  An ethereal presence to be sure and what struck me this morning about our young instructor is that her tutelage feels like a mindful embrace. A Zen-like experiential ride as she takes us for a journey in space and time that makes the body aware of every breath instead of us just trying to catch it for the whole hour.  

Monday I was singing high praise to the Evil Woman (Kristen James) about her new star and as I watched her face it lit up with a quiet satisfaction that she had picked up yet another gemstone not only for spin but for group exercise in the Main Studio as well. There was never a doubt when Kristen took over as Area Group Fitness Manager that her talent was uncanny in not only obtaining but keeping great talent as well.  

And now back to the main attraction: Dana Varela Mancini.  I could almost sense shyness about her yet when it comes to her call there is just no doubt about her strength of leadership. She is well schooled but there is not one ounce of arrogance coursing through her veins and her choice of music continues to intrigue me. Today she played The Beatles and the selection she chose was Get Back. Not one of my favorites but just the courage she shows not playing every AT 40 song makes me want to come back for what she might have next in her choreography bank. I like this woman and as I started my pedal stroke today I decided that I would call her: The Silhouette. Ask me why I just might tell you. 

Our Little Hearts

It was Dana Mancini in the short form a 45-minute excursion this past   Monday night, which felt like the harbinger of summer rather than the midst of spring. I was mired in lethargy this night and it took a full 15 minutes to get my engine going. Dana likes to say, “hit the gas” well my foot was slipping metaphorically. 

I got a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of this rising star in the EQ constellation but that is purely conjecture on my part and possibly just a little bit of wishful thinking. She has something those intangibles that you can’t quite put your finger on but the feeling is genuinely palpable in this my 3rd class with the diminutive dynamo.  

And the music is out of left field and it is in no way formulaic. It’s not rock, not AT 40 or even esoteric club music although the choreography includes all of those genres and then some.  There was no one song that particularly piqued my interest but my ears are getting a break from Robert Moog’s invention that actually dates back to 1965.  

She is delightfully quirky and I never get inkling what might be next and “I like how it feels” and so do more and more of the Woodbury EQ constituency if I’m any judge. I have used the word lithesome to describe Carolyn Mellace in the past and Dana fits this physiology mold even though their styles are distinctively different they both pull it off with grace and aplomb.  What nickname do I brand her with? Jury is still out but something apropos will come to mind shortly.  

Our little hearts were pounding this Monday night and I am sure Jack will be back.  

Any suggestions Woodbury? 

Vocaroo Voice Message

Vocaroo Voice Message

Dana Mancini

She looks resplendent in the saddle doesn’t she? Belongs there as if she’s been here for years. Maybe it’s her confidence and her authenticity that gives her a sweet air that seems to envelope her. These are ethereal thoughts to be sure but when it works like it did this morning I start to take a good look at this new personality that has me searching for the superlatives I will attempt to describe now. 

Crisp syncopated rhythms mark the cadence that is the backbone to the pedal stroke of a perfectly orchestrated choreography that sprinkles in today mixed with selections produced before this woman’s parents even met. To watch her lip synch songs most young people today never even heard of only adds to her mystique for this writer. When she plated a remixed version of “Satisfaction” I was like wow and I can safely say now I am hooked. 

My friend Roy always anxious to opine about the ride said something telling. He offered the thought that Dana moves so imperceptibly up and down the ladder of exertion that we can hardly tell what’s transpired and I had to agree today was a ride extraordinaire. She is flat out a big producer and her following is set to take off even higher. She will draw more and more into the studio and that I am dead certain of. Because what draws us to the CS   beside the personality of a Kristen the charisma of a Tripp Doherty? It’s those intangibles that are outside the realm of simple explanation and in Dana’s case I think it’s the subtle charm of this woman that is one of the keys to her success here.  

The woman in black is colorful beyond her young years and I and dare I say we hope she’s here to stay. 

Starshine

If you like something for the first time it’s worth trying again no? And as impressed as I was with Dana Mancini on my first saddle I knew that a 2nd was inevitable. She my friends is a spirited young woman with fire in her soul and heart. Again she plated the eclectic musical selection that lets face it defy what we hear in the CS on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong I have been turned in that I am actually starting to like some of the AT 40 but a welcome change is a welcome change. DVM plays to a beat all her own and I guess I’m liking it and liking a lot.   On the way down the steps after class I checked in with Roy and he concurred heartily that Ms. Mancini was not only distinctively different and a new delight but a talent he would also be riding with again. Later in the locker room Arthur (A man that is one of the kindest men I have ever met) offered his unsolicited praise of “Awesome”.  

There were times during the session as I watched the whites of her eyes flash like daytime starshine that you could sense she knew the room like she owned it. No easy feat coming into Woodbury behind the likes of the talent we have here but I also got the feeling that its just second nature with Mancini and there’s not a nervous dendrite in this woman’s psyche.  

Where does she go from here? Straight up the exponential curve I suspect.    

Hit the Gas and Go

Dana Mancini rounded out my week of adding variety to my spice these last 8 days. I’ve heard much all good about Dana and I was anxious to give her a turn on my magnetic wheel.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but once the music started I knew that any resemblance to anyone else a moot point. 

When she queued up Shake Senora by Pitbull and followed it by Led Zepplin I knew something was distinctively different. I mean Pitbull and Led Zepplin in the same breath? Not to be imagined. In any case the eclectic mix worked like a seamstress stitch, a flawless connection. 

She has that lithesome look in her physiology and she leads group exercise in a myriad of classes the latest being MetCon3. I’ll be damned if I know what that is but she seems a natural in the CS and here is yet another ruby in Kristen’s jewelry store.   

Sometimes when I sit atop my Schwinn I ask myself what is this deep fascination about the repetitive motion of a pedal stroke.  But the answer comes just as quickly as the beads of sweat form about my temple and that is I finally have found an exercise regimen I can be with and not obsess about as I used to do with running in my past life. Not to mention not being racked with pain either in my back or knees.  In spin and I can not think of any other exercise outside of swimming that is more easy on the musculoskeletal system than cycling is.  

Instructors of course have their own inimitable style and my new friend Dana Mancini has a strong recognition of what it takes to motivate us in-group exercise. So when she said: “Hit the gas and go” my pedals lit a fire under my seat.  

Gallagher's Got Game

Why I asked myself have I not taken a spin class with Maureen Gallagher in well over a year? I am frankly embarrassed that I have not.  And I have to say that this Sunday’s 1015 was, well sterling. Mo as she is affectionately known in EQ has been here since day 1 which is 9 years ago today, and she put together a discography that was so refreshing she had me bellowing from the back row in bike 50.  I admit being a devout fan of Kristen and Tripp and it is a mystery that I don’t partake in any of the spectacular staff that KJ has put together here. This week however, I did and along with Maureen I got to take classes with Damian and Carolyn. And topping the week off with Mo opened my eyes to switching my lineup at least for a while.

And now back to Maureen. She was beaming ear to ear for the whole 60 minutes and its unmistakable that she loves what she does. Her whole repertoire is unique and her music has minimal of what is currently playing on the Billboard Charts, which for an old timer like me is a breath of fresh air.

 Most of the instructors will get off their bikes during the session but not Mo. She instead stood up on the pedals as if she was a cheerleader. It was just spectacular.

And up for Monday @ 7 PM is Dana Mancini I have been hearing plenty of superlatives about this EQ instructor too!