New exercise class boosts self-confidence

PALMER — Of all things, 2005 Palmer High School graduate Annie Prevost never thought she’d end up a dance fitness instructor.

But that was before she found OULA.

“It kind of just jumped into my life and I love it,” Prevost said.

After graduating from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington in 2009, Prevost returned to Alaska for a year before moving to Missoula, Montana, at the end of 2010. Walking passed the “Downtown Dance Collective,” she was drawn in by its smooth floors, elegant lights, bold brick walls and unique paintings.

“I had never taken a group fitness class or a dance class, but it just looked so wonderful,” Prevost said.

She looked it up online later and saw a variety of classes offered, one of which was OULA.

Named solely for its birthplace of Missoula, OULA is described online as “a high-energy, easy to learn, calorie burning, crazy-fun dance workout to Top 40 hits.” It’s also called “Dancemania for the soul.”

The first class Prevost attended was led by OULA founder Kali Lindner, who told her “it doesn’t matter what it looks like, just how it feels,” Prevost recalled.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I just felt so free and so open to be myself, my weird, completely uncoordinated self.”

So when her co-worker asked her how the class went the following Monday, she told her the uncensored truth.

“Before I even knew what I was saying, what I blurted out was, ‘it was life-changing,’” Prevost said.

That sounds dramatic, but there was something very real about the confidence boost she felt during OULA workouts. It wasn’t immediate — her own self-consciousness was “a really hard thing to unlearn,” she said.

“Before OULA I was so shy and had no self confidence whatsoever,” Prevost said. “The absolute last thing I ever wanted to be was the center of attention. I hated being in big groups of people and I never considered myself a leader or authority figure.”

That changed with one dance class.

“(Lindner) brought so much joy into my life,” Prevost said. “Physically, my stamina is so much better than it was 12 years ago.”

From ’oula to ’laska

After those first few classes, Prevost asked Lindner about becoming an instructor. She did some initial training in Missoula, then spent three months learning the moves to an hours’ worth of songs on her own and filming it for certification.

When she returned to Alaska in 2013, she began teaching classes at Mat Valley Dance on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Shortly after that she took OULA deeper into Palmer and set up shop at Midnight Sun Yoga on South Colony Way, where she now teaches three times a week.

About a month ago, Prevost approached MTA Sports Center staff about teaching OULA there as well. Before she knew it, she was doing a demonstration and interview for Fitness Coordinator Jenni Hoagland on the spot.

“Honestly I was just so impressed with Annie and her personality,” Hoagland said. “It fits her perfectly.”

And OULA seems to fit right in at the MTA Center as an “upbeat and energizing” activity, Hoagland said.

“If you’re looking to get your heart rate up and get a great workout, there’s no comparison,” Hoagland said. “The music really engages you.”

Which is pretty much the point, Prevost said.

“With OULA, the choreography starts with the music and it’s so intuitive,” she said. “It’s exactly what your body wants to be doing when it hears that kind of music.”

For example, a “really earthy” song means the movements will be heavier and include motions like stomping feet. If the music is more “light and airy,” the dance will include larger, more open movements like raising hands above the head, she said.

But OULA fan Sarah Hall agreed with Hoagland that the personality of the instructor influences the class as much as the philosophy behind OULA.

“Annie has this spirit about her that is very contagious, and she brings something to group exercise that I’ve never experienced before,” Hall wrote in an email.

OULA isn’t just about what happens in the studio, however. Ideally, it inspires women — and men — to not be afraid of attempting goals they’ve always had, but never accomplished.

Prevost referenced her first half-marathon race a couple years ago in example.

“When I was training for that I remember thinking, ‘dude, Annie, if you can get up and shake your butt in front of strangers, you can run a half marathon,’” Prevost said. “If I can OULA, I can do anything.”

Annie Prevost teaches OULA at Midnight Sun Yoga Mondays and Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. She also teaches at the MTA Sports Center Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.

For more information about OULA in general, visit oulafitness.com.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.