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Confessions Of An Aerobics Instructor

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It’s 2016 and the fitness and wellness industries rule. FitBits, Crossfit, thigh gaps abound. Lucky we have someone from the inside to tell us the truth.

Joana Simmons is bringing her comedy-cabaret show Confessions Of An Aerobics Instructor to the Butterfly Club from November 9th. We spoke to her about what we can expect from her new work.

Tell me a bit about Confessions Of An Aerobics Instructor and how it came into being.
I’m a performer and aerobics instructor, which I’ve been doing since I was about 16 years old. In the show, my character Joy, which is actually my middle name, is a heightened version of me. It’s half an aerobics class, half a theatrical world. I take the audience through stories, songs and sketches; I explore different ways of getting the truth out about the reality of the fitness industry.

One of my good friends is a sports psychologist who is doing her Masters on the body image of fitness instructors. Speaking to her as well as my own experiences and those of my colleagues really helped the idea of the show come together.

Do you think your work comes from a feminist perspective?
Feminism hadn’t been a driving factor until this year for me. I used to write entertainment for entertainments sake, but in the last year I’ve been seeing more. I’ve been thinking and growing as an artist. I’ve realised I have a platform and a voice to discuss things like body image, but I do it through parody. The show isn’t serious. For example, I go on this monologue about how the thigh gap became popular when Ariel got her legs in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, because mermaids didn’t have legs or thigh gaps before that. I give these joking funny explanations for things to show how ridiculous these expectations are.

We all go through embarrassing things, especially as an instructor. Group fitness is funny, sometimes you turn up hungover, sometimes people in your class are so uncoordinated that you can’t stand to watch them, but you know they’re trying anyway. One way to make a comment on the fitness industry is to poke fun at yourself and it.

Using irony to show our reality is really powerful. It made me want to push harder than in previous work. The work grows and develops as you do.

What’s been your favourite part of the process?
Really it’s been my journey of learning to back myself, to see where I stand as a producer and artist. To be honest, sometimes writing feels like I’m chained to my computer, and sometimes I’ll be doing something unrelated and ideas just pop into my head. I work every day, getting five or six hours of sleep a night. It’s a rewarding, challenging journey, and I’ve immersed myself completely in this creative bubble.

Do you think the fitness industry is genuinely trying to help people?
It ranges from place to place I think. The fitness industry is money-maker. There are so many quick fixes. Instructors can feel the aesthetic pressure especially. But there are so many good reasons to be fit too. Group fitness can be really fun and social. I’ve just started a job at forensic hospital, training people who are mentally ill. This is a really positive example of the way the fitness industry can give back to the community.

What do you want people to take away from your show?
It’s a message of acceptance and seeing the humanness in all of us. My tagline is, “I’m learning to be the saliva that licks my own seal of approval”. Like Leonardo DiCaprio probably still smells his own farts, you know? None of us is perfect! My character Joy presents as peppy and powerful and she still unravels. We just have to accept ourselves as we are with all our flaws.

I’ve written this as a way to get my thoughts and feelings out, but at the end of the day I want people to come and have a hilarious, fun night out.

Tickets to the show are $25-32, and part of the show will be performed for the Village Festival at Edinburgh Gardens this weekend.

Confessions Of An Aerobics Instructor
The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Wednesday November 9 – Sunday November 13, 7pm (excluding Friday)
thebutterflyclub.com/show/confessions-of-an-aerobics-instructor


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