Hilarious Dance Out opens

Ever since she was a little girl, Lynn Dickerson always liked dancing. But when she went to an aerobics class at age 16, her dancing shoes were a step behind.

“I couldn’t get the steps right and the instructor laughed at me,” she said. “They’d say go left and I would go right. By the time I got it, they were already onto something else.”

That was when she realized that some people are more gifted than others when it comes to dancing. But she claims that as long as you’re moving, you’re dancing.

That was how she came up with the idea to create a place where people could go and not feel pressured to do everything perfectly.

Moths swarmed from counter to ceiling at her mom’s North Carolina home when she arrived for a visit four months ago.

“I was trying to hit the moths with the fly swatter, and then I said, ‘This would be hilarious in a dance,’” she said.

From fly swatters, it evolved to clothes hangers to mops, and so forth.

Shortly after returning home, she decided to follow her dream of starting her own dance studio using props inspired by her buggy experience. She found a place to rent just a couple miles from her house. She always had a vision of what she wanted the place to look like, and from there, it all just came together.

Yellow, green and orange walls and a dark chocolate ceiling greet would-be dancers with a kaleidoscope of color, giving the studio a New Orleans vibe.

With the formerly white walls painted and the props in place, Lynn had no trouble coming up with a name.

“Dancing with mops and clothes hangers is hilarious, and it’s not a workout so I didn’t want to have it ‘Hilarious Workout,’ because we dance,” she said. “That’s how Hilarious Dance Out came to be.”

Across the hardwood floor, dancers groove to the “Macarena,” the “Electric Slide” and the “Hustle.” Dickerson breaks out the props as she cues today’s top 40 hits in between the classics.

Lynn’s husband, Doug, said Hilarious Dance Out is an outlet for people to escape the grind of the gym and have fun.

Hilarious Dance Out is located at 4270 Aloma Ave. Suite 116 at Howell Branch Road, behind KFC. Get prepared for the summer weddings by learning the Electric Slide, the Cha Cha slide, the Locomotion and many more. Admission is $8. Visit www.HilariousDanceOut.com

“The Zumba classes are too serious with the drill instructor,” Doug said. “It’s great to forget about everything else in life and just be silly.”

Dickerson’s son, Drake, 17, embraces his mom’s business and even comes to the classes.

“It’s about just having fun and living life,” Drake said.

Though it’s just bare wood, Dickerson sees baby showers, anniversaries and birthday parties on her dance floor in the future. In a corner of the room, a tan checkerboard throne waits for a queen, or perhaps a bride to be.

No matter what the future holds at Hilarious Dance Out, she’s already enjoying the benefits.

“Seeing people smile and seeing people have a good time,” Lynn said.