The Ghanaian born dancer has more than 11 million followers on TikTok. His style is characterized by his love for African dances. This has now given rise to his very own fitness program.
00:00When Isaac Kira, a Berlin-based dancer, choreographer and fitness coach invites people to work out in the park,
00:09there's an energetic African vibe in the air.
00:12This is no surprise, as the fitness program he developed, called Afroletics,
00:17combines African dance moves with African beats.
00:21Afroletics is a fitness concept that I developed. It's a combination of dance, interval and cardio training based on African rhythms.
00:33It's really about getting people to dance and sweat.
00:39Segments of the workout derive from various African dance styles, such as Ndombolo, Amapiano and Afrohaus.
00:47The first dance style, Ndombolo, is from the Congo. The defining characteristic of Ndombolo is the hip movement.
00:56You must always keep a light stance in this squatting position.
01:04The next dance style is Amapiano, originating from South Africa.
01:09My brother Dennis will demonstrate it. Notice the lightness.
01:15Groovy.
01:18We also say...
01:20The aim is not to sweat.
01:22The next dance style is Afrohaus and comes from Angola.
01:25And finally, Afrohaus originates from Angola and is based on very quick footwork patterns.
01:29First, we have Avria.
01:32Okay, and then you can do it.
01:34That's very crazy, yeah.
01:38Isaac is very busy. In 2020, he published his African Dance Dictionary, an online dictionary for African dance styles.
01:51The steps and their historical origins are explained in videos along with practicing instructions.
01:57When you Google the history of Ndombolo or of Afrohaus, for instance, you find very little information.
02:07And I wanted to be the one to change this because I'm from Africa.
02:12I want to help people who appreciate our culture and simply want to learn more about it.
02:21Isaac is a successful dancer and choreographer.
02:24He collaborates with renowned artists and serves as an entertainer and content creator, boasting over 11 million followers on TikTok.
02:31His videos also feature celebrities such as American singer Jason Derulo and Nigerian singer Tiba Savage.
02:40But he has worked hard for his success.
02:44Isaac was born in Ghana in 1991.
02:47When he was four, he and his family moved to Germany, starting in the city of Duisburg.
02:52After the sudden death of his mother, his father relocated him and his two brothers to Berlin Neukölln,
02:58a neighbourhood known for its social challenges.
03:05Even though we never had much money, we still did well because we had each other.
03:10So okay, mum's not here anymore.
03:13Then dad is here.
03:15And he'll look after us somehow.
03:19We just need to make sure we don't mess it up and keep moving forward.
03:26Isaac started dancing at this youth centre.
03:29As a teenager, he spent several hours a day here with his brothers and friends.
03:34They danced hip-hop and crumping, an expressive African-American dance style that originated in the United States in the early 2000s.
03:41Dancing is a form of freedom, meaning every time you come home from school and you weren't in a cool mood, you came here and met up with your second family, trained together and developed new moves, which always gave you a sense of fulfillment.
04:01In 2006, Isaac and his brothers won the German Crumping Championship, marking the birth of the MIK family.
04:11MIK stands for Monsters in Crump and Mindset is Key.
04:16Isaac also earned individual titles including Best Dancer, alongside completing his master's degree in Industrial Engineering.
04:23I could never have imagined that I would one day reach this point, having started from such a difficult situation and now standing alongside such international names on the world's stages.
04:38Back to the Afroletics workout. The sweat-inducing fitness program lasts around an hour. How did the participants like it?
04:48It's fun but exhausting. You can really see the passion. It's cool.
04:54It's suitable for beginners too. If you feel it, you can do it. It was cool.
05:00Isaac has registered the name of his workout, Afroletics, as a trademark. And his dream is…
05:08That Afroletics becomes a global movement. That it is danced all over the world.
05:13And that the same energy, like here at the Mauer Park, will spread worldwide.
05:18African rhythms are in Isaac's blood. His workout is not just about fitness, but also about enjoying life.
