Offering Afrobeat and West African dance and Soca-Fit classes to the Bedford Stuyvesant community, the Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation opened its doors to AY WELL+FIT Studio on Nov. 1 and will start classes on Nov. 10.
Run by co-founder and executive director Kofi Osei Williams, alongside his wife, Ruby Inez Williams, among others, the fitness hub is a hug to Bed-Stuy's diverse community of elders, youth and folks wanting support on their wellness journey.
“We want more to be able to help people with setting their goals,” said Williams. “We want to be able to help our community really get healthy, and not just healthy physically, but with the wellness part, mentally and emotionally as well, with having that connection with the community that I feel [is] kind of lost in Bed-Stuy now.”
After attending a conference in San Francisco, Williams and his wife soft-launched the studio in 2018 at 1803 Fulton St. They collected data on what classes the neighborhood wanted to see and what would make a wellness studio in the community successful. But when the owners of that building decided to sell, and then the pandemic hit, the studio was put on the backburner.
Now, located inside Nazarene Congretional Church at 506 MacDonough St., AY WELL+FIT Studio is here to stay!
When crafting the space and its unique class offerings, Williams said he wanted to create an intimate space for visitors that catered to their needs. With only 20 people to a class, each person gets their own individualized attention from instructors. Guests can pay $20 for a drop-in class to get a feel of the studio. Or those fully committed can purchase a class package for $180 which includes 10 classes.
Fitness classes were created so people can have a great time, he added. Classes include a dance class to Afrobeat music, West African dance and Soca-Fit for those who like to incorporate dance into their routines. Other traditional classes include a core aerobics class, Vinyasa yoga and boxing.
“That's one of the things we [Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation] talked about: how do we bring fitness and wellness for people that might not do it the way it is done in some of the other boutique gyms,” Williams said.
“Like, you can look at so many musicians that are from Bed-Stuy, which is a great thing. So how do we honor that?"
You can apply for a monthly membership or view AY WELL+FIT Studio’s class schedule here.
