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.
00:25Afroletics is a fitness concept that I developed.
00:29It's a combination of dance, interval and cardio training based on African rhythms.
00:35It'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.
00:50The first dance style, Ndombolo, is from the Congo.
00:53The defining characteristic of Ndombolo is the hip movement.
00:57You have to always keep a light stance in this squatting position.
01:05The next dance style is Amapiano, originating from South Africa.
01:09My brother Dennis will demonstrate it.
01:13Notice the lightness. It's really groovy.
01:16We also say...
01:20The aim is not to sweat.
01:22And finally, Afrohaus originates from Angola and is based on very quick footwork patterns.
01:28First we have Abria, okay, and then you can do it.
01:34And that's very crazy.
01:44Isaac is very busy.
01:45In 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.
02:09And I wanted to be the one to change that.
02:11Because I'm from Africa.
02:13I want to help people appreciate our culture and help those who 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.
02:33His videos also feature celebrities such as American singer Jason Derulo and Nigerian singer Tiba Savage.
02:40But he has worked hard for his success.
02:45Isaac 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, a neighborhood known for its social challenges.
03:06Even though we never had much money, we still did well because we had each other.
03:11It was like, okay, mom's not here anymore.
03:16But dad is here.
03:17And we felt he'll look after us somehow.
03:20We just need to make sure we don't mess it up and keep moving forward.
03:24Isaac started dancing at this youth center.
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'd 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.
04:02In 2006, Isaac and his brothers won the German Crumping Championship, marking the birth of the MIK family.
04:13MIK stands for Monsters in Crump and mindset is key.
04:17Isaac also earned individual titles including Best Dancer, alongside completing his master's degree in Industrial Engineering.
04:24I 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.
04:39Isaac has registered the name of his workout, Afroletics, as a trademark.
04:45And his dream is…
04:47That Afroletics becomes a global movement, that it's danced all over the world.
04:51And that the same energy, like here at the Mauerpark, will spread worldwide.
04:59African rhythms are in Isaac's blood.
05:02His workout is not just about fitness, but also about enjoying life.
05:07A shoreline is not about living life.
05:10Agrigualism is not the household, but it's authentic.
05:26A healthy mantra is doing right now.
05:29For this moment, we can relax the sciences today.
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