Karen Hauer is a Venezuelan professional Latin dance specialist and World Mambo Champion known for her appearances on the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing and the American TV series So You Think You Can Dance. She has also featured on Burn the Floor.
Karen Hauer was born in Valencia, Venezuela, and took up dancing after moving to New York when she was eight. She studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and then went on to study Ballroom and Latin at the age of 19.
She participated in season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance and subsequently joined Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer. As Karen Hauer, joined Strictly Come Dancing for series 18, she partnered with Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing and stood second. She is also a qualified fitness professional, and was a personal trainer when she lived in New York.
Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Karen Hauer, an exceptionally talented Venezuelan professional Latin dancer and World Mambo Champion, who talks about her workout, diet and beauty secrets.
Namita Nayyar:
A healthy morning ritual that you follow as a dancer?
Karen Hauer:
I wake up and have breakfast; something like coffee and a bagel if I’m at home. Then I do a good morning stretch. Even if it’s just for ten or fifteen minutes it’s a good, grounding starts to the day.
Namita Nayyar:
You are a professional Latin dance specialist and World Mambo Champion. What motivated you to choose dancing as your career?
Karen Hauer:
I found dance when I was young and it was a great thing for me. When I moved to America, I didn’t speak a word of English so I was trying to adapt to a new country, a new school and new home, all while speaking another language. Dance became my sanctuary. I got a full scholarship at 10 years old to attend The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance where I learned my craft and continued to study.
Then I went to the High School of Performing Arts – otherwise known as ‘The Fame School’. I majored in ballet and contemporary dance and received The Helen Tamaris Award for Excellence in Dance.
Namita Nayyar:
Share the best part of your career as a professional dancer?
Karen Hauer:
There are different best parts dependent on what I’m doing. Strictly Come Dancing has given me an amazing platform as a dancer so I’m lucky that there are lots of facets to my job as a pro. It’s very rewarding when you meet a celebrity that cannot dance and they find a love for it through learning; we saw that with Chris Ramsey, my partner last year. He went from never having done a dance step in his life to really feeling his performances on an emotional level and that is a really special journey to take with someone.
And then there are amazing parts when I get to perform in a show with fellow professionals and dancers, for example with my new stage show Fire dance that we debuted this year. I have a lot of professional fulfilment through my shows.
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This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness
Namita Nayyar:
Share your exercise routine to maintain the agility and flexibility of a dancer and also handle the stress factors? 5 must-do mornings stretches?
Karen Hauer:
I don’t do the same thing all the time. I think it’s important because it means your body and muscles have variation and time to recover as well as the mental aspect. You don’t want to be doing the same thing over and over, you will get bored and likely stop feeling excited about the prospect of working out.
Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in your life of Karen?
Karen Hauer:
It completely depends on the time of year. If I am on tour, it can be arriving at a venue, rehearsals, the show, and then travelling onto the next venue or home. If I am doing Strictly it will be full days of rehearsals with my celebrity in a studio during the week before we move onto the TV studio for studio rehearsals and then the live TV day is always a whirlwind of activity building up to the performance.
At the moment, we are in lockdown in London during the Coronavirus pandemic so my days are very different to usual; I’ve never spent so much time at home! Together with my Strictly colleague and friend Oti Mabuse and our partners, David Webb and Marius Iepure, we created Home Festival and we are running online classes for people to follow at home on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. I personally am running two kinds of classes; a high energy HIIT style class and an evening stretch. I’m getting a lot of fulfilment during these days and it’s giving structure during an uncertain time.
Namita Nayyar:
Your meal before and after a workout would be?
Karen Hauer:
I always listen to my body when it comes to how I eat and I eat whatever it’s telling me I need to eat. I eat pretty simple, whole nutrient dense foods, but I always love my bagels and doughnuts! I don’t deny myself a treat if I want it.
Namita Nayyar:
Favorite meal of the day?
Karen Hauer:
I love food, I mean, I LOVE FOOD. So every meal is my favourite at that time!
Namita Nayyar:
You love to cook and bake, what are the top three delicacies you love to eat?
Karen Hauer:
Tacos, sushi and a good steak!
Namita Nayyar:
Define Women Fitness for WF viewers.
Karen Hauer:
Fitness is not just about the physical, it’s also about the mental. Keeping fit is incredibly good for both the body and mind and it’s very important to me to communicate this connection to people that might be following me or my fitness programme, Hauer Power. It’s one of the reasons I launched it at the end of last year – I was putting some classes on my social channels and people seemed to really like it so I created a whole programme.
Namita Nayyar:
‘I’m staying busy and staying positive. Share your workout routine during a lockdown?
Karen Hauer:
As I mentioned earlier, we have created Home Festival and this is giving structure to my workouts. Most days of the week I am teaching two 30 minute online classes; a high energy one in the mornings and a stretch in the evenings.
I’m also then getting out and about walking the dogs for extra activity and we also just got an exercise bike in the house so I’m hopping on that as well. If anyone wants to see the kind of workouts I’m doing they can look at my Instagram, Facebook or YouTube page as I’ve posted some of them in full.
Namita Nayyar:
You recently spoke about the uncertainty surrounding Strictly Come Dancing’s 2020 series, how do you feel about it and the whole pandemic situation?
Karen Hauer:
I just can’t wait for strictly to come back and bring a bit of that magic that everyone loves and we need a bit of right now!
Namita Nayyar:
Social media is instrumental in today’s era. Two things you love and hate about it?
Karen Hauer:
I really like that I can have a direct relationship with my followers, reading that you’ve helped someone by sharing a workout or some tips is the most rewarding feeling. And the memes – who doesn’t love a funny meme? I’m very aware that there are some negatives on social media but I really try to stay away from that side of it; I try not to read any trolling or negative comments as far as possible but I’m generally very lucky – I have the most incredibly positive followers that I think all just want to be part of a happy community.
Namita Nayyar:
Five exercises to get well-defined abs?
Karen Hauer:
First things first – a well-balanced diet is vital for well-defined abs, as abs really are made in the kitchen. But my favourite ab exercises are planks, scorpions, scissors, side oblique crunches and bear crawls, they all target the core in many ways.
Namita Nayyar:
Resolutions or goals for 2021?
Karen Hauer:
Right now it’s all about taking 2021 day by day and working to stay as strong and positive as possible.
Namita Nayyar:
Message for your 271K followers on Instagram?
Karen Hauer:
Thank you for your constant support – I appreciate it every day.
More information on Karen’s Hauer Power online, equipment-free workout programme is available at www.karenhauer.fit
Karen Hauer Social Media Presence
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karenhauer/
- Twitter https://twitter.com/karen_hauer
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness