Reggae artist Demeka (Tiny T) Tacklyn was the reigning dance hall queen of Bermuda for years. Then one day she woke up in the back of an ambulance, not remembering how she got there.It turned out she’d been in a bad motorcycle accident. It has taken her over a year to recover physically from the accident, but she is philosophical. “At least it only left scars,” she said.Now she is getting ready to relaunch a series of dance hall fitness classes she ran for two years prior to the accident. Dance hall is a subgenre of reggae.“Dancing has always helped me stay fit and youthful,” she said. “In the dance hall class, we will be dancing to the latest reggae and calypso songs. The dancing I do involves a lot of winding your body. Over the years it has really helped me to stay fit and youthful. It is a way for women to come together. You don’t have to feel ashamed or anything. It’s not like you are in a club where men are lusting after you. You just get your little space. We do dancing on the ground and different body movements. It’s really easy. There is nothing really technical like Salsa or dances where you have to concentrate on counting different steps. It makes you sweat and helps you lose weight.”Her classes aim to promote weight loss, help women gain energy, boost libido, increase self-esteem and improve posture.She said that although she has enjoyed dancing since she was a small child, it was a broken heart that really ignited her passion for it.“When I was a teenager, my first broken heart hurt me so much,” said Ms Tacklyn. “I found comfort in dancing. I would come home, close my door and just dance to reggae music.”Ms Tacklyn has now been dancing and also singing reggae for the last 20 years. She is also an entrepreneur and runs a popcorn business, providing bags of fresh popped popcorn for local stores. Until her accident she danced with the Richardson Gombeys, and was named ‘dance hall queen’ in Bermuda’s first dance hall style dance competition.Her dance hall fitness classes for women will be offered twice weekly at Dellwood Middle School, starting this Thursday (November 1) and will run until December 4.“It will be a fun class,” she said. “It is not a dance where you have to be precise on point or anything like that. It is like a freestyle dance. I’ve offered the class before at a different location, and women of all ages, sizes and colours participated. One of the teachers at Dellwood, Nishanthi Bailey (who is also a well known local comedian) really helped me to get it going at the school. She has a beautiful personality. Some of the teachers will be going and we invited some of the students to take part also. Dancing is the funniest way to lose weight. You don’t want to be doing anything that will stress you out these days, because stress produces a hormone that helps you gain weight.“There are a lot of beautiful movements when you are dancing to reggae and dance hall. You can wind and twist up your body. There is a lot of flexibility required. I can teach how to do the splits. I learned how to dance on top of my head.”Forty-five minute classes will be offered at 4.15pm and 5.15pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The class is $15 per class or $100 for the course. It is $50 for the course for students. Group rates are available. There is also a discount for people who cut out a copy of this article and present it to Ms Tacklyn. Registration is $25.For more information telephone 777-8073 or e-mail tinyt@transact.bm.