Buti Comes to Charleston... And Look Out, It Kinda Sizzles

You're going to want to get in on this. It's new to Charleston—it's quickly making its way east from L.A.—super different, and I dig it.

I started taking a so-called Buti fitness class over the summer at the suggestion of my good pal Suzanne. Just to be clear, I had no idea what she was talking about but I showed up anyway. I do that with her—she could lead me to the weirdest place on the face of the earth, and I'd end up laughing so hard my stomach hurts. I immediately spelled the class as "booty" in my head and followed her there. I like it spelled that way—it makes sense to me, though I suspect for various public relations reasons, the originator of the workout opted not to go in that direction. 

Then again, if the creator—the blonde, Bizzie Gold (for real), pictured above—had an eye toward good PR, she might've rethought her demo video (posted a few paragraphs down). But I'm kinda glad she didn't though—it's super hilarious.

Back to it: if you haven't heard of it, there's a few ways to describe it: Imagine doing yoga poses, except instead of posing, you're shaking your booty to Jay-Z. Courtney Hutton, owner of Charleston Buti Fitness (she's also a barre and pilates instructor), describes it like this: "It's a combo of yoga, tribal dance, hip hop, and plyometrics, but there's no choreography. You just follow along." 

Or perhaps it's simply the non-Latin version of this. 

The absolute, hands-down best part is, she discovered the workout when her friend sent her a link to a Buti video as a joke: "She sent me something she found on Jezebel. She was like, 'Ha, bet your classes are something like this...' I watched the video, and I was like 'Okay, what the HELL is this?'"

I've seen it, too, and Courtney's reaction was spot on. Picture the Real Housewives of Orange County (and maybe throw in Brandi from Beverly Hills) in bathing suit bottoms and half shirts, grinding and hussying up a dance studio. Lots of mysteriously glossy fake tans, hair flying, weird stuff happening. Oh, hell, watch it yourself:

Courtney was just baffled enough to seek out the website, "which was actually professional and normal," she says. "I found a sample workout and did it, and suddenly I was like, 'wait, this is really fun and really hard."

Agreed. I mean, consider that I don't even like Jay-Z. He makes my skin crawl, and yet the other night in class, when one of his songs was blowing the doors off the studio, I found myself thinking (while sweating my way through some knee-to-ear move), "Wait, is this the best song ever? It's the best song ever." See? You lose your mind a little.  

Wanna try? You should: the holidays are nearly here, and you've got parties to hit, dresses to fit. 

Here's what you need:

« You don't need mad dancing skills, but you do need to be up for a challenge. It's a high-intensity workout. 

«  A yoga mat

« Water

« To check your check your self-consciousness at the door. Despite the video, this isn't a hoochy stripper class—ick, I don't do that—but there are a few moves that'll make you blush. It's in the name of fitness though—totally necessary.

« And unless it's your thing, don't take your fashion cues from that video. Everybody pretty much shows up in yoga clothes. 

Here's where to find Buti in Charleston:

« Charleston Buti Fitness Facebook page

« Classes are every Monday and Wednesday night, 7:30pm, at Charleston Community Yoga

« $10 per class

Top photo by Fitsugar