Molly Day went from dancing in front of thousands at Madison Square Garden to helping thousands of Internet viewers learn to move their own bodies to metal music from the comfort of her apartment.
The former Knicks City Dancer is the personality behind it Moving with Mollyan online fitness program that incorporates music from popular artists from all genres. But metal is where Day’s true passion lies.
She had a feeling that others would feel the same way.
“It sounds as danceable as a Sabrina Carpenter song to me. Whatever Dying Fetus or Sabrina Carpenter, I want to dance exactly the same way to that. And I just knew there had to be people who felt the same way.”
Becoming a metal loving Knicks City Dancer
A self-described “everything kid” growing up, Day found herself mostly listened to Slip knot, Linkin Park and My chemical romance at the same time as being interested in dance.
Her passion for dance took her from Connecticut to NYU where she continued to perform at a higher level. It was also here that she began to hide the “alt kid” persona from her youth.
“I kind of put it on the back burner because I just wanted to fit in.”
Day was also laser-focused at the time, trying to become an NBA dancer. After several auditions, she got a spot on the Boston Celtics dance team.
But like any industry, there are higher levels to achieve. And that includes working your way up among NBA teams.
Day’s goal when he joined an NBA dance team was to eventually land a gig with the New York Knicks, who she calls “the best of the best.”
“They get the best choreographers. They have the best costumes, the best dancing.”
Day spent two years performing as the Knicks City Dancer at Madison Square Garden before he had to step away. Dancing in front of large crowds in one area was no longer an option after an eye procedure left her unable to see clearly in bright light.
With more than 10 years of experience as a trainer and professional dancer, Day tried to work with various companies that offered personal training. She quickly found that not everyone agreed with her music choices as she slowly began to slip metal songs into her routines.
It was time to do her own thing and Moves With Molly was born.
‘She doesn’t belong here’
Moves With Molly is a fitness program Day created on YouTube as a way to combine her background in psychology, fitness and dance. She sees her routines, which include several types of music besides rock and metal, as a way for people to move their bodies and let go of the repressed emotions they’ve been holding on to.
The experience should sound familiar to anyone who has spent time in the front of the crowd at a metal show.
“Being able to find another way to get that place that’s not just going to a concert and being in a mosh pit — it can be at your house and it can be fun. You just turn it on and let those feelings out.”
Day quickly amassed a large following on social media, leading some metal fans to vent their “feelings” in the comments of her posts.
“I think it’s more the fans who see me in my smiley, bubbly mood and are like, ‘She doesn’t belong here.'”
To date, Day has done routines for everything from Bring me the horizon and Slipknot to Sanguisuga bog and PeelingFlesh. She has even released Metal Moves With Molly, a month-long program available on her YouTube channel which combines dance, sculpting and strength classes with rock and metal music.
Despite a handful of negative comments, the response has been positive both from the people who use Day’s program and the bands whose music is part of Metal Moves With Molly.
Day has already heard from the guys in Sanguisugabogg and Deryck Whibley of Total 41who all wanted to show their appreciation. She also got to hang out Matt Heafy from Triviumwho had seen her fitness videos.
“The day after I got the splints off, I can’t remember how old, like 13 or 14, I got a black eye in a pit at a Trivium concert. To be able to go and tell him that story, he was like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And I was like, ‘no, it was like a rite of passage’.”
The importance of inclusion in metal and fitness
Inclusion is important to Day in both her daily life and in the scenes surrounding the music she loves. Much of it was shaped by her childhood.
“I’m super dyslexic, super ADHD. I had to go to a special school because I couldn’t read. So I want in many ways, musically, culturally, alternatively, to be special needs, I felt ‘different’ so often in life.”
She rolls her eyes when someone accuses her of holding onto metal to “hit”. Instead, she sees creating metal-inspired fitness and dance routines as a way to reach an audience that previously might not have had an outlet, something she herself felt as a teenager.
“I think my biggest thing is creating classes that help people feel included and then also fall in love with moving again. There was a time in all of our lives when we were just running around as kids. We didn’t even want to think, ‘this is exercise’. We just wanted to move our bodies and enjoy it. And I like to make people feel that again.”
For someone who may be hesitant to start their own fitness journey, Day recommends just doing something to get moving for 30 minutes a day, no matter how strenuous the activity.
She warns against making it one “daily grind” that requires a fixed schedule.
“Unless you’re a professional athlete, that’s enough. And if I can get you to do it by using your favorite band or using a song you love or doing a seated workout so it’s accessible on a day when you might not have the ability or the energy to do more, that’s my biggest goal. To create a safe space and make fitness accessible because so much of it is.”
Hey, maybe you should keep scrolling to watch your favorite rock and metal bands favorite NBA teams while you’re here. We have what you want below.
Favorite NBA team consisting of 35 rock and metal musicians
Here’s a look at 35 great rock and metal musicians and their favorite NBA teams.
Gallery credit: Rob Carroll
