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Molly Day went from dancing in front of thousands in 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 Moves With Molly, an 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 others would feel the same way.
“It sounds just as danceable as a Sabrina Carpenter song to me. Whether it’s Dying Fetus or Sabrina Carpenter, I want to dance the same exact way to it. And I just knew that there had to be people that felt that same way.”
Becoming a Metal-Loving Knicks City Dancer
A self-described “alt kid” growing up, Day found herself mostly listening to Slipknot, Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance while also being interested in dance.
Her passion for dance took her from Connecticut to NYU, where she continued to pursue performing at a higher level. It’s also where she started to hide that “alt kid” persona from her youth.
“I kind of put that on the back burner because I just wanted to fit in.”
Day was also laser-focused at that time, auditioning to become an NBA dancer. After several tryouts, she landed a spot with 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 once joining 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 a Knicks City Dancer at Madison Square Garden before needing to step away. Dancing in front of large crowds in an 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 attempted to work with various companies that offered personal training. She quickly found that not all of them agreed with her music choices as she slowly started slipping 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 views her routines, which include several types of music in addition to rock and metal, as a way for people to move their bodies and let go of any repressed emotions they have been holding onto.
The experience should sound familiar to anyone who has spent time at the front of the crowd at a metal show.
“Being able to find a different way to have that outlet that isn’t 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 social media following, which led to some metal fans letting their “feelings” out in the comments on her posts.
“I think it’s more the fans that see me in my smiley, bubbly vibe and are like ‘She doesn’t belong here.'”
To date, Day has created routines to everything from Bring Me the Horizon and Slipknot to Sanguisugabogg and PeelingFlesh. She’s even released Metal Moves With Molly, a month-long program available on her YouTube channel that combines dance, sculpt and strength classes with rock and metal music.
Despite a handful of negative comments, the response has been favorable both from the people taking advantage of 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 Sum 41, who all wanted to show their appreciation. She also got to hang with Matt Heafy from Trivium, who had seen her fitness videos.
“The day after I got my braces off, so I don’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 around the music she loves. Much of that was shaped by her childhood.
“I’m super dyslexic, super ADHD. I had to go to a special ed high school because I couldn’t read. So I feel like, in a lot of ways, music-wise, culture-wise, alternative, being special needs, I felt ‘othered’ so often in life.”
She rolls her eyes when someone accuses her of latching on to metal for “clout.” Instead, she views 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 teen.
“I think my biggest thing is making 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 would just run around as kids. We wouldn’t even think, ‘this is exercise.’ We would just be moving our body and enjoying it. And I like getting people to 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 cautions against turning it into a “daily grind” that requires a set schedule.
“Unless you’re a professional athlete, that’s enough. And If I can get you to do that by using your favorite band or using a song you love or making a seated workout so it’s accessible on a day that maybe you don’t have the ability or energy to do more, that’s my biggest goal. Making a safe space and making fitness accessible, because so much of it isn’t.”
Hey, maybe you should keep scrolling to see your favorite rock and metal bands’ favorite NBA teams while you’re here. We’ve got what you want below.
Favorite NBA Teams of 35 Rock and Metal Musicians
Here is a look at 35 big rock and metal musicians and their favorite NBA teams.
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
