Students swayed side to side with the beat of a Brazilian drum, getting ready to set up their next move during a Wednesday night Capoeira martial arts class at Columbia. One of the 12 students in the class then called out, “Now everybody, don’t hit the lights,” during a drill referring to the low ceiling lighting in the Residence Center, 731 S. Plymouth Court.

Since the closing of the Roosevelt University Herman Crown Center, Columbia martial arts and other fitness classes have been squeezed into building lobbies and open office areas on campus.

Which has been inconvenient, said Blanca Aviles, a Columbia alumna, as well as an advanced student and helper of the Capoeira classes.

The new workout spaces are only temporary, said Mark Brticevich, coordinator of Fitness and Recreation at Columbia.

He said the fitness department is currently looking for a better space to hold some of the classes, and he hopes to have new accommodations in place by the fall semester.

In the fall, the classes will most likely be held in a dance or theater space, Brticevich said, because they have wood floors and high ceilings.

“We are looking for hardwood floors or spring, loaded floors so there is a little give to it or something close to the security area in case there is an injury, so we could respond to it quickly,” Brticevich said.

Brian Schab, a Columbia alumnus and Capoeira student, said the carpet floors are the worst thing about practicing in the lobby, as it is hard to move around with bare feet, especially when the class is used to working in a gym with wooden floors.

Having class in the lobby was a little awkward,  Schab said, but practicing in the lobby with the large windows has made people stop and watch from the sidewalk, which is good exposure.

Schab said in certain drills, the small area was hard to accommodate all of the students, but they tried to make the space work. He said at the beginning of the school year, there are always more students who attend the classes, which could end up being a problem in the fall if another permanent space isn’t yet found.

Because the space was too small and the carpet was difficult to practice on, Aviles contacted a few people she knew from thecontacted a few people she knew from the Dance Center, where she spent the majority of her time while she attended Columbia, to see if there was an open dance studio to host the classes temporarily.

“The lobby just wasn’t the most adequate space,” Aviles said. “It was very temporary, but we may have to stay there depending on what [Columbia] agrees on.”

The class times may change, as well, because a dance studio may not be available during normal class times, Aviles said.

“No matter what happens, these students have been pretty good working with what we’ve got,” Aviles said.

In the meantime, during drills, the Capoeira students have to be very aware of their proximity to the student next to them in the tight space, Aviles said.

As for the rest of the fitness programs that were looking for a space to practice in for the next academic school-year, they may be held all over campus instead of in one main building.

“We are probably going to end up with different spaces for a lot of the classes,” Brticevich said. “We would love just to have a fitness place where all the classes are, but that probably won’t happen.”

Brticevich said if Columbia does find an adequate space for the fitness programs, the college may start offering new free classes like yoga, Pilates, Aikido and possibly a cardio class like kickboxing or Tae Bo.