SoulCycle: Claire J.

Who

Claire JonesSoulCycle instructor, NYC and New Jersey

Before

MAJIXA girl group, for a long time

Teaching

About two yearsA radical dream

Her ride

Athletic and funDifferent music, different textures

Off the bike

Washington SquarePeople watching, new music, nails

The film

3-minute docufilmSoulCycle, 2018

Five years before we met her, Claire Jones would have laughed if you’d told her she’d teach a SoulCycle class.

She spent a long time in MAJIX, a girl group. Now she gets 45 minutes, every day, that are entirely her own show. She teaches in New York City and New Jersey and had been at it for about two years when we filmed. It wasn’t the natural next step, she says. It was a radical dream, and she went all in for it.

SoulCycle•Instructor docufilm•3:20•2018

Her own show

In a group there’s always a longing to create on your own. SoulCycle gave her room to do it: the playlist, the workout, the way she uses the lights. She calls it an art form, which is why every instructor’s class is different, and why hers is athletic, fun and built from lots of different textures.

For new riders, the music is the one familiar thing in a dark, loud room. Everybody knows a chorus, everybody knows a vocal riff, and that’s the bridge between the instructor on the podium and the person on bike 40.

Washington Square

Claire is from Brooklyn and has been singing, dancing and acting since she was nine, and she still puts out music of her own. Off the bike she keeps herself fuelled: hunting for new music for class, going to concerts, people watching in Washington Square Park. Her nail appointment is her favourite part of the week. While we were there, she sat down with Kyler James, the park’s long-time tarot reader, who had some thoughts about her aura.

Embrace the change

Her big theme is change. You’re never going to feel ready for it, and no matter how many steps you take it’s going to be hard. Her point is that you were built to endure it: the drive, the faith, the strength, none of it is a coincidence.

Alongside the films, we shot a portraiture loop of every instructor against a white backdrop, made to sit beside their name and story on their SoulCycle profile. This is Claire’s.

Our Instructor Portrait Series

Claire J.’s film is one of a whole series of instructor portraits we made for SoulCycle: Charlee, Karyn, Sue, Sam Y, Jenny, Sydney, Victoria, Emily T, Samantha Jade, James, Francis, Laurie, Melanie, Trammell, Mike Press and Souereya. Each one is a different person and a different ride, filmed the same honest way.

ServicesDocumentary·Branded Content·Editing·Color