Zumba!
It's all about swinging and swaying to a Latin beat
Tuesday, January 20, 20091
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When Sheryl Sadler-Twyon of Montague hit 50 recently, she decided it was time to shake up her exercise routine. No stranger to physical activity, she approaches fitness with a "hey, that looks cool, I'll try that" enthusiasm. She practices yoga, works out with weights and plays golf.
But she didn't think she was doing enough aerobics. So when she saw an ad for a new Zumba class - a cardiovascular, dancey workout set to pulsing Latin rhythms - Sadler-Twyon figured she'd give it a shot.
Since November, she's been showing up for twice-weekly classes at the Northampton Athletic Club on King Street. She's the first to say that no one has yet mistaken her for an accomplished dancer, but that's not the point.
"I never took a dance class in my life," she said with a laugh, but she couldn't care less. "You've just got to keep moving and have fun."
Mere mortals
The Zumba class is held in a studio that's around the corner and just down the hall from the main entrance. When the class is in session, you're apt to see curious passersby pausing to peer through the door window to catch a glimpse of shimmying shoulders and hips moving to irresistibly catchy music. The classes begin with warm-up stretches and end with a slow song or two to cool down. Davis uses music from an eclectic mix of singers including Tito Puentes, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavo, and Rubin Blades - along with a few non-Latin tunes from the likes of Peter Frampton, the Beach Boys and Ingrid Michaelson.
The participants on two recent days were all women, though the class is open to men. Up in the front row, dressed in bright blue workout shorts and a top, was Iren Levina, who seemed to have been born dancing. Most of her classmates, though, moved like mere mortals, doing their best to keep up or, when that failed, to sort of walk through the routines.
Near Levina was Jen Davis, the teacher. Wonderful to watch, Davis, who's 40, exuded an irrespressible energy and high spirits as she led the class through its steps, spins, twists and turns.
Forget about trying to be perfect, she had told everyone at the outset, and throughout the hour-long class, she reassured them that it really was doable.
"Don't worry! If I can do this, anybody can," she said, a comment that drew some good-natured eye-rolling and disbelieving laughter.
In fact, Davis, a personal trainer who also teaches a fitness class at the Hampshire Regional YMCA for mothers and their babies, said she was a bit dubious about Zumba herself when she first heard about it. "I thought it was probably going to be hot chicks in tight clothes," she said, recalling the first Zumba class she went to on Cape Cod while visiting there. But she soon saw otherwise, she said, when she arrived to discover that one of the students was an 84-year-old man. "The range was astounding, and it was all about being able to laugh and let go, enjoy the music and have fun."
At the end of her first class, newbie Karen Bouquillon, 52, of Montgomery said she had decided to try Zumba because she felt she needed more aerobic exercise. It had been a good workout, she said at the end of the class, and no, she hadn't been able to follow all the moves in a given sequence right on her first try. But Davis was great, she said, "and one thing pretty much flowed into another. If I lost my step, I could usually catch it the next time around."
20,000 and counting
A word about the name: Zumba is a Spanish word that means to move fast like a bee and have fun. It's also now a registered trademark that refers specifically to the workout created by Alberto Beto Perez, a native of Colombia and a fitness trainer and choreographer "for international pop stars," according to the Zumba Web site, www.zumba.com. Since its beginnings in the 1990s, it has grown and expanded to include classes in about 35 countries around the globe. In the U.S. alone, there are some 20,000 trained instructors who are now teaching classes of students whose ages range from teenagers on up.
The story goes that Zumba was born on the day that Perez showed up for one of the aerobics class he was to teach in Colombia and discovered he'd left his music tapes for the class at home. He improvised, using instead the Latin tapes he liked to listen to in his car and incorporated cha-cha and mambo moves into his teaching.
It was a hit, and Perez realized he had the makings of something good enough to market. In 1999, he introduced Zumba in Miami and teamed up with two entrepreneurs to help spread the word about a new approach to fitness. Today Zumba's philosophy is best summed up in the can't-miss slogan that appears on the Web site's home page: "Ditch the workout, join the party!"
Next: Zumba for kids
Besides the music and movement, Zumba appeals to people who are looking for a break from the "same old thing" in their fitness routines, says Jocelyn Kinlock, who teaches at the Holmes Studio of Dance Music and Wellness in Easthampton and also offers it at Universal Health and Fitness in Northampton.
"It's such a refreshing change," she said.
Kinlock has taught Zumba to students whose ages range from 20-something to 70-plus. She has seen many approach it with some fear that they won't be able to do it, but that hesitation usually dissipates quickly. "To see them come out of their shells is just amazing," she said.
Because she recognizes that Zumba-type moves are new to many, Kinlock said she gives as much one-on-one help during class as she can while students are getting the hang of things, and also shows modifications for anyone with, for example, knee problems. Kinlock sometimes adds floor work for abs and thighs.
Kinlock's next Zumba creation will be a class for children, third graders and older, to be held at the Holmes Studio, beginning Jan. 24. Mary Ann Holmes, the studio's owner, and Kinlock decided to offer a class tailored for kids after noticing how much they enjoyed watching the adult Zumba classes and seemed eager to join in.
Instructors who complete an eight-hour Zumba certification class are given autonomy to adapt the classes to their own style, according to a New York Times report on July 10, 2008. They have access to music recommendations and new steps, but aren't required to use them. That means Zumba classes with different teachers at different gyms won't have a lockstep uniformity, the article said, and so novices may want to check out several before settling on one. (See box for local offerings.)
By the end of Davis's class the other night, just about everyone looked flushed and happy as they mopped the sweat off their foreheads and headed off to pick up their coats and jackets."
Drink a lot of water and I hope you had a lot of fun!" Davis called out.
"I still move like a brick," said Sheryl Sadler-Twyon as she headed for the parking lot, but she was still going to come back for more.
This column will appear monthly. To suggest future workout classes or related topics, please contact Suzanne Wilson at swilson@gazettenet.com.
