Well, unfortunately, due to my schedule this year and the schedule at my dance studio, I cannot take my ballet and pointe classes. After dancing since January 2003, it has been quite awful to not be going to the studio two or three times a week. I miss the material, the movement, the exercise, the satisfaction after a particularly difficult class, and my teachers. After chasing a childhood dream, it is almost like the dream has ended before it has begun. I was never going to be a prima ballerina, or be the lead in the Nutcracker, but boy did I love the experience. I ran into the mother of one of my former classmates recently and she told me that even though I wasn't in class, I could still do stretching at home. Yeah, and I could finally work on those yoga and New York City Ballet fitness DVDs that's I've had for ages. We all know that going to a regularly scheduled class and paying for it is miles different than doing something at home where you are likely to be distracted from the task at hand.
I'm hoping that after my wedding in October that I can make plans to get involved with either yoga, pilates, or Zumba to keep in shape. My even bigger wish is that someone at my studio will take pity on me and teach me a private lesson once a week. Hint, hint.
I hadn't heard about Zumba until somewhat recently and have to say that I was baffled. What is Zumba and why are so many people going crazy for it? Is this the new "Sweating to the Oldies?" or Jazzercise? My future sister-in-law takes Zumba classes once a week, and from what she says, it seems like a lot of fun and right up my alley.
Zumba was created in the 1990's by celebrity fitness trainer, Beto Perez, who fused Latin-inspired aerobics with nontraditional music. He used tapes of merengue and salsa music that he had in his backpack. After success in his native Colombia, Beto brought Zumba to the United States in 1999. After Beto's two business partners scored a huge video deal, the demand for instructors in the US rose dramatically. In 2003, the Kellogg company signed Beto on to develop programming for Latin countries. Since then, Zumba fitness programs have been featured on Special K cereal boxes world-wide.
I'm hoping to get into a class soon. If any of you currently take class, let me know how you like it!
Dancingly,
Jenn
