Sep 16, 2008 by The Journal Gazette

Patricia Gabbett Snow

Music pulses, hips sway and thrust, sweat drips, people smile and whoop and laugh and joke. This is what would happen if your step aerobics class got together first for margaritas -- or maybe Red Bulls.

It's Zumba, a high-energy aerobic workout that fuses Latin rhythms with salsa dance moves for a fitness class where the motto is: "Ditch the workout, join the party!"

Zumba is part of a wave of dance classes sweeping the nation as people look to have fun while losing weight and getting fit, perhaps partly inspired by the reality TV shows "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars."

Locally, fitness and dance clubs offer everything from hip-hop and jazz classes to African dance and the latest craze, striptease.

"Whether it be swing, country or salsa, all dances can be a great form of exercise and a fun way to burn a large amount of calories," says Susan Kellogg, co-founder of the Albuquerque Swing & Country Dance Club. "It's a way to get up and move without realizing you're exercising."

That's exactly what Kathy Cardenas' students say about her Zumba class at Defined Fitness in Rio Rancho. "It's fun to dance. I like the Latin music," says Mark Flores, 46, of Corrales, who has become so good at Zumba, he became certified to start teaching it.

Flores, who works at Intel, throws fast and furious moves on the dance floor but was modest about his skills. "My wife does Jazzercise and I do my own thing," he says. "We try to stay in shape."

Shedding pounds

Sylvia Roddy, 50, of Rio Rancho, says she lost 60 pounds in one year shaking her body in salsa and Zumba classes twice a week. "I feel more relaxed and energetic, more lively," she says. "You feel younger."

Irene Michael incorporated Zumba into her workouts in December. "I love it. It's energetic. I feel better at age 49 than I did at 45," adds Michael, who has lost 43 pounds in two years.

Dancing at the gym is even better than going to a nightclub, says Rosy Courtney, 41, of Rio Rancho. "If you go to a bar, you get in trouble," she says. "Most of the guys don't know how to dance anyway."

There were only two men in a recent Friday night Zumba class, but as Courtney points out, plenty of others frequently peek through the classroom window to see what they are missing.

Neva Lucero, 34, and Marin Zeyen, 25, say they find the Zumba classes addictive. "The instructor makes it so fun. She tells us to let loose," Lucero says. "It's uplifting."

"I have two kids, so there's no bar hopping for me," Zeyen adds. "This gets your heart rate up, and you pick up moves from each other. It doesn't feel like you're grinding away."

Instructor Cardenas, 55, who teaches math at Rio Rancho Mid High, enjoys cutting loose with her Zumba students several times a week. "I try to make it fun for everyone," she says.

Gyms aren't the only places where people are discovering dance -- or in the case of Kathy Campbell, rediscovering it.

"I always liked to dance, but I never really had an outlet, and I was never married to a dancer," she says.

Then, about 2 years ago, Campbell's 21-year-old daughter started taking lessons at Arthur Murray School of Dancing, and took Mom with her.

"I jumped right into it. I did group lessons, private lessons, waltz, fox trot, swing, tango, rumba -- pretty much anything they offered. I went three nights a week," says Campbell, 56, and a librarian at the Rio Rancho Public Library.

Then, she became involved with Kellogg's group, the 700-member Albuquerque Swing & Country Dance Club, and USA Dance, a ballroom dance club.

About the same time she started dancing, Campbell found out she has type 2 diabetes, so she joined Weight Watchers online. Between that and dancing an average of four nights a week, she lost 60 pounds -- and kept it off.

Like many people, Campbell, who is divorced, worried about getting into dancing without a partner. But she quickly found that it didn't matter. "There are tons of single people, and everyone dances with everyone," she says.

"The more people you dance with, the better you get."

Campbell still takes lessons at Arthur Murray and continues dancing most nights of the week.

Nancy Arenas, president of the USA Dance North Central New Mexico Chapter, says she tries to promote the health and social benefits of ballroom dance to every age, from high school to seniors. "They say that dancing is a really good way to tone your whole body. And mentally, it helps you ward off Alzheimer's because of the dance patterns," she says. "It keeps your brain in the moment."

Dancing improves cardiovascular health, balance and "helps you keep your hips and bones flexible," Arenas says. "Not only do I love dancing, but it has all those added benefits to it. It also helps you emotionally because you're out meeting with people and socializing with them, which is good for your well-being."

Couples can even improve their relationship, she says, because "you have to trust each other on the dance floor."

Rather than compete for members, the swing and country and ballroom clubs work together to encourage dancers to mix and mingle and try different styles of dance.

"We're promoting dancing in general as a health benefit and trying to work with the studios and teachers ... to make a nice little happy dancing community," Arenas says.

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