like riding a bike

A temporary change in routine and weight loss verging on respectable, encouraged me to return to my abandoned Zumba class today. For the unititiated, 'Zumba combines Latin and International music with a fun and effective workout system!'

Zumba originated in Colombia in the mid nineties, when a fitness instructor, Beto, forgot to take his traditional aerobics music to a class he was due to teach. He improvised, using his own mix of music from salsa and merengue tapes he had in his backpack - the class loved it. Thus the Zumba® Fitness-Party was created. This style spread to north America in the late 1990's and has gone from strength to strength. Fifteen years later, the Zumba programme is taught in gyms and studios world wide. There's Zumba wear, music CD's and DVDs, even Zumba festivals.

In my corner of the world, at the gym studio, the instructress still looked as if she weighed 6 ounces, I was probably approaching twice the age and weight of all other participants. (see post: Friday, 27 August 2010: one step forward, half a step back, and it's not the cha cha...) Today, though, the mirrors didn't traumatise me as much as they used to, maybe because there was less of me to cringe at.


For many years I intermittently attended Latin American dance classes, and for several, went to an African/Latin American nightclub at the weekends. It's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget how to wiggle your hips. And, fortunately, hip wiggling isn't restricted to the slim. It doesn't matter if you're doing a different dance to everyone else as long as you're doing something. 'Just keeping moving' we're told. This was my mantra.


Zumba, like Pilates, requires concentration. Unlike swimming, where there's ample scope for thinking about in-depth characterisation or plot twists, serious observation is obligatory. You have to watch the instructress to see what she's doing with her legs, her arms, her hips. Unlike surgery, building design and legal documents, precision isn't called for. There's more than one way to shimmy. I may have looked like I was hanging up the washing in slow motion whilst those around me demonstrated graceful, fluid movements. But the music was inspiring, and I was encouraged.

Fluidly yours

Jane