Tenorio: Zumba is an enjoyable, enthusiastic workout

Last Friday, I got a chance to try Zumba, the dance-inspired workout that has attracted millions of followers worldwide.I was in Cambridge, attending the Multicultural Festival at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The performances included dances from Samoa; an exhibition of capoeira, the Brazilian mix of dance and martial arts; and an Argentine tango demonstration. For the last part of the program, a Zumba workout, the audience was invited to participate.Zumba owes its origins to Alberto “Beto” Perez, a fitness instructor from Cali, Colombia, who in the mid-1990s reportedly forgot his aerobics music for his students one day, and came up with a workout inspired by the music of his youth, salsa and merengue. Perez later moved to Miami and fine-tuned Zumba with two fellow Colombians – Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion – who joined him in a business called “Zumba Fitness.”The Zumba Fitness website describes Zumba as “a new kind of dance-fitness, one that focused on letting the music move you (instead of counting reps over the music).” I didn’t know what to expect as I joined my fellow audience members (including my girlfriend Laura) on the dance floor. It seemed like we were a mix of Zumba-class regulars ? and newcomers like myself.Certain features of Zumba may be familiar to people who practice other forms of exercise. An instructor stands before the group and demonstrates the routine, while people line up in rows and follow the movements. The first part of the program seemed to involve mainly Latin music, and as I couldn’t see the instructor – it didn’t help standing in the last row – I focused on watching what others were doing, including handclaps, turns and sideways steps, all presumably in tune with the bass. I started to feel more comfortable anticipating when it was time to execute a seeming 360-degree turn, punctuated with a resounding clap. And was it my imagination, or was the room beginning to feel a bit warmer?For the second and final workout, we moved from Central and South America to Asia, as our instructor chose mainly selections of Bhangra, a style of Indian music. We worked on our balance with short kicks that characterized the Bhangra session. We also got to dance to a current international hit from South Korea, “Gangnam Style” by pop artist PSY. Happily, I don’t think I stepped on anyone’s toes ? or kicked anyone.The Zumba Fitness website uses the following words to describe Zumba: “exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning.” I didn’t count my calories before or after participating, but it felt like a good and fun workout. My legs felt more or less the same way they did after a one- or two-mile run on the Minuteman Bikepath in Cambridge and Arlington. Listening to vibrant music made the dancing more enjoyable.So, the next time I get a chance to do Zumba, I just might jump back in line.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].