"All right!
How’s everybody doing tonight?” an excited voice calls
over the din of chattering people. Cheers sound out along with
choruses of goods, greats and other enthusiastic responses. A
small muscularly-toned woman sporting a microphone headset in
her copper-colored hair appears in front of the room’s floor
length mirrors that line one of the walls. This isn’t a
concert, this is an aerobics class called Zumba®.
Throngs of people file into the Student Recreation Center’s
multipurpose room A for Hughes’ first Zumba® class of
the week. A head count near the end of class would tally 78 females
and five males. There are 11 new students for this class. They’re
waiting for the instructor.
Gemma Hughes, 29, is a full-time exercise physiology major. She
instructs one of the newest fitness classes at West Virginia University’s
Student Recreation Center. The class is called Zumba®, and
it is quickly becoming one of the most popular classes at the
Rec Center.
From Rumbacize to Zumba®
Zumba® was an accident, according to the official Zumba®
website. In the mid-1990s, Alberto “Beto” Perez, founder
and master instructor, forgot the music for his aerobics class
one day and took what music he had in his car to the class and
they danced. The class gained a following at the gym he worked
at in his native land of Colombia and was called “Rumbacize”.
It spread like wildfire throughout Central and South America before
moving into the United States in 1999. Once in the U.S., Perez
teamed up with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, who wanted
to promote the Rumbacize philosophy all over the world. But first
the name would have to be changed. And thus, Zumba® was born.
According to the website, Zumba’s ® (formerly Rumbacize’s)
main philosophy is that the workout should be “fun and easy
to do” so that the participants want to keep with it so
that they can gain the long term health benefits and the short
term ones like building self esteem and confidence. This positive
philosophy spread across the country and as of September 2006,
there were 2,000 certified Zumba® instructors across the U.S.
The combination of high-energy dancing, controlled movements and
Latin and international music is what drives Zumba. The human
body provides natural resistances, which help sculpt and tone
the body while the participant is dancing to the fast-paced music.
According to Hughes, the average number of calories burned in
one Zumba class is nearly 600.
Who is Gemma Hughes?
For almost 16 years, England native Gemma Hughes devoted her life
to fitness and making others feel good about themselves. At age
13, she started working out by watching aerobics classes on ESPN.
After finishing high school Hughes did something that would change
her life forever. She joined a local gym called Body Dynamics,
in St. Petersburg, Fla. She spent most of her time there and worked
there to save money so that she could become a fitness instructor.
In 1998, almost three years after she joined the gym, Hughes received
her American Council on Exercise certification to teach group
fitness classes. She soon added another ACE certification in personal
training. After that, she worked for more certifications in fields
such as cycling, step aerobics and Zumba®. She auditioned
in October for her Masters’ certification, but was not selected
by the panel of others who hold Masters’ certifications
for their work in Zumba®.
Zumba® caught Hughes’ attention three years ago when
she saw an infomercial promoting the Zumba® fitness videotapes.
She ordered the tapes and watched them with a friend, Tanya Beardsley.
Not long afterwards, Beardsley gained a certification to teach
Zumba® and became one of 12 Master Trainers for Zumba. She
attended Beardsley’s classes to show support for her friend.
The class’s popularity grew so Hughes worked toward her
certification to add more classes to the weekly schedule.
Hughes’ day starts early each morning, usually around six,
and she goes until late each night. Carrying a full load of classes
such as chemistry and its required laboratory course, an exercise
physiology class, English and Spanish, Hughes also teaches two
fitness classes three nights a week at the Rec Center. She teaches
Zumba® three times a week to classrooms filled with people
of all shapes and sizes. She has her own fitness regimen that
consists of cardio fitness and weightlifting six days a week.
On weekends, she sometimes goes back to St. Petersburg to manage
the gym where she got her start.
“I get tired because I give 150 percent, 100 percent of
the time and when I’m tired I just can’t do anything,”
she says with a sigh.
In August, Hughes arrived in Morgantown, W.Va., home of WVU, to
continue her education. Her major concentration is exercise physiology,
but she wants to write for fitness publications after she graduates.
“WVU has one of the best Exercise Physiology programs in
the country,” Hughes said of the school she now calls home
after doing research on other universities across the country.
Culture Shock
Exotic drumbeats and foreign smells filled the Mountain Lair ballrooms
as many different people from all over the world converged to
share about their cultures at WVU’s International Fair on
Oct. 16. Schoolchildren passed through the large hall to learn
about different religions and to get henna tattoos.
Hundreds of children from the area’s schools wandered around
the fair in the Mountain Lair ballrooms. They were treated to
many exhibitions, from a belly dancing performance by a young
girl to Zumba.
There will be a demonstration of Zumba® and four young women,
Hughes included, hurry up to the stage. Gemma quickly gains the
childrens’ attention then, tells them about Zumba® and
dancing.
Olga Volotskova, 25, likes to dance and likes to exercise. The
Russian doctoral student didn’t lose her poise as she danced
in front of hundreds of children and onlookers.
Volotskova along with Megan and Morgan Lawless joined Gemma for
the performance. Clad in black workout gear, the girls danced
on stage behind Hughes, similar to back-up dancers. They appeared
to be ignoring the children staring at them and focusing on their
instructor and the music they were dancing to.
“It makes you feel better all over,” Volotskova said.
“Zumba® is so much better than doing just legs and arms
because you use your whole body,” she said after the exhibition,
smoothing her dark hair back into its low ponytail. “Gemma’s
class is too good to miss.”
The children and teachers watched the girls move on stage with
curiosity and then started following along with Hughes’
kind motivation. Teachers and students danced before her, following
her every movement as best as they could. Smiles filled the room.
“I give Gemma a lot of credit, she really knows how to lift
people’s spirits and relieve stress from school,”
Megan Lawless, 20, said with a vibrant smile. The occupational
therapy major and her twin sister, Morgan, have been attending
Hughes’ class for nearly a month. The girls found out about
Zumba® from other girls in their classes and decided to check
it out due to their mutual love of dance.
“I love that she incorporates different styles of dance
and music into the class,” Morgan said. “Gemma is
cool and energetic and a great motivator,” she added. The
girls recalled their first Zumba® class with big smiles and
remembered definitely wanting to take the class again.
Zumba’s® Latin background hasn’t been forgotten
around WVU’s campus. The Latin American community is currently
assisting Hughes in promoting the class.
“The Latin community is very tight here, they’re very
friendly and they come to the class,” Hughes said. “They’ve
invited me out to their events and have been so helpful.”
Zumba® Nation
In 2006, Mark Burnett, producer of such shows as Survivor and
The Apprentice, and Emilio Estefan joined forces with Aghion and
Perlman to spread the word about Zumba. There is a reality television
show in Mexico based on Zumba® that’s rated first in
many Mexican markets.
“It’s spreading by word of mouth quickly because people
like the way they feel when they leave the class,” Hughes
explained.
Upon Hughes’ arrival in Morgantown, not many had heard of
Zumba®, including the fitness coordinator at the Rec Center.
More and more people began attending her classes. One person would
come, then the next time they would bring a friend, and so on
and so forth.
“Leave your ego at the door!”
The room is brightly lit and a brilliant sunset can be seen from
the large room’s bay of windows. Hughes hurries upstairs
from her personal workout regimen to ready herself for the class.
Many people stop her on her way upstairs from the Rec Center’s
free-weight area to say hello. She breezes into the room where
her students await and sets up for class. She picks a CD from
her two large CD cases and places it in the new stereo system
for class.
With her headset on and ready, she speaks to her students in a
personal way as she moves to the front of the room. The headset
will soon come off, but she’ll use it for announcements
she has to make before class about any changes to the schedule
and what they’ll be doing in the evening’s class.
“Leave your egos at the door!” she calls out to them
as loud Latin dance music fills the room. She starts with a side-stepping
motion and the room follows. The atmosphere in the room has changed
dramatically from laid back and even a little pensive to completely
positive and full of energy.
The next song that plays in the room is a Salsa number. A few
of the students can’t keep up, but they do not give up and
keep smiles on their faces.
The class continues that way for the rest of the hour. People
are trying to keep up but not really caring if they do or not
and hopping around with excitement. There is a lot of hip-shaking
going on, even the men in the crowd enjoy following along. The
students start to break a sweat but continue to smile and enjoy
themselves.
The songs change throughout the class from songs the students
may not know to songs that the students may know, such as Gwen
Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and Daddy Yankee’s
Reggaeton hit “Rompe”.
Fostering Confidence
Hughes remembers being asked one day by an old love what she wanted
to do with her life, and her reply was not one he’d expected.
“I want to make people smile. I want to make people happy,”
she said, her slight British accent making itself known.
Her dedication to fitness has roots in her desire to make people
happy. Part of the Zumba® philosophy is to let people have
fun while they work out. And that was a major draw for Hughes.
“The benefits of fitness are so numerous. It’s not
just about losing weight and getting in shape. It’s about
feeling happy and confident and building self esteem, and then
maybe later you’ll lose weight,” she says with a serene
smile. She believes that emotions are contagious and that being
positive will rub off on others and make them feel better.
Of all the classes she teaches, Zumba® is her favorite because
in other classes the instructors constantly correct the students
because the positions are structured for the student’s safety.
In Zumba there is no right or wrong. There is nothing dangerous
in Zumba®.
“You don’t have to be on the right step. There is
no right or wrong step, just have fun!’ Hughes says. “After
class, they [the students] leave smiling and they’ve told
me before that they look forward to my class all week. They’re
being lifted up and they like that.”
An hour after the music began, it’s over as the class ends
and everyone gathers their things and begin to leave, some wiping
sweat away from their faces others guzzling their water to replenish
themselves. Others stay behind to talk to Gemma. She can’t
remember all of their names so she calls them all by one simple
name, Zumba®, if she sees them out around campus.
They go their separate ways, most going home, some following Hughes
as she scurries downstairs for her next fitness class. |
