'Release Your Soul' with Zumba Classes

Maybe you’ve seen the engaging Zumba Fitness infomercial or considered buying the associated Wii or Xbox game, but there are plenty of places in East Cobb where fast-moving groups of women are shaking what their mama gave ‘em—and laughing out loud while doing it.

Zumba, a registered trademark of mostly Latin-flavored dances and the music that helps facilitate the moves, seems to be growing locally with dozens of classes in East Cobb and surrounding areas.

And while most people are struggling to make it to month’s end with their new year’s resolution to step up their fitness routines, many mothers and grandmothers in the community haven’t missed a beat with Zumba.

Recently, East Cobb-area YMCAs have increased the number of Zumba classes offered due to its increased popularity. It’s considered dance but more than that. It’s choreography on a mission—to burn up to 1,000 calories per hour, according to one local instructor.

“It’s like a night club for moms during school hours,” said East Cobb resident Janna Chandler about the Zumba class she Cha-chas in at Women’s Premier Fitness on Lower Roswell Road.

Chandler is seven months pregnant, but she wouldn’t dream of missing Mechelle Burd’s class. “It just makes me happy. I feel like I get to let loose,” she said. And in one recent class, Chandler was one of two expectant mothers who realize the benefit of being fit before the hard work of labor. “My doctor said it was okay [to participate],” Chandler said.

East Cobb resident Tina Thompson cannot get enough of her Zumba class and incorporates an aspect of it in her traditional exercise routine. “When I’m just on the treadmill, I’ll listen to my Zumba music,” she said. The music energizes her like nothing else, she said. “It’s the energy, but you’re having fun at the same time.” Thompson said she schedules her entire day around her Zumba class. “You get addicted to it.”

Addiction or inspiration? Either way, clients seem to be uber excited about just being in the same room as their favorite Zumba instructor, some gently vying for front-row floor space.

“Plain and simple…it’s Mechelle,” said Carey Campbell, who has enjoyed Zumba for nearly two years. “She has the charisma and the energy to keep you going. She’s a rock star.”

Indeed, Burd does seem to have achieved rock star status, and for good reason. The 33-year-old Burd is the mother of four children under six years old. Her youngest is just four months. She teaches six days a week at three locations in the area, including Atlanta Dance, Fusion Dance and Fitness Studio in Woodstock as well as Women’s Premier Fitness.

If those numbers aren’t jaw-dropping enough, Burd’s Tuesday class at Women’s Premier Fitness averages 38 clients each where students are wall-to-wall but have plenty of room to follow her lead in executing a Merengue move or a hip-swinging Samba.

“My motto is ‘ release your soul,’” explained Burd, a former triathlete who confesses that she’d never taken a dance class before beginning Zumba certification and training. She has several special Zumba events planned for the next few weeks including a "Wacky Tacky Tuesday," when clients dress up and an event planned to support men's healthy heart awareness.

And for women who don’t believe they can join Zumba just because they think they can’t dance, Burd balks. “If you say to me, ‘I can’t dance,’ you know what—what you do in my class is you’re just moving. I have had more people who’ve said I can’t dance who have ended up being my front row-center people,” she said.

According to Burd, continuing to move is its own reward. “By your second or third time, you’re teaching me. You’re putting your own flair on it. Don’t dance like me,” she advised. “Just release your soul. Leave your worries at the door and just stand and shake the whole time, if you want to.”

Burd was a dedicated Zumba student before she became a teacher. Inspired by instructor Terri Starnes, Burd found that Zumba took her “out of the Mommy Circle and into a party for a little.”

A few years ago, while in Starnes’ class, a very pregnant Burd had attended Zumba that morning. Later went into labor. In just a few weeks, she was back on the floor moving and grooving.

Burd knows full well that people do not want to miss Zumba for anything in the world. “People plan their doctor’s appointments, their social networking, their hair appointments around Zumba,” she said.

Her dedication to her students is downright dogged. Earlier this week, following a health-related emergency with her toddler (he’d developed a little eye infection) she recruited a family member to lovingly handle it all so she could get to her 10:45 a.m. class. However, during the harried trek to class, she’d left her iPod (with her entire Zumba playlist) elsewhere.

But with Zumba, there seems to be no turning back. “We’ve got deejay Katie in the house!” Burd exclaimed after a brief explanation to the crowd of women eager to start begin.

Co-instructor Katie Johnston jumped in with her own stack of ZIM (Zumba Instructor Music) CDs and served as a kind of Miss Mix-a-Lot grandmaster to pump the tunes.

After a particularly fervent call-and-response sequence between Burd and her totally pumped clients, she divided “her girls” into two groups on the floor.

With the aid of Johnston’s hip-hop choice, the ladies then performed some mock “gangsta-style tho’ down” choreography, including a few center-aisle dance solos with the requisite hip-hop postures and in-your-face “yo’ boy,” gestures.

Yes, these are East Cobb suburbanites who happen to like Reggaeton blaring overhead. They shake, shimmy, and “pump it” to a blend of contemporary Latin music with the patina of urban funk.

The beats dropped here are a key component of Zumba’s increasing appeal, and the music is a well-thought out mash-up of hip-hop, Latin, and some pop songs. It’s all designed to provide a complete cardio workout with the appropriate rev ups, plateaus, and cool downs.

“I get a lot of compliments about my music,” said Zumba instructor Beth Elder of  ZumbaBeth.com, who is proud of her selection of Latin tunes and hip -hop beats. She employs the Zumba Fitness ordained ZIM tracks as well as a few of her own personal favorites. “It’s more about feeling the music.” Elder explained.

Elder organizes Zumba Meetups throughout town, and hosts Zumba-inspired parties and fundraisers. She also teaches the moves at Due West United Methodist Church in Marietta, Northwest Family YMCA, and at Curves in the New Chastain Corners Shopping Center.

Although the mother of two had always been athletic, Zumba presented a unique challenge for her. “I didn’t know how to dance, and I felt stupid,” she confessed. “I couldn’t move my hips for three months! Once they started moving, I couldn’t stop!”

The 40-year-old Elder recalls that early on, she’d spontaneously break out in Zumba-inspired hip rotation in the oddest places, like the grocery store aisle and in front of her stove while preparing a meal. “I’d be making macaroni and cheese at home and at the same time doing the Salsa,” she said.

While her clients don’t have to concern themselves with diaper changing and other mom duties for a brief time, Elder helps them become someone other than who they really are. “Zumba’s about changing who you perceive yourself to be just for one hour. You can turn into that Latin tribal goddess for just one hour,” she said.

Elder knows that newcomers can be insecure initially, but she has a cure for that. “Just laugh at yourself. It’s okay. It’ll finally click. It takes practice. The point is to just do it even if you look silly.”

Her brand of practicing includes modifying her routine for newcomers and those who prefer a more moderate approach. “I always say don’t worry about staying on beat or keeping up with me. If you can’t do this, do the easy version.”

Whether intense or modified, she spends hours perfecting her choreography and tests it out with her 13-year-old. “She’s my guinea pig. She’ll say, ‘Oh, I like that one.”

Overall, though, Elder sticks to what she believes will yield specific results for her clients. “You gotta keep it Latin,” she said. “You’re really moving your hips to get a core workout at the same time. It’s the moving of the hips that the Latin dances really give you for a solid core workout.”

“Anybody can do Zumba,” Elder assures 20-somethings and Boomers alike. “It really is a workout for every age and every physical fitness level.” Elder’s 68-year-old mother is at every class.

Elder's Zumba focused parties include the music, the dancing, and quite often a salsa (the tomato-based version) and chips in between the action. Through her Zumba Meetups internet-based group, she's able to spread the word about upcoming classes and secure RSVPs online.

Although men have participated in Zumba at the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA and at other venues, it’s the women who use the classes to form new friendships. “It becomes a support network; it turns into a big group of friends and family,” Burd said.

Family members can get a kick out of Zumba even without stepping foot in the studio. “It’s fun for your husband to watch you do Zumba,” said Jeff Kent, an attorney and business owner in East Cobb whose wife Tiffany partakes in Zumba classes at the Dance Stop Studios at Merchants Exchange. “She’s happy when she comes home,” Kent said.

Tiffany Kent said a few years ago, she attended what she believes was the first Zumba class offered in East Cobb. “There was hardly anyone there at that first class,” recalled the part-time legal assistant.

And now, Kent finds additional value in her favorite form of dance. “For me, it’s a stress relief and a healthy form of exercise. And the music—well, that just makes it more fun.”

She said her three children laugh at her because she’s dancing. But truth be told, one of her kids (a lover of the hip-hop genre) doesn’t mind his mom getting down. “My middle son Steven will dance with me because he’ll hear a hip-hop song I’m playing that was used in Zumba,” she said.

Burd sums up the appeal of Zumba this way: “You’re making it move and breaking it down.”

Elder agrees. “Zumba’s great because you really can do your own thing. It’s about having your own flava.”