Though it’s technically the room meant for rock-climbers, the auxiliary gym in Nielsen is filled with dancers twice a week. The first image that pops into mind might be ballet, but no, these are Zumba dancers that shimmy, sway, and sweat it out twice a week under the instruction of sophomore Kingsley Kolek.
Kolek, who has been doing Zumba for seven years, started classes at Houghton last spring. “When I took my tour as an incoming student, someone had said that a senior did it, and obviously, they were graduating. I had already applied to get my certification, and thought that would be a great opportunity for me to step in.” She now leads classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, each an hour and a half long.
Zumba is a dance workout phenomenon which started in the mid-90s by dance instructor and choreographer Alberto Perez. Perez forgot his dance music one day, and instead had to use whatever was playing on the radio – salsa and reggae music. With this non-traditional exercise music, he improvised an aerobics class combined with dance, and Zumba was born. Since 2001, when Zumba was first registered as a trademark under Zumba Fitness, more than 10 million workout DVDs have been sold. It is enjoyed in 180 countries around the world, with over 15 million people reaping the benefits of the workout, according to their website. Zumba also founded the Zumba Dance Academy in 2005, which licenses instructors to teach classes.
Kolek is one of those certified instructors. “I went to an eight hour class, and learned all the different ways of teaching Zumba. It sounds like I just went to an eight hour Zumba class, but you actually have a classroom setting and learn all the psychological benefits of it, too.”
Zumba is one of the most effective workouts there is, psychologically as well as physically, because “people view it as going to dance rather than going to work out,” said Kolek.
Houghton students seem to enjoy it, too. “The first class, I actually thought to myself – if I had about 5 more people come, we would have had to take the class to a different room,” Kolek recounts. “It’s been a little low recently, because it’s getting to the end of the semester and people have exams, but I had about 20 – 25 people consistently.”
The only problem the Zumba classes seem to face is the ever-present “Houghton ratio”. So far, the classes here at Houghton have been made up primarily of women.
“That’s the one thing about Zumba,” Kolek explains. “Guys hear ‘dance’, and they automatically think that they’re not going to get anything out of it. But actually in the Zumba company, there are many male instructors. It’s definitely a workout for both genders.”