What I Learned from Zumba

I have never been a mover and/or shaker. For one thing, I can’t tell left from right; the hokey-pokey’s hard for me, forget real dancing. By the time my brain has processed “ball change, shuffle, allemande!” the dance is over and the band’s gone home.

Sure, I took one semester of  jazz dance… but once you’ve been GRADED on your ability to prance whilst swinging a cane and wearing a red sequined top hat, it takes real courage to face another thirty-foot mirror.

Luckily, real courage is my hallmark. (Yes, it is. Just decided.) So when Annie invited me to a free Zumba class, I girded my loins with sweatpants and shook what my mama gave me. Weeks later, some of it’s still shaking.

As much as I hated the [gimmicky, overhyped] idea of Zumba, I loved the reality. I always walk out of class feeling happy, brave, and strangely sexy. Yes, me! Really!

Here’s What I Learned:

1. Don’t judge a book/person/fitness program by its cover/name/ad campaign. Give new things/people a fair chance.

2. There is a time and a place for fleshiness; if I were bony, what would I shake during Zumba? Latin dance and hip hop were designed with jiggling in mind, and it feels great.

3. Don’t think so hard.  While doing Zumba, I catch myself overanalyzing. You know, trying to mentally notate syncopations and wondering how dance pedagogues classify various body movements. Years of college have warped my brain. FOR CRYIN’ OUT LOUD, LADY, WILL YA JUST DANCE?!

There you have it.