Zumba invades SRSC

Walking into the Student Recreational Sports Center, a line stretches as far back as the turnstiles. It looks similar to the entrance to a club than a campus gym.

Participants, nearly all women, are waiting patiently in line for their chance to get into the studio. Some have arrived nearly an hour in advance to secure a spot.

Gretchen Schrader, a sophomore, is near the front of the line. She said she has been waiting for the doors to open for 45 minutes.

A new exercise craze has gripped IU. Every Tuesday and Thursday, participants line up to get into the increasingly popular Zumba classes, offered for the first time this spring by Campus Recreational Sports at the SRSC.

Created in Cali, Colombia by Beto Perez in the mid-1990s, Zumba uses traditional Latin style dance steps and music to create an aerobic fitness program.

Perez, who brought Zumba to the U.S. in the early 2000s, has since expanded the company and created a global phenomenon that has many people pumped about getting back to the gym.

“It makes you sweat. It’s dancing and a workout all at once,” Schrader said.

Christin Everson, a graduate student, is one of two group exercise leaders recently certified to teach Zumba. She starts each class with a 10-minute warm-up, and then follows by teaching a dance routine.

Every couple weeks she chooses several songs to choreograph, and then uses Merengue, Salsa and Cumbia dance steps to create a routine that she then teaches to the students. The routine remains the same for a couple weeks to give participants a chance to learn it before they move onto another number. Music used in classes is almost always Latin or internationally flavored.

“Zumba is just a real comfortable setting where you can just let loose and have fun without really thinking about the fact that you’re exercising,” Everson said. “You can come with your friends and have a good time.”

The class fills the 110 available spots every session, said Joellan Muyskens-Chang, assistant director of fitness and wellness for Campus Recreational Sports. Campus Recreational Sports is already working on getting additional leaders certified so they can offer more classes in summer and fall.

The SRSC even has another group exercise leader stand guard at the entrance to the studio to make sure the class doesn’t exceed capacity.

“Unfortunately, with how popular this session has been, we haven’t been able to accommodate everyone who has shown up each evening,” Muyskens-Chang said. “We’ve had to turn away between 40-50 participants per night and re-direct them to other sessions.”

Many participants said they are so happy with their experience that they return.
Sophomore Tiffany Martin, another group exercise leader at the SRSC, has attended most of the Zumba classes that have been offered so far.

Martin said Zumba is similar to other dance classes offered by the SRSC but is more of a cardio workout due to the fast-paced, infectious music.

“Between each song, like between cues, everyone is dancing around by themselves because the music just gets you moving,” Martin said.