Exercise to a Latin beat in rec district program
by marlys good
Pump your legs, windmill your arms, gyrate your hips, clap your hands, dip, slide and spin — all to a frenzied beat that leaves you with flushed cheeks and dripping in sweat?  Exercise classes with a Latin beat? If it sounds like it is right up your alley, then try the Zumba classes offered by the Greybull Recreation District.
 The morning class at 5:45 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays taught by Louise Wrage  draws an average of 15 enthusiasts, while 50-plus people, give or take, attend evening classes offered at 6:15 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays with Jennifer Prentiss as the instructor. With the exception of Wednesday evening, when the class meets at the GMS gym, the classes are held at the Herb Asp Community Center.
It was Prentiss who gets the credit for introducing the fun classes. “Actually it was Vicki Lowe Collingwood,” Prentiss said.  “Vicki told me her sister Wendy, who lives in Sheridan, had been taking Zumba classes for quite a while and loved it. I told Vicki I would look into it.”
Prentiss, who taught a total body toning program, got on YouTube, looking for cardio-dance routines she could use in the cardio section of her program, tried them out, her “students” liked it, especially Louise Wrage. Prentiss approached Rec Director Chris Waite about adding such a class to the schedule. Prentiss tried it “here and there” in the rec program but established it as a standalone activity in September.  Waite said, “I thought it had the potential of being fun, it’s a good workout and I’m glad that it has grown,”
The hitch was that you can‘t offer an official Zumba class without certified instructors. Prentiss and Wrage found a certification offered in Billings “so we jumped on it,” drove up, got certified, and it has become one of the most popular programs offered.
An instant hit, the program continues to grow with the biggest increase ever coming in January. In addition to the morning and afternoon classes, Prentiss has started a daytime class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. “We’re putting it in to see what happens.” The morning class is geared to “either moms with kids in school who don’t necessarily have to work during that time, folks who have recently retired, maybe work half time, people who are looking for something to do and those who can’t make it at night.”
The program was offered at the recreation center as an intramural program in late November. “We had some little kids perform during basketball games and I thought it really brought the community out. (Many decided) to give it a try,” Wrage said.
One Zumba devotee is Tracy Harper, a self-admitted couch potato. “Yes, I’m one of those types,” she laughed.  “I just saw where (the rec center) was doing it, talked to friends who live in other places who had done it and they all said they loved it.”  So she got moving. “I tried it and liked it. It is just so fun you want to go back. It is just a way to exercise without feeling like you’re exercising, so you’re a lot more likely to keep going.” She does it three times a week and said, “If they did it five times a week, I’d probably be there.  It’s a real good cardio workout and I feel a lot better. I just can’t say enough good things about it.” A side benefit? “I’ve lost 25 pounds,” Tracy said with a smile in her voice.
Zumba is the brainchild of celebrity fitness trainer “Beto” Perez who “stumbled upon the concept of Latin-inspired dance-fitness in his native Cali, Colombia in the mid 1990s.” One day Perez walked into his aerobics class sans his aerobics music so he grabbed what was available, which happened to be tapes of  traditional Latin salsa and merengue music he listened to all his life. He improvised a whole class right then using the non-traditional aerobics music. That quickly a revolutionary new concept in fitness — the Zumba Fitness Party was born. It soon became the most popular class at his fitness center.
He brought the class to the United States in 2001. Perez and entrepreneurs Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, created a global company based on Beto’s fitness philosophy and trademarked the word Zumba. The craze currently spans six continents: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and by 2009, was being taught at over 40,000 locations in 75 countries.
When Wrage introduced the morning program, there were six members. “By Jan. 26 we had 18. It’s not for everybody,” she admits, “you have to make a commitment, but it’s additive, habit-forming. I just can’t get enough of it.”
It has the same affect on Prentiss who describes the membership growth, from an initial 20-22 to 50 plus, as “awesome.” Was she surprised? “Yes and no,” she admits. “ I have done a lot of different things, taken a lot of courses, videos, running, marathon training, fitness — this is the first workout where I am really excited to do it. It never ever gets boring or old. It’s just fun.” In fact, she said, “It’s the first workout I’ve ever done in my whole life that is just totally fun. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because of that. Other people try it, find it fun, tell it to others....’
They are also piloting a program with Tina Terry of Big Brothers Big Sisters. “We will be introducing it to a whole other group; we’re excited to see that. If we can get members of different social groups interested, it becomes a population-wide event, not just a ‘social event.” Don’t be surprised if other, different, classes are offered in the future. It’s a program with tremendous potential.
So get off the couch, slip into your workout clothes, go to the rec center and start pumping your legs, clapping your hands, dipping, sliding and spinning to a Latin beat. You might get addicted too.