Two little girls peered through the window to watch the Tuesday afternoon Zumba class at Viva Performing Arts Center.
They nudged each other, all giggles and admiration, as lines of women worked out to merengue, salsa and reggaeton.
"Look at your mom!" one said.
More than 30 women of all ages and fitness levels filled the large dance room for an hour of constant rhythm and motion. When the class was over they walked out all smiles and dripping with sweat.
Welcome to Zumba, which in the Tucson area has grown from about 50 classes two years ago to nearly 200, taught by instructors with their own styles and followings.
It's in gyms and dance studios, neighborhood centers and even Miraval Arizona, the world class fitness resort (where it is called cardio dance and taught by certified Zumba instructors).
In October, Zumba will be part of Tucson Meet Yourself, along with martial arts and other exercise forms that come out of traditional dance.
While the workout seems new it got its start back in 1986 when a young Colombian aerobics instructor named Alberto "Beto" Perez forgot his aerobics music for a class and subbed in his favorite salsa and merengue tapes.
It's mushroomed into a heavily marketed cardio-dance routine complete with catchy slogan: Ditch the workout, join the party!
Devotees swear they can burn up hundreds of calories an hour.
Today the Zumba Fitness company has sold more than 4 million DVDs through infomercials, its website and its instructors. Zumba is offered in more than 50,000 locations in some 75 countries.
The workout continues to evolve with ZumbAtomic, a program for ages 5 to 12; Zumba Gold for ages 60 and above; and Zumba Toning, a sculpturing program that uses weighted sticks that sound like maracas. There's also Aqua Zumba, which is offered in the Phoenix area but not yet in Tucson.
Perez's name is also on a book on Zumba, and the company has just published a magazine called Zlife.
"It's just a phenomenon," said Julie Gallego, who has offered the classes at her Viva Performing Arts Center for nearly three years.
"It was still really new to Tucson," said Gallego. "Now all the fitness places are offering it. … It's really booming."
Viva, on South Park Avenue, offers dance instruction in folklorico, ballet, hip-hop and jazz.
The Zumba classes it holds in the evenings and on Saturday mornings draw people from as far as Oro Valley and Vail.
"It's a real workout. They come in comfortable workout clothes and they're dancing the whole hour. They really sweat a lot," Gallego said.
Instructors build followings and it's not uncommon for one to work at several places.
Gallego's 22-year-old daughter, Chanel, for example, teaches at Viva and at Red Monkey Studio in the Foothills.
A number of Viva students have gone on to become certified as instructors, a process that includes an eight-hour workshop, with continued education through CDs and DVDs.
"They're teaching all over now," Gallego said.
Viva has twice hosted Zumba certification workshops, she said, with participants coming from as far as Denver and El Paso.
Rosemary Gutierrez, who as a child was one of Gallego's folklorico dancers, has built a large, dedicated following in the nearly three years she's taught Zumba at Viva.
A radiology tech assistant by day, Gutierrez turns up the music at Viva promptly at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also teaches Saturday morning.
The 33-year-old, who is married and the mother of a 6-year-old son, also takes classes at Pima Community College.
"Zumba gives me the energy to do all of this," she said with a big smile.
Gutierrez had never really heard about the workout before Gallego asked her to consider teaching it.
Now, she said, "It's my passion. I practically live and breathe it. And I love my students.
"I'm so proud of them. That's the reason why I keep doing it. I don't think of them as students any more - they're my friends. . . . It's like a big group of friends getting together every day and working out."
Ruby Rojo, who celebrated her first year of Zumba on March 23, is one of them.
"I consider it exercise to dance music. It feels like you're going to a club but you can wear tennies and shorts and a T-shirt," said Rojo, who grew up with much of the music.
Rojo, who works at the juvenile court center, said she was 40 pounds heavier when she started the workout.
"That's what I love about it," she said, explaining that anyone can do it. "I was just shuffling my feet - just going slow. I've worked up to really hard, vigorous exercise."
She had been on Weight Watchers when a friend suggested she try Zumba - and Viva was close to work.
"It's just a special place," said Rojo. "We are so lucky to have it in this area."
TUCSON MEET YOURSELF
Mia Hansen was one of the first to join in when Viva gave a Zumba demo to get runners warmed up for the Get Moving Tucson 10-Mile and 5K course in October 2008.
"I'm all for anything that gets people moving and dancing as part of a healthy lifestyle," said Hansen, who is now Tucson Meet Yourself's executive director.
The workout will be a new addition to the festival this fall.
"Zumba is one more great expression of people getting together in the community - in this case to be healthy," she said. She said she also likes that it's rooted in traditional Latin music and dance.
"When you go out and do an African drum circle you are getting a great upper body workout but you're also doing it for the joy of rhythm and celebrating a traditional musical culture that comes from West African communities."
Hansen said she recently went to a Scandinavian folk dancing session. "It's not as sexy as Zumba, but I sure got my cardio workout," she said, then added with a laugh - "The Hambo - that will be the next big thing."
LIGHTHOUSE/CITY
The Lighthouse/City YMCA started offering Zumba about a year ago after people started asking about it.
"It's a surprisingly popular program," said Susan Gray, the branch's health and well-being director.
She had expected that something so popular would peak quickly. But this hasn't. "We don't see any of the interest in it dropping off," she said.
"We're still occasionally having to tell people the class is full."
The branch offers classes three days a week that attract people of all ages.
Gray understands the appeal. "It's very accessible to people. It's easy to do. They don't have to be on the same foot as the instructor to have fun with it so it's not very judgmental in the way some structured classes are.
"You get moving, you have fun and the music is catchy."
No one stresses about which foot to put forward. "Even if they are kind of messing up a little bit they laugh about it," she said. "This is play time."
On Saturday the branch is testing out ZumbAtomic, the program for ages 5 to 12, to see if there's interest in it. If there is, the branch would offer it as a fee-based class in sessions for ages 5 to 8, and 9 to 12. Anyone who is interested should contact the branch for more information.
Family effort in Vail
Gwen Knipp, a kindergarten teacher with young twin sons, says Zumba changed her life.
A conversation with her co-workers about what they do for fun made her realize that she put everyone else first.
"I realized I had lost myself," said Knipp, who signed up for a Zumba class.
It wasn't long before she was driving to Phoenix to get certified as an instructor.
That was about three years ago. She taught at several places around town before deciding to go out on her own. She started by renting a multi-purpose room at Senita Valley Elementary School in Vail and offered classes to co-workers and others.
Its success inspired her and her husband, Kevin, to open their fitness center, Infinity Fitness & Studio, in Rita Ranch last October.
Today the 37-year-old teaches it seven times a week including ZumbAtomic on Saturday afternoons.
Zumba helps Knipp feel part of the community.
On Friday she will lead two Zumba classes on the field of Empire High School as part of The Tucson/Vail Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society. She will also stay overnight and lead another session, along with kids activity on Saturday.
She likes that Zumba continues to evolve.
"Zumba has been changing along with the times."
"This is the place where we come together and we have a good time"
Ruby Rojo
A Zumba fan for the past year
