Shake it off

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This article was published 26/01/2015 (4071 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg will soon be the scene of a giant Zumba class led by one of the fitness brand’s most recognizable figures.

Her name is Loretta Bates and she’s featured in several popular video games, including Zumba Fitness World Party. The ultra-toned American also teaches Zumba instructors how to excel at one of the globe’s most popular fitness trends.

“She’s a rock star in the Zumba world,” says Gimli-based instructor Jan Keryluk, who, along with Winnipeg instructor Sharon Delbridge, helped bring Bates to town.

On Thursday, Bates is scheduled to teach her master class at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. More than 300 Winnipeggers are expected to take part in the class, says Keryluk. (Tickets are $35 and $45).

If you haven’t heard of Zumba, you’re one of the few. There are 100 Zumba classes in Winnipeg alone, and thousands more in nearly 200 countries around the world. That amounts to legions of followers who are addicted to the lively dance-exercise hybrid.

Colombian-born fitness instructor Beto Perez invented Zumba — a group class that incorporates a medley of Latin-inspired music and co-ordinating dance-fitness moves.

It’s evolved into energy-filled classes for all fitness levels and ages with multitudes of followers.

I recently chatted with Bates, who lives in North Carolina with her husband and kids. We talked about her love for Zumba, her friendship with the creator and her past struggles with her weight.

Here’s part of our conversation. Some questions and answers have been slightly edited for clarity and length:

 

Q. What drew you in to the world of Zumba in 2007?

A. I was working out at a gym. I saw posters on the wall that said “Coming soon — Zumba.” I was just a person who went to the gym and worked out. I didn’t enjoy it. But just did it because I knew I should do it.

 

Q. What was your first class like?

A. The instructor walked in. She put on the music. For the first time in my life I actually enjoyed working out. I had never experienced that before. It was always such a pain, something dreary that I didn’t want to do. It’s completely ruined me, because now I don’t want to do anything else workout-wise.

 

Q. Have you always been fit?

A. I always struggled with my weight before. In college, I was a size 12 or 14. With my first son, I gained 70 pounds. Once I found Zumba, taking the weight off was easy. I could do Zumba all day long. Now I am a size 4. I’ve been that ever since. I’ve never had any problems with my weight.

 

Q. Do you attribute your weight loss to Zumba?

A. Definitely.

 

Q. Take me through a Zumba class. What does it feel like?

A. For me it was simple: I found what I love. I love music, I love travelling, I love experiencing different cultures. And that’s the beauty of Zumba. When you walk into the Zumba class, you’re actually experiencing all those different cultures in music.

It takes you places. Maybe everybody in Winnipeg can’t afford to go to Cuba or to Puerto Rico or to Brazil. But that they can afford to take a Zumba class.

 

Q. You consider Zumba innovator Beto Perez a friend and mentor. What’s he like?

A. I was with him last week. We did a photo shoot. (Zumba will be releasing DVD sets in Walmart). He’s amazing. He’s funny, outgoing.

 

Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from Beto Perez?

A: The thing I learned the most from him is how to connect with people. You don’t have to be an amazing dancer to be a good instructor. You have to have the ability to connect with your students. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand.

He could be teaching to a room of thousands or to a room of five people. You will have the feeling that it’s just you and him.

 

Q: You’re featured in several Zumba video games. What was it like to make those games?

A: The first three are cartoons. We would wear the suits, they would measure our movement and they would turn us into little cartoons. With Zumba World Party it was different. They were able to film it on green screen, so it’s actually us. There are 16 instructors in the game. I’m on the cover of the game. The backdrop is actual footage from the countries where we were when we were learning those rhythms.

 

Q: What’s the difference between a Zumba class and a dance class?

A: In a dance class, what matters is that you’re doing the movement properly — you’re doing it exactly right. In Zumba, there really is no judgment. If I’m going to a party and I want to dance and I want to have a good time, nobody is going to look at me and say, ‘No, you can’t dance like that. That’s wrong.’ That’s kind of how a Zumba class feels.

 

Q: How many calories do you burn in a class?

A: I wear a heart-rate monitor and I burn, on average, 900 calories per class.

 

Q: What if you’re not fit? Can you still benefit from a Zumba class?

A: There is a lady — she’s 72 years old — she comes to all my classes. But when she comes in, all she does is just shake her body the entire time. It’s fine. I don’t care. As long as she’s having fun, as long as she’s moving her body, that’s what’s important. Not getting the steps just right.

 

Q: How has Zumba evolved since you started teaching it?

A: They make a lot of their music now. Before, they would do a lot of cover songs. Now, (the Zumba brand) has teamed up with a lot of artists who they are supporting, such as Pitbull and Shakira.

 

To purchase tickets for Loretta Bates’s Winnipeg master class on Thursday, go to www.eventbrite.ca or call Jan at 204-651-1395 or Sharon at 204-999-5173.

 

Have an interesting story idea you’d like Shamona to write about? Contact her at shamona.harnett@freepress.mb.ca.