January 18, 2011
Grandma Shellie, The Zumba Gold Queen
ZUMBA FITNESS is latin inspired dance aerobics. It’s exciting, it’s exercise yet doesn’t feel like exercise. It feels like a party.The music has a pulsating beat and the steps are from cha-cha, mambo, salsa, merengue, cumbia, bachata, flamenco, reggaeton, hip-hop and even includes some belly-dancing.You don’t need a partner and you don’t even have to be a dancer. All you need is your enthusiasm, willingness to show up and love of music.
ZUMBA helps you burn calories, reduce stress, burn fat, reduces pain, sculpts your body, great cardio workout, enhances socialization, improves mind-body coordination, releases endorphins in the brain, the happy hormones, helps reduce depression, anxiety, fear and worry.
I specialize in ZUMBA GOLD, created for a different population than ZUMBA FITNESS classes which generally attract a younger, more physically fit student. ZUMBA GOLD classes cater to active adults 55+ , and people who are beginners to ZUMBA and people who have not exercised for a long time. ZUMBA GOLD may include those who require a SEATED class due to physical limitation and who love to dance and for those who are wheelchair bound.
I teach 2 ZUMBA GOLD classes currently in Virginia Beach, VA
I have been a dancer all my life, ballroom, latin, swing, twist and whatever new dance craze came into the world, I learned it and did it. I never took dance lessons. I just watched people, duplicated their style, practiced anddanced the latest dances. When I was younger, the challenge every real dancer faced was that all the dances required having a partner. It was great when we had a partner, but then there were times we didn’t.
In 1957, I was very fortunate to have met a great man at a college dance, married him 3 yrs later and we danced and we danced and we danced. He and I were like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on the dance floor. People would clear the floor when we got up to dance just to watch us. We were an amazing dance team and we never stopped dancing until our divorce 20 years later. Since then, I’ve danced with many dancers, but never found a dance partner to dance with on a regular basis.
I was so very frustrated and sad that I wasn’t dancing as much as I really, really wanted to. I started to skate indoors at a skating rink only if there was skate dancing to great music, where I could dance on skates and didn’t need a partner. Going to dances with my girlfriends was always a challenge. Sometimes we had partners and sometimes we sat during a dance. Sometimes we danced with each other. Women are lucky that we can do that if we need to.That’s the tough part of being a dancer. We don’t like to sit out the dances when we’re there to dance. Sometimes we ask men to dance, sometimes they ask us. Sometimes people say NO. When at a dance, I rarely refuse an invitation to dance. I am there to dance and I do.
Then ZUMBA FITNESS came into my life. I was living in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, turned on the TV and saw Beto dancing, selling his new DVDs. That was the beginning of my ZUMBA life. I bought the DVDs, practiced at home, was determined to find out if there were classes in NM, how could I become a ZUMBA FITNESS INSTRUCTOR. The possibility of dancing again, this time without needing a partner, was now a genuine possibility.I was like a fish out of water for many, many years- feeling the rhythm, playing rhythmic music in my car, in my home, at my office all the time. So frustrated that I wasn’t able to dance as much as I wanted to since I didn’t like going to dances and sitting and watching dancers, while the music was playing.I WAS BORN TO DANCE.
In 2003, I eventually moved to FL for take care of a family matter and continued to research ZUMBA FITNESS TRAINING and discovered that the headquarters were in Miami, FL. I was hooked. ZUMBA satisfies my need to move to the music. It satisfies my need to dance with other people without requiring a partner. I could dance every day wherever I live now. I am so happy that Beto was discovered as he came from Colombia with his choreography and his vision.
In 2006, my dad became very ill and I was the primary caregiver living in Florida. I was frightened. I was depressed. I had a great deal of anxiety. I tried to manage my own life and health while my dad was at the end of his life. My mom had passed the same year as 9-11, August, 2001 and now I was facing the loss of my only surviving parent. I barely had enough energy to sleep and eat, I was so consumed with worry. What I decided to do was actually pretty amazing. I would leave to go home with my dad in critical care at the hospital, depressed, worried, very sad and put on my ZUMBA DVDs and dance. I danced away my pain and sadness and worry. I learned that you cannot dance and worry at the same time. Dancing temporarily eliminated all my negative feelings. I was then able to sleep, able to eat, and have the energy to face the next day wondering if my dad was going to pass that day. ZUMBA gave me the energy I needed to do what I had to do when he did pass.
Thank you Beto. Thank you ZUMBA. This is why I am so dedicated and passionate about Zumba Fitness.
Any questions, please contact me at: http://sfraddin.zumba.com
