Ditch the Workout and Join the Party
By: Elizabeth O’Laughlin
A thumping Latin tune begins to play over the speakers, and 21 year old Julie Malave stands in front of the class to lead the opening stretches. The class is small, about eight people, who are all residents of University Village where the class is held. There are even two males in attendance, dancing their way to physical fitness. She tells the class to think about which muscles were most strained last week, and focus on priming those areas more. The class seems to know what they are doing, since most of them attend every week and have gotten the hang of it by now.
After the stretches, Malave asks the class if they’re feeling good. They respond with an enthusiastic “yeah,” and an even more upbeat song starts. Malave leads in with some simple-looking steps back and forth, gradually adding in arm and hip movements. “Check her out!” She exclaims while pointing to a girl in the front line, regarding her hip circles. “Y’all are doing bomb,” she says to the rest of the class, who are also picking up the movements quite well.
Malave, a Temple self-proclaimed “super junior” and a Harrisburg/Hershey native, is no stranger to dance. She has taught several styles, including ballet, jazz, and tap, which helped her segue into her job as a Zumba instructor, along with her overall passion for dance. Perhaps one of the most important push factors though is her Puerto Rican background. “When I came to Temple, I started to really embrace my heritage as a Latina, and one of the things that I thought would be really great to tie them both together is Zumba.”
Having gone to boarding school for the 4th through the 12th grade, Malave felt somewhat removed from her culture. Her family is very much into their Puerto Rican heritage, so being away from that for so long brought her out of her roots. But she feels Zumba brought her back.
“Since studying anthropology, I’ve realized one of the defining characteristics of Latin culture is music, dance and celebration, and also that family sort of environment and atmosphere.” Malave says. “Zumba has all of that, the music, excitement, the celebration aspect of it.” The familial feeling has also been apparent throughout Malave’s Zumba experience, and has helped her relate to her culture and link the two together. “We support each other sort of like a family. I think Zumba does have that Latin umbrella over it.”
To become a Zumba instructor, Malave had to go through a certification process. Aspiring Zumba instructors must attend a one-day workshop, and if successful in the workshop, they become certified. Once certified, the instructor creates their own classes and choreographs every routine him or her self, using Zumba steps and real styles such as salsa and merengue.
As a Zumba instructor, you can teach for a health insurance company, a gym, or even open your own studio. Aside from the workshop, which people usually don’t fail, there isn’t a lot of other training before becoming an instructor. “A lot of Zumba instructors say that the best training that they’ve had is attending other Zumba classes,” Malave concurs.
Malave has taught Zumba for three years, and is always learning different dance styles. Although Zumba is sometime perceived as strictly Latin influenced dance, this isn’t necessarily true. “One of the misconceptions about Zumba is that it’s just Latin music. Actually, the goal of it is to incorporate music from all over the world.” Malave explains. “If I learned a new style, I would try to find a Zumba song that would fit that style of dancing.”
For Malave, Zumba can be a large time commitment. She is responsible for choreographing routines for her classes, but she already has a big repertoire of steps built up. “Usually one song takes me days and days to know the music, because I want to know it enough so I can choreograph and know every single beat to it…it’s really how much you want to improve your class every week or what level you want to choreograph at. So it could be a huge time commitment.” In her opinion and experience, being a Zumba instructor is what you make of it.
Looking into the future, Malave has had some ideas on how to keep Zumba with her. One idea is to open a wellness center that would incorporate skincare, nutrition, and fitness. “We could dance, we could have Zumba, any style of dance, we could have skincare and a spa sort of feel to it…it’s something I’ve had in the back of my mind, maybe one day I’ll pursue it. But I definitely know Zumba will be involved.” There are Zumba conventions held every year, and Malave has always aspired to go to one of them and learn how to expand Zumba as a way of life and as a business.
“I can see myself as an old lady just jumping around, doing my little Zumba moves.” Malave might be in luck, because there is Zumba Gold, which are Zumba classes for seniors.
Malave’s advice for someone who wants to get fit but doesn’t want to run on the treadmill? “Definitely come to Zumba!” She laughs. “One of the slogans that they use is ‘ditch the workout and join the party.’ Because really, it’s more like celebrationand fun. When we’re in a Zumba class, the whole feel of it should be that we’re dancing together and we’re having fun.”
