Sandra Chiang Thorbjornsen: Zumba Goddess

I took my first Zumba class a few years ago (maybe 4-ish?) when I was working at Needham High School and saw that there was an evening adult education class that was held in the beautiful yoga studio of the school one evening a week. I had heard about Zumba and I asked a couple work friends join me. Little did I know that I would be stepping into Sandra Chiang Thorbjornsen's world of high volume, hip-gyrating, booty-shaking, fist-pumping, hair tossing, yelping wonderfulness.

Here's the thing, if you start out with a teacher of this caliber, it keeps that bar plenty high. I'll

admit that I've turned up my nose at my share of instructors because I've been lucky enough to have seen the best in action. Sandra became my yardstick for excellence, and she still is.

I'll use some of the parameters that I wrote about in my blog post about Hannah Shihdanian, to give you a feel for Sandra's classes.

Coolness: I'll let the facts do the talking...The stunning Sandra was born in Mozambique, was a refugee in Portugal for a time, and grew up in Zimbabwe. She was married in Norway and is the mother of 4 kids. Yeah, we mere mortals just wish for a fraction of Sandra's world-citizen coolness. Her song choices are eclectic and compel you to MOVE. A little pop goofiness here, a little reggaeton there, a smattering of salsa, a touch of tango, and much more. Sandra likes variety in her music and her students are never bored with her selections. And, yup, the volume is high, which adds to the party atmosphere. If your eardrums are sensitive, I know folks who wear ear plugs, and that works out just fine for them.

Community: Sandra's reputation is well established. She has an avid group of devotees of every age, size, shape, fitness level, and ethnicity imaginable, which speaks volumes for her appeal. Anyone would feel perfectly welcome and socially comfortable in her class. There are a couple women who whoop it up and make some noise at the YMCA class, which is really fun.

Environment: This amazing woman teaches a lot, leading classes at Longfellow, Needham Community Education, Needham YMCA, Sun Life, Boston Sports Club, and ABC Spanish in Motion. I've been to The Needham Community Education location, which is held at Needham High School. It's an excellent space, with lots of mirrors and good temperature control, from what I recall. I described Needham YMCA in an earlier post (in a nutshell, good studio, teensy locker room). Be warned that Sandra's classes are very popular and you need to sign up online a couple days ahead of time to be guaranteed space for her Saturday and Monday classes at the YMCA. In addition to regular Zumba, Sandra teaches Zumba Toning, bootcamp, and cross training. She's been teaching fitness for 8 years, so she's a total expert.

Dance Chops: There's no way you'd believe this watching her move, but Sandra has no formal dance training. She says that her "only dance classes were in our family kitchen while helping to cook dinner or family parties dancing with cousins, aunts and uncles." (Yeah, well my family kitchen did not feature dance parties. More like Pillsbury crescent rolls and Dave Maynard on WBZ AM news radio.) Sandra's moves are gorgeous and I love how she encourages a lot of attitude and sexiness; her example helps even shy folks get their glam on and lose their inhibitions.

Sweat Factor: You will get a thoroughly drenching workout in Sandra's class, and you'll smile the whole time. And then you'll come back for more, because you will be just dying to perfect that hair tossing thing Sandra throws in for emphasis.

Leon's Dance Center: Precision Toward Perfection

Who is that intense young man that I'm dancing with in my blog header above?

I first met Leon Turetsky around 4 years ago when he was a guest instructor for Suzanne Hamby*, teaching International Latin (cha cha, samba, rumba, paso double, jive). I was struck by his poise and leadership in group classes. He focused on correct technique, breaking down each movement into tiny sub-components: where is your weight, hip position, foot placement, pressure on what part of the foot, rib cage, spine, and so on. By the time I met Leon, I had been taking group social ballroom classes with Suzanne for a few years, so I knew basic steps to waltz, tango, foxtrot, swing, bolero, and the afore-mentioned Latin dances. It felt good to be dance literate and be able to follow most partners on the floor at dance parties.

Before long, Leon seized an opportunity to open his own studio, and thus began Leon's Dance Center. With a small amount of encouragement and the enticing notion of wearing sparkly dresses, I decided to train to compete in Latin dance at his brand new studio in Newton, MA. Hey, I've got a little experience, right? This should be pretty easy. Just learn some choreography, shimmy into a sequined frock, and I'm good to go...

Reality check: private lessons aimed at getting a dancer ready to compete are a whole new ballgame, especially when you've been used to hanging back as one of the crowd (cracking jokes with certain friends) during group instruction. Suddenly, all the attention is on you... and your bad habits (a partial list of mine: that weird elbow jutting thing, the hunched shoulders, the swiveling feet when they should be planted on the floor, the claw-like hands). No, it's not bootcamp, at least not with Leon. He has great skill in knowing exactly how much a dancer is ready to understand and execute. He never pushes me to a point where I feel hopeless; rather, he quietly, patiently, and methodically executes a training regimen that builds the foundational skills for Latin dance, and then expands from there.

I didn't have a clear idea of how the mechanics of dance worked and Leon helped me understand (almost on a cellular level) what that means and how it looks and feels (not that I can execute this stuff flawlessly, but I usually know what should be happening inside my body at any given moment within the choreography.)  I can honestly say that working with Leon has transformed my body and brought me more joy than I thought possible. I intend to stick with Latin dance lessons for a long time to come.

Leon and his beautiful and talented wife, Kim**, teach group and private dance lessons in a variety of dance styles (not just International Latin) to kids and adults of all ages. You don't need to train to be a competitive dancer to increase your skills on the dance floor. In fact, I've seen Leon successfully work with many couples who are practicing their special dance for their wedding day, as well as young kids just taking their very first dance lessons. If you aren't nearby, he also has a website, Passion4Dancing.com, where you can get video dance instruction. I just happen to be lucky enough to get the live version!

* A fabulous dancer and teacher who merits her own separate blog post
** Ditto

Loose vs. Tight: The Skinny on Zumba Wear Bottoms

I'm not so much for the official Zumba gear. It's pricey and just a little too loosey-goosey for my taste. (I'm not feelin' it with their logo thing, either.) When I'm sweating and moving, I don't want cargo pockets and decorative knee socks, thank you very much. I don't want anything extraneous tied around me flopping about. Just the bare minimum. But I also like to look cute-ish and colorful, and when practical, I like the bottoms have a little movement to it.

(smirk)

I discovered a while back that tennis skorts for Zumba work beautifully! There are shorts underneath so squats don't get, uh, indelicate. And when you choose something sassy like this little number below, where every little section is separate (like a carwash), it provides swishy motion and fun to your dance moves. It might make you shake your tushy just a little more, to see those car wash fringes fly around, and whoa, there's goes a few more calories. I have a version of the skirt below in black and orange and it's my absolute favorite. Better yet,  I found mine for about $16.99 at TJ Maxx. Look for skorts with a fuller, lightweight skirt, if you want it to flair out when you turn or twist.

Fila activewear skirt 

When winter rolls around and the legs get a bit furry and pasty, I prefer capri-length lycra tights. I go with a size smaller than real-life clothes because I don't want anything sliding or bunching up. The added benefit is that jiggles get minimized. And if you go with a jazzy pattern, you can just ignore any lumpy business in the vicinity (nothing to see here, move along).  The ones below are from the TJ Maxx website for $14.99. And no, I can't say I've had issues with the cheaper gear disintegrating. I'm just careful to feel the seams on the inside to make sure they are very smooth. I once bought a pair that was colorful and fun, but the seams must have been sewn with razor wire. Every kick and stutter step was an adventure in pain.

Snug and colorful, subdued and baggy, official Zumba gear or a knockoff, the real point is to get the heck out there and shake it, right? 

See you at the studio in 2015!

Hannah Shihdanian: Zumba Diva

Part of my mission with this blog is to review Zumba and dance instructors/studios, so you'll have some good info about where to spend your time and money. If you're like me, fitting these activities into your life takes a mindful approach, and a wimpy exercise class will make your face go all pruney with disappointment.

I'm still working on a rating scale, but in essence, my aim is to be positive and supportive. I won't ever slam anybody. That's just...yuck. Instead, I'll use my immense power to tout the best folks around. So, in that spirit, I'm starting off with the wonderful Zumba instructor, Hannah Shihdanian. (taaadaaaa!)

Coolness: Um, well, when your instructor also is the lead player in a funky ART production of Midsummer Night's Dream on most weekends (called The Donkey Show), the coolness has been raised to a whole new level (see photo here of me n' Hannah/Titania) Yowza!

Community: Hannah's got groupies, you betcha. They're a welcoming bunch, and pretty diverse. They're fun in class, but not the super-loud whoop-it-up type. Our loudest member just moved back to Germany with her family, so maybe somebody else will take on Laurence's vocal participation role soon.

Connectedness: Hannah's got a Zumba website that she updates consistently, so you'll see the latest changes to her schedule if you bookmark her page. She uses her personal FB page to post Zumba videos from her class (fun to see folks workin' it for the camera), as well as make other class announcements. I notice some instructors have a separate FB page for Zumba stuff, and that's fine, too. The bonus with Hannah as a FB friend is that you get to see all the other cool things she's involved with, as she choreographs and directs shows and has the most beautiful friends around. She's great about emailing her students about specials she's running, upcoming video recordings, schedule updates, and such.

Environment: Hannah teaches regularly at the Waltham YMCA and Sundays at the Needham YMCA. The Waltham Y studio is nice, though it would be better if part of the floor space did not have spin bikes cluttering up the joint. The AC usually works well, and there is a ticket system in place because her class sells out. Get there 20 min before class to ensure a spot. Needham on Sundays does not use tickets or online reservations. Folks start lining up 20 min before class. That studio is not cluttered with other gear, and the AC is typically OK. Their locker room in Needham is super-small, so expect close quarters when changing afterwards. Hannah has a studio she rents out for Tues. night and Saturday morning classes, as well. It's nice and big, lots of mirrors, and has a cool party-like vibe with disco lights. The floor there is a little slippery compared to the YMCAs, so I use different footwear for that studio and it's just fine.

Sweat Factor: For me, it ain't worth my time if I don't leave a class completely dripping with sweat. Hannah never disappoints. It's intense, it's challenging, and you know you've done good work when you leave the studio. She always demonstrates low-impact variations, so no one is left out.

Dance chops: Doesn't get any better. Hannah is a dancer, first and foremost.  Expect a beautiful, full-out model of what the moves should/could look like (in your dreams). Never a phoned-in class, ever, even when she's been injured or fighting a cold. A true professional. It might take a newb a few classes to feel really confident with the choreography, but it's so very worth that investment.

The One About the Dance Gang

So, I've got these friends. We met about 5 years ago at Suzanne Hamby's social ballroom dance classes on Monday nights in Waltham. At that time our ages spanned 3 decades, but we found common ground in our love of dance, a fermented beverage or two, and puerile humor. In our ranks we have a scientist, a few artists, a yoga instructor, a physicist, an engineer, and a speech-language pathologist. Since then, we've danced many hours together in classes and at parties. We even moved on to performing short routines for tolerant and supportive audiences.

I'm so thankful for their presence in my life. Our goofy dream is to end up all living in the same retirement compound someday. And it may just happen. But in the meantime, we are holding tight to each stupid joke we share, each poorly executed spin turn, and each beer we quaff together; because we're just old enough to have a deepening understanding of how brief our time is on The Big Dance Floor.