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