Although my first Zumba class had been extremely difficult, I decided to return. I felt totally uncoordinated and definitely could not follow all of the teacher's moves, but loved the music and the dancing. My teacher, Tanya Nuchols, was so encouraging too. She told new people to just do whatever they can. Tanya also made me laugh. She would go so wild and crazy during class with her dancing, that she just inspired me to want to dance. Although I was struggling to keep up, I was determined to stay and finish the class. About 20 minutes into class, I was just about ready to pass out. I was also convinced the clock had stopped working. Surely, it hadn't been only 20 minutes! It felt more like a week. Tanya kept me laughing during class, so I kept going. Tanya would encourage me to smile. I remember thinking, "It would be so much easier to smile if only I could breathe!"
After a couple of weeks, I decided to try to go to 2 Zumba classes a week. I was having so much fun. The music was hypnotic and made me just want to move. Tanya was such a wonderful teacher I began to look forward to my classes with her so much. Tanya always said, "It doesn't matter that you follow along exactly as long as you are moving!' When I started going to 2 Zumba classes a week, something amazing happened. My stamina was increasing. I used to be worn out by the warm-up but I could now make it 20 minutes without looking at the clock or thinking Tanya was trying to kill me. Tanya just made the classes be so much fun that I began to forget I was even exercising. I still had trouble moving around in class. I couldn't even bend over during the cool down. As much I had grown to love Tanya as a teacher, sometimes she would demonstrate new moves and I remember looking at her and thinking, "Oh, hell no! There is no way I am doing that!"
As my endurance increased, I became curious about other Zumba classes offered in the Washington, DC area. I learned many places offered a 'first class free.' I tried to take advantage of as many these free classes offered as I could. Well, all I can say is my teacher Tanya was a very act to follow. I took Zumba at lots of places and did not like any of the classes. My friends teased me fairly mercilessly about this situation. Apparently, I was beginning to talk a bit excessively about how much I loved Tanya's Zumba class. People would say my whole face would light up when I talked about Zumba with Tanya. I couldn't help it! I was having a blast in Tanya's classes and beginning to notice changes in all kinds of ways. One day I was reading a book out loud to a five year old friend and made it through the whole book without stopping. I used to get so out of breath doing this, and was embarrassed when I would have to stop to catch my breath. I began to sleep easier at night and also be less stressed out. I began to go through a supply of Advil quickly too!
Perhaps most importantly, I had learned in Tanya's class that exercise could be fun. My entire life I had been given advice to find an exercise I would enjoy in order for activity to become a regular part of my life. Were these people crazy?? Enjoy activity?? So, I began to take Zumba in other places. I was just as scared to go to one of the first classes offered at another facility as I was at my first Zumba class but went ahead anyways. The teacher was very nice and greeted me- a good sign. The class went downhill from there. The music was so soft I could barely hear it. Where was the music that made just want to move? Hmmm. . . The teacher said she liked to keep it soft. Then, the teacher moved us progressively through some calisthenics which brought back vague and disturbing memories of junior high gym class. Then, she had us do jumping jacks followed by running from one side of a very small room to the other. Did I mention there was no music?? The teacher also stopped the class repeatedly to talk at length about various things, which seemed just bizarre to me. I stayed for the whole class just to be polite.
I took classes at several other places but just couldn't find another Zumba instructor that I liked. Some instructors had just very different styles than what I had become accustomed to with Tanya's class. Others were very focused with stopping class repeatedly in the middle of a song to offer corrections or tell me, 'You are doing it wrong.' One of the reasons I loved Zumba was because there is 'no wrong' as long as you are moving. I had grown accustomed to the laughter and fun in Tanya's class and was not finding any of the classes to be as enjoyable. I was convinced I would not find another Zumba class I liked.
I decided to give it one more a try. Although I do not usually read the classifieds, I happened to glance through them one day. Among all the services and things for sale was a tiny ad offering one free Zumba class during a two week period in April at a local dance studio. I was wary of another trying out another Zumba class. After taking so many other Zumba
Full of trepidation, I made one last attempt at finding another Zumba instructor I liked. I went to the class which was at the DC Dance Collective, a dance studio about 15 minutes away. I signed in and stood around thinking to myself, "I can still flee at any moment!' The teacher came in and introduced herself to me as Elena. I liked Elena right away, even though she had not done anything but introduce herself to me! There was just something about her. She put me right at ease and the class hadn't even started yet!
As soon as Elena began the class, I knew she was the one. 5 minutes into her class I was in love with her style of Zumba. Elena smiled constantly and laughed a great deal. She had boundless energy. The music she played was incredible. She was so enthusiastic in her dancing, I could not help but get swept up in all the excitement. I wanted to hop, jump and kick. I could not do everything Elena did but it did not matter. Elena was so encouraging. I remember her telling the class not to worry about following in the same direction as her or on the same foot as her. I felt woefully uncoordinated in all my Zumba classes still, but Elena's encouragement increased my confidence and willingness to try new things. Elena had such a joyfulness about her when she danced. It helped me forget how hard I was working or how out of breath I would get. When my first class with Elena was over, I was very happy. I went up to her to thank her and tell her how much I loved the class, and to ask her if she had any oxygen!
After that first class with Elena, I knew I had to return. I was hooked!! The only problem was I had worked my way up to taking 4 classes with Tanya and didn't want to give up any of those. There was only one solution - more Zumba! I added one class with Elena to my schedule at first. Once I became used to taking 5 Zumba classes a week, I added 1 more with Elena. I took 6 classes for awhile but was beginning to want to take more classes with Elena. Eventually, I worked my way up to taking 4 with Elena and 4 with Tanya per week.
Three months after taking my first Zumba class, and I was now taking 8 classes a week. Sometimes I took only six, and felt like such a slacker. Friends began to worry about me and tell me to ease up, but I did not want to stop. I loved all of my Zumba classes, was thrilled to have found two great instructors, Elena Menshutkina and Tanya Nuchols.
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