Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com

Published - Thursday, November 05, 2009

Latin beat powers exercise classes

By MICHAEL MARTIN | mike.martin@lee.net

Ann Formanek fell in love with Zumba from the very beginning.

“It’s different from every other kind of group fitness I’ve ever taken, and it kind of lit a fire in my brain,” Formanek said of the aerobic dance and exercise regimen.

She took her first Zumba classes at the YMCA in Onalaska and now she’s leading 20 other women in Zumba classes on Wednesday nights in the West Salem High School dance studio in West Salem.

“I attended classes for quite a while — and I took to it like nothing I’ve ever done before,” admitted Formanek. “In the back of my mind, I thought I might want to be an instructor some day.”

Ann Formanek leads Zumba classes at the Heider Center. A new session will begin Nov. 11. Photo by Michael Martin

Created by a dancer and choreographer in Miami, Zumba is trademarked and uses mostly Latin and world-beat rhythms to drive an aerobic fitness routine that is promoted to be almost painless and very energizing.

“It’s not that you don’t work up a big sweat, because you do, but the hour just flies by. Your whole body and mind is engaged, and you don’t feel tired the way you would if you were jogging, for example,” Formanek said.

Zumba is offered through the Heider Center Community Education Classes, and a new session will begin Nov. 11. The cost is $25 for each six-week session, and each Wednesday session is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Jean Ledman, a member of the Heider Center board (and one of Formanek’s enthusiastic students) predicts Zumba will probably be offered well into 2010.

“As long as the interest stays strong, we’ll keep adding six-week sessions,” she said.

This is Formanek’s first class as an instructor, and so far it’s been going very well. “I’ve been hearing a lot of positive comments, and people tell me they’re really enjoying it,” she said.

Besides her love of dance, one of the reasons Formanek became an instructor was that it allowed her more creative freedom: “I get to pick the music and the moves we’ll do.”

Formanek says she can easily spend two hours on iTunes looking for new music to play. “This isn’t canned music but real music,” she said. “That’s one of the things people comment on the most, how much fun the music is.”

She thinks Zumba has made her much more aware of all popular music, even hip-hop. “For my age, I’m probably much more aware than most,” Formanek said.

Will she continue to teach Zumba? “I do see myself doing this for quite a while,” Formanek said. “Things come and go. For example, Jazzercise was big for a long time. For me, though, Zumba is perfect!”

AT A GLANCE