Zumba: like attending a rock concert twice a week

(Links to Youtube Video and Photo Soundslide follows at the end of this article.)

If you talk to any of Amy Cooper's zumba followers, they all agree: there is something indescribable about her classes.

There are a few men who show up at the Grenville Community Centre on Monday and Wednesday evenings for an hour of the non-stop Latin-based dance exercise workout called zumba. But mostly, it is a sisterhood of women who have discovered a certain "something" at these classes.

When I spoke with the women who attend these classes, they each described what they get from zumba.

But none could resist pointing to instructor Amy Cooper as the one who has set the tone for these zumba classes, which most say have changed their lives. Seriously.

The blonde, compact Cooper exudes energy and cheerfulness, breaking into a smile the minute she makes eye contact with you. She walks fast and yes, she can dance.

Her students glow when they talk about zumba. Some say, with pride, that they are addicted. Others talk about weight loss, improved cardio-fitness, or feeling sexy again. Many talk of increased energy and the positive feeling they take away after every class. Others talk about the comfort of doing exercise in an atmosphere where you can do it at your own pace; no one judges you.

"If you're having or have had a bad day at work or at home Zumba is great!" exclaims Tammy Donais. "It's stress-free for one hour and you think of nothing. You're dancing, laughing, smiling and having a fantastic time and like the saying goes, 'Dance like nobody is watching,' is so true.

"No one is there to judge you or stare at you. It's a great feeling to walk in and just dance and it's an added bonus to have Amy as our instructor."

The class lasts one hour, but feels like five minutes.

I might as well confess now: this isn't a third-person account of a local exercise phenomenon. I am part of it. I fell under the spell the first time I attended one of these classes. And that night, perhaps, is when I became determined to figure out: just what is happening here?

I don't know about you, but it isn't every day that I find myself in a room full of people who are full of unrestrained joy and fun. Yes, for sure, that keeps me coming back for more. And I know that's part of it for many of those who attend.

So who does attend? Mothers and their daughters do. Thirteen-year-old Jessica says she loves to dance, has lost weight and knows many of the routines by heart.

The not-so-young show up. Carole says that even though bad knees have reduced her ability to do all the moves - and despite the fact her doctor has told her to take it easy - she still loves to come every week and do what she can.

Friends meet there. New people are always showing up.

Cooper, a professional dancer, has been teaching dance fitness for six years and zumba for almost three years. In April, she marked her two-year anniversary of teaching in the Hawkesbury-Grenville area, but continues to teach in Hudson and runs her own "Dance With Attitude" class.

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When local students attending her classes in Hudson asked her to do classes in Hawkesbury, arrangements were made with a gym in Hawkesbury.

The classes grew too large for the location. Classes then moved to the Holy Trinity Anglican Church Hall. Classes outgrew that location, too. It was then that the group moved to the Grenville Community Centre where classes take place four times per week and even here, some evenings find the room filled to capacity with zumba enthusiasts, waiting to hear her emotionally-charged opening words, "Who's ready to zumba?"

What is behind all this popularity?

I thought that first, I should ask Amy Cooper herself what was happening. If anyone knew, it should be the leader of the class.

"It's pretty powerful," Cooper acknowledges. "I'm not sure what it is, but there's something. This is an amazing group of people and it's a blessing to come here to this community."

I noticed that before and after classes, it's a regular thing for women to talk to Cooper and share stories. There's laughter. There are hugs. People catch up.

She has an active personal Facebook page and a page for her zumba group. Dare I say she has hundreds of fans? Because she does. In some strange way, she seems to have created a safe place for people to not only get fit, but to express real life stuff at the same time.

Take these comments, from Rachel: "In May of 2010, I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl by C-section... I had gained about 35 lbs. and I was not permitted to exercise for the next two months. When I heard of Amy's Zumba I wanted to try it.

"I started Zumba that September, just about the same time I was wedding dress shopping. I found my dress but because of the weight I'd gained during pregnancy, they had to order me a size 12 dress but then in February 2011, for my first dress fitting, I had lost all my weight and then some - so they had to take it in and make a size around 8 (or less). So all of this to say that thanks to Amy Cooper, I was married in a size 8 dress and I lost all my baby weight."

Cooper turns to the stories as part of the special spirit at her zumba classes.

"It is... it's the stories they share with me, getting back into physical fitness, or following a healthy lifestyle, or going through a difficulty with parents, or a divorce. Anything that challenges them. They come here, it's their happy place. They leave it at the door. It's my happy place as well."

Beverly MacKiddie thinks the secret lies in the "rush" of going to class.

"It's like attending a rock concert twice a week," she laughs.

Cooper's success has reached into a local high school, where, although students were somewhat hesitant for the first two classes, 90 students showed up for the next one - and were into it.

"Once again, there was that connection," she affirms.

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Cooper is a big believer in fitness and exercise, but knows the music is equally key.

"It's incredible. Even if it's a song that the little kids like, or the parents hear and know it. It's just the right combination. It's the music, it's the moves, the energy, the atmosphere and I think it touches everyone in a certain way. I've figured out a way to connect with so many people on so many different levels. It's pretty powerful."

You can pretty much expect something extraordinary when passion is the source and indeed, Cooper says zumba seems to be the perfect storm when it comes to what she cares about.

"Music is everything," she says, as if it is perfectly obvious. But watching her throw new vitality into a dance routine when everyone else is flagging is evidence that the dance itself is right up there with the music.

Clearly, her customized dance routines contain an aerobic benefit, tailored to the high-energy music she selects herself.

"I am a choreographer from way back," she explains. "When I listen to a song, I do it musically. I put together moves that everyone can follow that go with the music. So once you get an idea what the music is, you can follow the moves."

Cooper is all too aware of the fitness struggles facing many women: weight gain, family and career responsibilities, and a time crunch making it hard for many to get fit. And she is the first to acknowledge those who have chosen to take steps to change all that.

"I started in October 2010, 15 months ago," said one enthusiast, a mother of three boys and an elementary school teacher in Rockland. "Eight months in, I ran my first 5k race in Ottawa and I continued zumba, which allowed me to get into a running program. I ran a race in May in September and another in November and I am lined up to run another in February, hopefully to run a half-marathon in May. This class got me back in shape and very motivated to take my life back, get exercise and take control."

Cooper echoes such sentiments. "A lot of these women, they stuck with this and they love it. It says a lot, to me, about what I am doing. I want to keep it fresh and exciting, to give them what they need in that hour. It's a science for me. I don't make a playlist. I go by the vibe in the class."

Yet for all her strength, Cooper says she almost quit zumba, not long after being certified to teach it back in 2008.

"I was working back then to put my own twist onto zumba, my way," she recalls. "But my classes were small and I almost gave up. I couldn't figure it out because my other dance fitness classes were always packed. I suddenly realized what was wrong: I was making it too hard.

"I changed the routines and made sure that my twist, which always includes fitness variations, adds something to every song so that everyone feels successful. And that is when I came to this area, so I feel it was the right time and the right place for me."

Marie Lalumiere, who assists Cooper on Facebook and greets women as they arrive at class every week, has nothing but praise for Cooper and her positive energy.

"Her goal is to get us moving, even if you're just trying. I feel proud of myself for getting up and moving. And I think that's what everybody feels. No one judges anyone here," Lalumiere says.

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You have only to listen to Cooper reel off the zumba classes, dance classes, her "Flex Appeal" boot camp program for women, a zumba schedule for students at the École secondaire régionale de Hawkesbury and a hectic fundraising schedule to know that the woman is living her passion almost every minute of every day. (As I write this, she is "on vacation" with a group of her zumba students in Punta Cana.)

Maybe it is because she is completely dedicated to sharing her zest for music and dance that makes catching it so irresistible.

Yes, that could be it, too.

Louise Stephenson describes classes as addictive, bringing energy, saying, "This is like nothing I have ever seen in my whole life, it completely injects energy and love and everyone feels it."

Others describe Cooper as having energy that is contagious, and I relate this to her.

She is quick to respond, shaking her head: "Oh, no, I get my energy from them! Everyone in this class gives me my energy. This is an amazing job, because it's a party every time I turn on the music and have a class. They inspire me. Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I don't feel well. But when the music comes on, it's show time. I think it has a lot to do with the people in this class.

"Everyone who comes to this class says Amy is a rock star... but no, they make me feel like a rock star. I have taken hundreds of classes and there is something special happening here. It's something about the people... there's just some combination... they give me what I need," Cooper says with sincerity. "I think the coolest thing is when I put on a song and the whole place screams. I just got the chills saying that. But when that happens, I know it is speaking to them."

Likewise, say students: the feeling is mutual. "When I think of zumba and Amy, I think of motivation, positive energy, empowerment, getting out of your comfort zone, pushing yourself to another level, fun and familiar faces... I always tell my friends that they should come because it's like a big party," says Véronique Gauthier Berthiaume.

Cooper doesn't let the interview go by without mentioning a scrapbook containing pictures and cards with personal messages from her students. The messages are for Amy, telling her what zumba classes have meant to them.

As she describes it, tears come to her eyes.

"The stories. You sit and you read these words and you connect and you feel what they are feeling. It's the other layer of connection," she says.

Yes, maybe the conditions are just right to create connections in a world where keeping one's distance has become the norm.

Still not satisfied, I asked local psychologist Brenda Bettridge if she can explain what might be happening at these classes.

She surmised first that it is many of the same women who come to the class. And then she ventured that the teacher is enthusiastic, humorous, creative, and sometimes even silly.

Yes, that could be it. But there's more.

Bettridge continues: "My first guess is that the class atmosphere is forgiving and promotes trust - both in your physicality and creativity and in others' lack of judgment of you which, specifically in a smaller community such as ours, is critical to letting go. Perhaps in part what you are experiencing is the sense of freedom to be creative and uninhibited in the best sense of the word and to do so physically - expressing that with your body and in a setting with other women.

"Given the way that our culture promotes a high degree of competition between women on all levels, that's very powerful stuff. I would guess that zumba, like much dance, allows us to relinquish the productive and competitive demands we make upon ourselves and upon those around us, while also increasing endorphins resulting from the laughter, the music, and the sensual movements."

So it's simple, really, in all its complexity. The best parts of life rolled into one energetic hour, when your heart beats fast, your body feels powerful and alive, there are safe people all around and an enthusiastic leader in whom to place your trust along the way.

It's a place where it's safe to let go and in so doing, your grip on life becomes a sure, solid thing.

Yes, that would be it.