You should be dancing!

There is music softly emanating from community halls and centres all across our city.

Funky music. Slow music. Music that makes you move. Music that makes you sing.

Music that makes you sweat.

You might hear it coming from Papamoa Sports & Recreation Centre, from Welcome Bay Hall, Bethlehem Hall, or Elizabeth Street Community & Arts Centre in the CBD.

Curious? Pop your head inside and you will see Tina Neville leading her dance crew – a diverse community of all ages, from people in their 20s all the way up to people in their 80s and 90s.

“Most people come along thinking they need a bit of fitness and to lose weight,” Tina says.

“But they stay because of how the music makes them feel. How the moves make them feel. It's not only great for confidence and coordination, agility and balance and all that kind of stuff, it's just a real feel good workout. So it makes people happy. And it makes people smile. And we don't take ourselves at all seriously. We have a lot of fun.”

Tina has been running Zumba classes at Bay Venues facilities for more than 10 years now and has seen a tight-knit community grow.

“It’s filled with dancing, music, community connection, cultural experiences, and diversity of people.”

The music itself will take you around the world, and back in time.

Tina’s Zumba Gold classes for active retirees and beginners (45 minutes low impact) might warm up to a bit of disco music, followed by Better When I’m Dancin’ by American pop star Meghan Trainor. This is a class favourite.

Don't think about it

Just move your body

Listen to the music

Sing, oh, ey, oh

Just move those left feet

Go ahead get crazy

Anyone can do it

Sing, oh, ey, oh

After that, the class could move on to reggae, then Greek dancing, then Scottish dancing, salsa, the cha-cha, Michael Bublé, the tango, and then they might cool down to a soundtrack singalong from last year’s Elvis movie.

Other sessions might feature Bollywood music, or cumbia, or Latin hip-hop.

There will be a mix of rhythms and styles and an interval training type playlist that will have the dancers moving slow, medium, fast, slow, medium, fast.

The one-hour Zumba fitness classes are a bit faster and louder, like a dance party without the uncomfortable shoes.

There are also Zumba Toning classes that use light hand weights, for extra strengthening work while shaking and shimmying.

“We dress colourfully, it's just all about being fun,” Tina says.

“And there's no mirrors, so people aren't self conscious about how they look. And if there's no mirrors, people just don't care.”

She tells her classes, “Look, in my head, when I'm dancing, I'm totally J.Lo. The reality is very different from that, but in my head, that's who I think I am.”

That sentiment soon catches on and the positive energy is infectious.

Tina has been told by participants that they find themselves dancing around the supermarket after attending her classes.

She says Zumba can be a great way for people to rediscover their love of music or dance, and at the same time reconnect and make new friends.

“Especially some of my older people who used to love to dance. They've lost partners and husbands, so they're on their own, a lot of them. This is their community, it becomes their social contact and their fun.

“One of the lovely compliments I got from somebody once was, ‘You've brought music back into my life.’ She said, ‘Before I came to this class, I'd kind of forgotten to listen to music at home. Now I've got music on all the time. It's made such a difference.’”

That kind of result keeps Tina going, rushing from class to class all over the city.

And those classes keep our community halls and centres full of dancing, singing, smiling people.

For more information, visit: https://www.zumba.com/en-US/profile/katrina-neville/49019