|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
'Siempre Vivire':
Salsa a popular step to surviving and surviving well: "Siempre Vivire" ("Always Surviving") is the title of an album by the late Celia Cruz, who reigned as the Queen of Salsa from the 1950s until 2000.She was Cuban. She could sing. She could dance.
Most importantly, she was an icon, remembered for using her music to bring the spirit of survival to the great but often treacherous stage of life, as well as to the dance floor.
Her music and the music of other Latin American and Hispanic artists has had others vying for space on the dance floor for decades. Now it can be heard in exercise classes, classes dedicated to helping people survive the quest for good health.
This makes it easy to understand why the salsa exercise classes at Leesburg Fitness are among the most popular on the facility's agenda.
Throw in a personal trainer who will, for free, help the exercisers fit the steps to their needs, add free day care, and it's a definite win-win-win situation for all involved.
Bente Gendron, the general manager at Fitness First of Leesburg, said Celia Cruz's music provides much of the backdrop for the salsa exercise classes led by Irene Saucedo, 33.
"It's important for people to know this is available, because with New Year's resolutions, it's so easy for people to fall off the wagon," Gendron said.
"People start out with best intentions, but then they don't come, and if they don't come they feel guilty, and then they don't come, and it's a vicious circle. So we place the emphasis on fun. We make the workouts fun."
DDE_LINK1The Jan. 9 class was a perfect example. The music never stopped. The bass thumped up through one's shoes in a quick and continuous beat. Although the perspiration poured down faces and arms, the moves were equally quick and continuous.
At times there was a line dance but it was a line dance with a very definite Latin accent. There were moves that skipped backward and forward with a spicy exuberance, and there were moves that were sensuous and sultry. Some could best be described as disciplined frenzy.
It did not matter whether or not one could understand the Spanish -- the innate fluidity of the language, coupled with the throbbing bass and the reverberating guitars were understood by everyone in the room.
As Gendron said, it was fun. DDE_LINK1
"You set up an appointment with a trainer and then talk to them about your own fitness goals," Gendron said. "How many times a week do you want to come in? One day a week, you might do a cardio workout, one day a week salsa. But that's all up to the person."
In addition to salsa, Gendron said there are also zumba classes, a genre that is a mix of merengue, salsa and cumbia. A complete fitness center, it does ask a $33-a-month membership fee.
"We have the classes all the time," Gendron said. "Every week there are three salsa classes. It is one of the most popular, especially the Monday night class. There's a little bit of a trend. People have a conscience attack after weekend."
There are those with Latin roots, Gendron continued, who can really do the dance with flair. There are some who just enjoy dancing. The women, she said, represent a very diverse group, all ages and several ethnic backgrounds.
"There's a couple of guys, but they tend to be Hispanics," Gendron said. DDE_LINK"We could certainly use more diversity with the guys." DDE_LINK
The best part of all, Gendron emphasizes, is that everyone will be able to dance the dance.
"The thing that's so cool is you can tailor it to to your own fitness level," she said. "If you're really in shape, you make bigger movements, but if not so much in shape you make little, smaller, movements. The instructor puts together a CD of the music they like and develop a choreography. ... They vary the speed of the songs that they play."
The number of people in each of the hour-long classes is between 30 and 40, she said.
Saucedo said she started working as an instructor last year. However, she learned salsa dancing from her mother, Louisa Saucedo, when she was about 5 years old and living in Mexico.
When she decided she would do more than just dance for pleasure, that she would instruct others, she stepped up the pace of her own dancing.
"I practiced and practiced and watched movies and television," Saucedo said. "I practiced for weeks for three to four hours a day."
Saucedo indicated the hard work has brought its own rewards.
"A lot of people like this class," Saucedo said. "This is why I have this class. It's great. It's always full. It's dancing."
One of Saucedo's students is Miriam Guerrero. Guerrero lives in Leesburg but hails from Spain. She also talked about the diversity of people who take the class with her.
"There is great disparity among the people," Guerrero said. "There is a wide spectrum of differences, different ages, different genders. Some are mothers with children. Some are teachers. Some of the teachers have come here and recognized their students."
What they are all sharing, regardless of background, is salsa. Salsa is a mix of dance styles from the Caribbean, with emphasis on Cuba and Puerto Rico. There are also Latin and North American influences as well as African.
"Salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce.
Several Web sites describe it as a slot or spot dance, taking place in a fixed area of the dance floor. Its steps are called "shines."
But at Fitness First of Leesburg, it's all about the fun.
"I think we're the best kept secret in town," Gendron said. "Because with the staff here, the focus is on fun. It's a nice place to be, both for the members and the people who work here."
Contact the writer at ecarlton@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.