Uconn Dance Sport

You may have done it years ago or heard your mother or aunt talk about it. Jazzercise was the fitness craze founded in 1969 by Judi Sheppard Missett when she was attending classes at Northwestern University in Chicago and also teaching dance classes at a local jazz studio. Realizing that the dance movements could benefit non-dancers in their fitness goals, Missett reworked her class to attain a newly defined mission: to develop and market fun and effective fitness programs and products that enhance the well-being of people of all ages. Jazzercise classes have several formats with the classic session consisting of dance movements set around aerobic exercise and strength training. Other formats include (more…)

For many of us, going to the gym is a chore. Not only is it awkward to sweat next to a complete stranger, but the monotony of the treadmill machine is boring. If you want to lose weight, but avoid the gym in the process, Zumba fitness is the ideal course for you. The Zumba class uses fast pace Latin dancing to help you move from out of shape to completely fit. Better yet, you can choose from attending a class or purchasing a DVD for your home.Originating in Colombia, the program started as an accident. Beto Perez was an aerobics teacher who came to his class unprepared. Improvising, Perez pulled the Latin songs from his bag and, since the music wasn’t aerobics inspired, the trainer created a brand new approach to working out; Zumba fitness. After the accidental course, Perez headed over to America, and the program became an even bigger success. (more…)