To integrate fun and fitness into your workout, Latin inspired zumba will be offered as a club at Sinclair.
Zumba is a “dance fitness party” that incorporates Latin dances and rhythms into one exercise and fitness program, said Nilofar Gagan, certified zumba instructor and student worker in the Student Leadership Association (SLA) office.
“Dance is a place where everyone can join together as a group,” she said.
The club is still in the process of forming, Gagan said. So far 20 people have expressed an interest in the club. The first meeting Gagan hopes will be during Spring Quarter. The club will have one meeting every two weeks.
“Everybody is invited,” she said.
She said that she is hoping that the club will encourage healthy interaction between faculty, staff and students.
She also said that she is hoping the club will benefit participants for two reasons:
“The first reason is you need exercise,” she said. “The second reason is just to have fun.”
Exercise is the main benefit of zumba, but it also provides good blood flow and depending on their body weights, participants can lose 300 to 1,000 calories.
For the club, she is working on incorporating more Bollywood-style dances. Bollywood integrates a mixture of Indian folk dances with hip-hop moves.
“You know Hollywood, but you don’t know Bollywood,” Gagan said. “It’s all about the belly.”
Gagan is ready to start the club with the sole purpose of allowing participants to communicate with one another and feel exhilarated from the exercise.
“Get fit and at the same time meet new people,” she said.
The idea for the club came to Gagan during a zumba sponsored event that was held by SLA. She said she had already applied for her license and was thinking about where she could hold zumba events.
And then the thought occurred to her to hold the events on campus.
Patricia Broderick, a Sinclair student and Gagan’s coworker in the SLA office, heard about the club and is now interested.
Broderick began doing zumba at first by watching zumba on television and then she eventually took a class for it.
In order to accommodate student’s schedules, Gagan is planning on having the club meet between 4 and 6 p.m. starting next quarter.
“[Although the Physical Education Department] offers zumba right here on campus, it’s expensive,” Gagan said. “I think it is too high for students.”
Through the club, Gagan said she will be spreading the word about her own studio. And she is currently searching for a building.
During the SLA-sponsored Multicultural Health Fair on April 11, Gagan will be performing zumba moves. The event, which will also be a club day will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the basement of Building 8.
Anyone interested in joining the club can contact Gagan by email at nilofar.gagan@my.sinclair.edu.
- Fri. Jul 19th, 2024