Why Zumba classes are still drawing a crowd in Goonellabah

DANCE fitness classes that once swept through gyms and community halls across Australia are still getting people moving, with Zumba continuing to attract people through its mix of music, movement and social connection.

At Goonellabah Sports & Aquatic Centre (GSAC), instructor Sasha Fox runs one of two weekly sessions, where participants dance to Latin and international rhythms while building friendships and leaving class energised.

“Zumba is essentially an exercise class, but you don’t realise that you’re doing aerobics or working out,” Fox said.

“The time goes so fast because you’re literally just dancing and just having fun.”

Zumba combines Latin and international rhythms with choreographed routines and a dance based approach to fitness, which Fox said helps transform exercise from something often seen as a chore into an enjoyable experience.

Fox said the classes go beyond fitness by providing a strong sense of social connection.

The dance fitness program first emerged in Colombia in the 1990s before becoming a fixture in gyms and community halls across Australia during the 2000s.

While workout trends have come and gone over the years, Zumba has continued attracting people through its combination of music, movement and social connection.

“Everyone’s so friendly and we just laugh and have fun doing it and sweating at the same time,” she said.

“One of the songs we’re doing at the moment is a Meghan Trainor song, and it says, ‘I don’t sweat, I shimmer’.”

For Fox, that kind of shift in perception inspired her to become an instructor after previously performing and teaching belly dance.

“I’m actually a belly dance teacher and performer and I started doing Zumba, and I wanted more than one class a week so I went all right, I’ll become an instructor so I can have more,” she said.

“I first started around about the time of the 2022 floods, and the classes were quite small.

“I think it’s grown from obviously the fun side, but also the social side, people knowing that they go there, and they see the same people and they’re there to have fun with them.”

Fox said a themed “party Zumba” is held on the last Friday of each month.

“Once a month we have a party Zumba and we tend to theme it,” she said.

Themes have included everything from 1920s glamour to cowgirl nights and glitter filled routines.

“Every month we all decide on the theme, I’m like, all right, I’ve got three or four weeks to come up with some new choreography to match,” she said.

“We’ve had a 1920s one…the last one was all that about glitters… we’ve had a cowgirl theme.”

Fox said she brings a little “sass” to her sessions.

“Me personally, because I think I have that belly dance performer and teacher background, I bring a slightly more sassy edge to it and have fun with it,” she said.

“I have fun with my class.”

She added that the Latin influence in the program helps create a positive energy.

“Anyone can just do steps…but you want that attitude, that fire in your approach to the moves, and your attitude towards the audience, and you want to feel that Latin rhythm in your body,” she said.

She said that spirit extends to how participants feel leaving class.

“You’ll know you’ve done a workout, but you’ll be on a fun high from it,” she said, describing the feeling after a Zumba routine.

“I think everyone knows at the gym when the Zumba girls are leaving, because we’re all red-faced, but we’re also all laughing loudly… as we leave.”