Zumba Program Taking Stylish Steps to Help Kids

People take to Zumba for a variety of reasons, such as losing weight, getting a workout, or even attempting to cure a terminal lack of rhythm.

But for the past couple of weeks, a group of people has been gathering for Zumba Wednesday nights at to not only gain something for themselves, but also to help raise money for local youth.

The program is called Zumba for Scholarships and is meant to raise enough money to help kids take part in youth athletic programs. Silver Lake Medical Center has paid for the classes, so any money raised goes straight to the program. The cost is $40 for 10 weeks of classes.

“Budget cuts meant that fees for youth athletics went up,” said Lisa Baca-Sigala, CIO of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council and one of the program’s architects. “We thought this would be a creative way to generate revenue.”

Zumba is a music-fueled, dance-oriented fitness program that’s mostly in tune with Latin and South American influences. Many of the nearly dozen people who’ve been gathering on the center’s basketball court were taking their maiden voyage into the up-tempo style, so the classes are designed for prime beginners.

It shows on the floor, with some people (including a Patch reporter), errantly turning the wrong way, flubbing a step or two or staring at the feet of instructor Cindy Ruiz in an attempt to eventually get some of the steps down.

But something else is being shown on the floor as well: teeth. Several of the participants are smiling before, during and after each song, like 34-year-old Michelle Borok of Lincoln Heights.

“It’s super fun, I can’t stop smiling,” she said. “It’s more of a nervous smile. I’m so self-conscious about messing up, but [Cindy] doesn’t put any pressure on you. I’ve never done Zumba before, I’d only seen, like, infomercials. But for the cost, it’s fun, and the money is going to a good cause.”

Zumba also has a special place in the heart of Ruiz, a Glendora resident. Always a lover of dance and movement, Ruiz used Zumba to help her drop about 40 pounds she gained following the death of her father years ago. The Wednesday group represents the first class she has all to herself.

“The best thing about teaching them is … I was them,” she said. “And to be able to offer them something like this, it’s an accomplishment.”