Dance It Off!

Regain Tone and Shape with Musical Movements

By C.J. Johnson

I know a powerful secret for losing weight quickly: dancing.

I gained more than 60 pounds during my second pregnancy. All my friends told me it would take over a year to get back into my size 6 wardrobe, but I was determined to prove them wrong. Each day when the baby was napping I would draw the shades in the basement and put on the B-52's Greatest Hits and dance for 45 minutes straight. It was enough to leave me sweaty and exhausted.

Four months later I was back to my original weight and more toned than before the pregnancy. I am proof that dancing can bring about miracles. But my secret has been discovered. Unique dance classes are springing up all across the country. These classes offer aerobic, cardio and toning opportunities for every participant.

Gloria Araya-Quinlan is a host instructor on ESPN 2's Crunch Fitness show. She also travels around the country teaching women to add playfulness and energy to their workouts through various Latin dance routines. "One of the major objectives of my Latin classes is to bring an element of fun and total expression," she says. "The intention of this class is to help increase body awareness through movement, to improve body image by utilizing actions that are sensual and suitable to the different body shapes women have."

The movements are based on different Latin dances such as mambo, cha-cha, samba and flamenco combined with jazz. In this class, the step patterns are simple and are built around the contagious Latin house and Latin pop music, which is upbeat and energetic. The combination creates variety and keeps participants engaged. The pace of the class is continuous to maintain a cardiovascular rhythm.

"There is no right or wrong and no place to be self-conscious either, because we are all women who share similar needs," Araya-Quinlan says. "To feel our present body and to get to know it, that's the idea. That's why we scream, and we shake it!" Araya-Quinlan claims her unique approach is the ticket for stress relief for women all around the world.

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