THE ZUMBETTES NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012 zumbettes.weebly

1. THE ZUMBETTES NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012 www.zumbettes.weebly.com Welcome to February’s edition of The Zumbettes and to any new Zumbettes that have joined us. A special welcome back to Stef after her extended Xmas break, your Zumbettes have missed you. I hope you are all enjoying your new Zumba routines. For those of you who have internet access please take a look at our website as Cheryl adds to regularly. Its fantastic!!! Congratulations A huge well done to Lesley from Elim Church Class as she qualified as a Zumba instructor in Jan. Lesley’s Story I started Zumba in Hebden Bridge in January 2011. I had been making a new years resolution for the previous three years 'to this year find a dance class' as dancing has always been a passion of mine since taking ballet and tap classes from the age of four for about ten years. The friend that introduced me to Zumba soon gave up but I went the other way and became hooked! I was delighted when Sowerby Bridge Leisure Centre started classes last February and that's when I met Amanda. I love her classes (and still do) above any others I take or have taken, because of her passion, enthusiasm and just for making it so much fun. If it wasn't for Amanda I would never have even considered training as a Zumba instructor. I didn't even know it was possible without some formal dance or exercise qualification. It was after the Christmas party at the Venue when Amanda spoke to me again about training that I went home and thought, what have I got to lose, so on the 6th January this year I did the Basic Zumba Instructors course in Sheffield. It was a great day, starting at 8:00am and finishing at 5:30pm. Our trainer was a lovely women called Sandra Bayliss, from Brazil but married to a Brit, and she has lived here for about five years. She told us a funny story about when she first arrived in the UK and she went along to her local leisure centre and asked if they 'had Zumba' the reply was 'sorry love we only have Lucozade!‘ I was very nervous about the day and hardly slept a wink the night before - but I needn't have worried, yes there were some trained dance teachers there, but they were in the minority, and there were even one or two that were older then me! One guy was 57 (albeit a trained fitness instructor) who had never done Zumba before. Anyway, my plans to take this forward are to start a class in Mytholmroyd in a few weeks time. I am going to take holiday from work (over half-term) so that I can get a class together. I will probably do it for free initially - then that way I take the pressure of myself to 'get it right'. I also have supportive friends who are prepared to be my Guinea Pigs. Long-term I intend to do the Zumba Gold training and see this as something I can do when I retire.  I love my job, I am a University lecturer in Biology, but I see this as an exciting new venture and I am so grateful to Amanda for her support and encouragement. I just hope the old adage - 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' isn't true!! Only time will tell.......

2. Success Story ‘Fat at 50’………….Not me! Well done to Wendy from Elim Church Class. Wendy has lost an amazing 21lbs since 10th October by following the slimming world diet and having lots of exercise including Zumba. We are all very proud of her at Elim. Wendy’s Story I’m Wendy and fast approaching that milestone of being 50! I have four children (2 girls and 2 boys) and two lovely grandchildren. You may have seen Melanie my youngest daughter in class with me. I have been going to the gym regularly for nearly four years now. I started off at Gymaphobics then changed and went to Sowerby Bridge gym. I was getting fed up as even with all this exercise I was doing, I still wasn’t losing weight. I didn’t want to be fat and 50 so I took the plunge and joined slimming world in October. The diet is really easy to follow and I am enjoying doing it and don’t feel hungry. I still have half a stone to lose until I reach my target weight and I plan on doing that in the next three weeks. I am going on holiday in August with my best friend and I want to be a babe on the beach ;o) My first introduction to Zumba was about 3 years ago when I saw it advertised on a shopping channel and thought that looks fun. I sent off for it but only did it once as it really need to be done on laminate flooring not carpet. I heard Zumba had come to Sowerby Bridge gym and came along. After my first class I was hooked! Amanda says, ‘I’m one of her stalkers’…………… I wish I was I’d be doing it everyday! I love the class at Elim, I have met lots of lovely new people it’s like having another family Wendy and her stunning daughter Melanie at our Halloween Zumba Party

3. Getting to know you……….. Is a new feature where each month we will be getting to know two of our Zumbettes even better. This month we will be introducing…. Mary from Elim Church class and Cheryl from DW Sports Is Mary our oldest Zumbette? At a sprightly 68 years old Mary would never have thought she’d be dancing at this age and loving it so much. Mary would have loved to have danced when she was younger but back then dance classes didn’t exist like they do today. Mary’s story is very personal and we are very privileged she has shared this with us, I recommended getting a tissue before you start reading. Hi I’m Mary, 19 months ago my life was perfect in everyway, 4 grown up sons and one super very ‘hard working’ daughter and a loving husband of 49 years (50 years in May our Golden Wedding Anniversary) ……................Life was perfect! Then it all changed, Craig one of my sons started to feel ill, which he never was. After lots of tests he was diagnosed with pancreas cancer. The doctor said not to worry as an operation would get it all. How wrong he was, after 7 months of loving and nursing my son, sadly he died at the age of 49. My world was shattered! I was constantly crying wondering if I ever would or could even stop the tears, my family were really worried about me and asking me to go to the doctor for help. I saw the new gym down Sowerby Bridge had opened and I went in to try yoga it was Ok but didn’t do anything for me, I saw Zumba advertised and thought what is it? So what did I do…………… I tried it. I walked into Amanda’s class and it blew me away, I was smiling and singing, I felt guilty for been happy. Me singing and dancing after losing our son didn’t feel right. Doing Zumba has saved me and has brought a little bit of me back. Zumba is not about keeping fit for me, it is so much more, it’s about all the new friends I have made and for being happy again. Thank you Amanda, you will never know how much you have helped me, I’m back to being a mum again, a wife and I hope a good friend to many. I think Craig would be proud of me. Mary from all the Zumbettes Craig would be very proud of you xxxxxxx Mary & Katie sat on Craig’s bench

4. Cheryl Hi, I'm Cheryl and I'm a teacher at Carr Green Primary School in Brighouse. I teach 30 very energetic 5 and 6 year olds who certainly like to keep me on my toes, but who constantly inspire me to want to learn more too! I love to try new things, and every year I try to take on a new challenge ... some more successfully than others!! From abseiling to white water rafting, surfing to sky diving ...the bigger the challenge the better!!  I took up scuba diving a few years ago thinking that would be a little less adrenaline fuelled … until a close encounter with a hammerhead shark convinced me otherwise!! My Zumba story began just over a year ago. A close friend of mine had been diagnosed with breast cancer and, feeling helpless but desperately wanting to do something to show our love and support, myself and a group of friends signed up for the Edinburgh Moonwalk to raise money for breast cancer research. Having registered for the half marathon, I realised that some serious training was now in order ... and I hadn't been to a gym for a very, very long time!  Cheryl on her Moonwalk It was as I was booking my induction at the gym that I spotted the word Zumba, the latest dance fitness craze I had heard so much about. Well, with 2 left feet and all the coordination of a giraffe on roller skates there was no way I would ever normally have contemplated booking onto any type ofdance class!! But when I realised there was a class due to run on the same day as my induction I figured I should give it a try .... and I am SO glad I did!!!! Five months later, I was doing the Beto shuffle down the streets of Edinburgh in my bra at midnight and raised over £150 for breast cancer! And twelve months on, my wonderful friend has won her battle and continues to be an inspiration to us all!! But Zumba has not only been a way to improve my health and fitness in the run up to the Moonwalk ... it has been so, so much more! I could never have predicted the impact that walking in on that first class would have on the next 12 months of my life! Amanda and Stef's boundless energy and enthusiasm is just so infectious and, no matter what sort of day I've had, I just love leaving it all outside the gym and "sweating, smiling and having fun"!! But so much more than that, I have met some amazing new friends and I can’t believe how much fun we all have together!! I've loved putting the website together so we can all share in the wonderful memories we have from last year ... and I look forward to seeing what the next 12 months will bring!!!

5. Thank you……….. To Sue & Grandma Joyce for doing a fantastic job every week getting us all checked into Elim Church class. From 7th February there will be a new booking in system. If you want to attend class please text Amanda on the day of the class and at some point during the day she will text you back confirming your place. Special thanks to Phil for clearing the hall away every week so we can do our Zumba, and for being the best boss and dog sitter ever according to Amanda! Amanda and Stef would like to thank Deb & Cheryl for the amazing work they do to keeping our Zumbettes informed via the web and the newsletter, we love you guys Sue & Grandma Joyce Always smiling away checking us in to class ZumbaGran ZumbaPhil Cheryl our fabulous web designer Deb the newsletter producer

6. ZUMPETTES Here is bob Dylan proudly sporting his Zumba band. Zumpettes is the latest addition to the website. Send your pets pictures to Cheryl Zumba Stalkers Julie and Elaine were Amanda’s 1st ever Zumba stalkers. They did Amanda’s first ever Zumba class at Ryburn School then stalked her to workout warehouse then to Elim Church……………..true dedication! Other new photo additions to the Zumbettes website are: Zumba Husbands – Zumba changed my wife Strike a Pose – Strike your favourite Zumba pose in random places

7. JUST FOR FUN…… Guess the Zumbette This Zumbette is a Elim Class member She is 42 years old soon to be 43! She is married She has two sons who will be 22 & 19 this year She is 5ft 1.5” (you haven’t to forget the important ½”) She lives in Sowerby Bridge She loves music and the last concert she went to was Take That Her favourite colours are blue, white and green Her favourite food is curry closely followed by a Sunday Roast Her hobbies are Zumba, Body Conditioning classes, Reading, Photography, Camping, looking after her niece and nephew and every now and again a night out on the tiles! This Zumbette is the first nurse on the left and can be seen dancing on the odd occasion in the entrance to Elim class

8. Events Tuesday 7th February 8:00 – 9:30 Post Zumbathon Celebration Evening As a thank you from Amanda to everybody for all there help with the Zumbathon there will be celebration evening after class. There will be coffee, hot chocolate, juice and buns made by Grandma Joyce for everyone to enjoy. Everyone is welcome to attend even if you are not doing class first just pop along later. Please text Amanda if you are coming so Grandma Joyce bakes enough buns Tuesday 14th February Valentine Special Class at Elim Church This special class can be shared with your partner, best friend, family member or someone you want to share the Zumba love with. Special price £5 for couples Single ladies or men £3 Hopefully, Stef will be popping down to do a few tracks with Amanda. Saturday 18th February Zumbettes Valentines Night Out Join us for a fabulous Valentines night at Red Hot World Buffet  (The Light, Leeds) and some serious fun as the Zumbettes hit the town!! ZES Exhilarate Weekender June 15th - 18th Ribby Hotel & SPA 3 Day fully inclusive weekend pass £99 2 Day pass for Sat & Sunday £55 Both options include the spa facilities at Ribby Hall Accommodation is an additional £80 for 3 nights See Amanda, Cheryl, Lesley or Stef for more details Hi-De-Hi at Halifax Playhouse One of our very own Zumbettes, Abi, is starring in Hi-De-Hi at the Playhouse, Halifax  between Tuesday 13th and Saturday 17th March.  We're going to try and organise tickets .... more details coming soon.

9. Class times Elim Church, Sowerby Bridge Zin Instructor – Amanda Class - £4 Tuesday & Thursday 7pm – 8pm To book please text Amanda on the day – 07527575102 A huge thank you to everyone at Elim for using the new booking system. Sorry if it’s a bit of a pain but it does make things a lot easier with my school and British Heart Foundation work as we now have the loyalty cards its one less thing for Sue and Grandma Joyce to do on a night. Thanks xx Remember to fetch your loyalty card, once its full you get a free class Fitness First Halifax Zin Instructor – Stef Class - £5 Monday 6pm - 7pm Thursday 11am - 11.45 Bailiff Bridge Community Centre, Brighouse Zin Instructor – Stef Class £4.50 (Loyalty Card 10th visit Free) Wednesday 8pm – 9pm DW Sports Halifax – MEMBERS ONLY Monday 9:00 – 9:30am – Stef Monday 7:00 – 7:45pm – Amanda Tuesday 7:45 – 8:30pm - Stef Wednesday 9:30 - 10:30am – Stef Friday 6:00 – 7:00pm – Amanda Aqua Zumba with Amanda Friday 7:15 – 8:00pm The Dance Studio Inspire Centre, Calderdale College Zin Instructor – Stef Class - £4 Wednesday 6.15 -7.15pm FUTURE CLASS Carr Green Primary School, Rastrick - STARTING TUES 13TH MARCH Zin Instructor Stef Class - £4.00 Tuesday 6.15pm - 7.15pm PLEASE NOTE There will be no class at Elim Church on Thursday 23rd Feb. Classes at DW have been covered from Thurs 23rd – Sun 26th Amanda and Stef are off to the Zumba convention in London where not only will they be attending Beto’s master class (god help him) they will be training as well. Stef will do doing the Zumba Toning course and Amanda will be doing Zumbatomics.