Latin dances flavor fitness routine

MaGgie Lillis/ViewMiché Wilk, right background, leads a Zumba workout at Fairytales & Tutus, 7071 W. Craig Road. The fitness program features a compilation of merengue, salsa, mambo, flamenco, calypso and other dance styles. Advertisement

Miché Wilk's customers are melting away.

Each time they join her on the floor for an hour of Zumba, a fitness craze that incorporates an array of upbeat dance styles, she said a little of them disappears.

And that's her goal.

Wilk is head coordinator for Zumba Las Vegas, a business she owns and operates at two northwest fitness studios. She worked for years as a professional dancer and singer but retired when she gave birth five years ago.

"I had a child at 36 and got out of shape," she said. "I was shocked."

She said she quickly grew tired of Mommy and Me classes and started seeking a better fitness routine.

Enter Zumba fitness.

"I found it and fell in love with it," she said.

Zumba was founded in the mid-1990s by Alberto "Beto" Perez, a Colombian aerobics instructor. Wilk said he stumbled upon the style when he forgot his original workout music and had to use whatever he had in his backpack.

The haphazard discovery has led to a worldwide fitness craze. Zumba is now taught in 75 countries, Wilk said.

"The thing about Zumba, (is that) men and women love that they're losing 500 to 1,000 calories for an hour and don't even notice because they're having fun," she said.

The style is a compilation of merengue, salsa, reggaeton, hip-hop, mambo, flamenco, calypso and some belly dancing. But Wilk says it's always changing as instructors, including herself, keep adding to it.

Wilk's classes are scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at Anytime Fitness, 6408 N. Durango Drive, and after 6 p.m. Monday through Friday at Fairytales and Tutus, 7071 W. Craig Road. Wilk encourages customers to check the Zumba Las Vegas website for exact class times at the Fairytales and Tutus location.

Wilk said the popularity of Zumba surprised even her. Her classes are at capacity, and she's fielding a wait list of interested students.

"I never want it to feel like a gym," she said. "I want them to be comfortable and not squeezing up against the wall. I feel really great about it because I help people who don't feel comfortable in the gym."

Joy Alvarado followed a friend to a Zumba class in October and kept coming after the friend flaked, she said with a laugh.

She now follows Wilk to the two fitness studios to do Zumba four times a week. She has left 12 pounds behind.

Now she tries to get other friends and coworkers to try it.

"I tell them try it. It's only one hour," she said. "It's about what you want to get out of it."

Northwest resident Vida Phillips heard about Zumba at about the same time as Alvarado. She returns to the floor twice a week and hopes to one day stand at the front of the class as a certified instructor.

"It works because it's fun," she said. "It draws me back."

For more information about Zumba Las Vegas, visit zumbalasvegas.com or call 376-1795.

Contact Centennial and Southeast View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.