Hips don't lie Zumba, the sensual Colombian dance form, is an intense test of fitness and endurance Priyanka Sharma / New Delhi Dec 01, 2012, 00:54 IST

Shake your hips to the music! yells a young, lean instructor in a formidable tone. At his command, the 10-odd women, gathered in an inconspicuous basement, jump, shake their hips and bellies, twirl on their toes and even sway to Puerto Rican sensation Ricky Martins flirtatious Shake your Bon-Bon. It is 8.30 in the morning and Im at the Delhi Dance Academy in Amar Colony, south Delhi, for my first Zumba workout.

The instructor Suren (its his adopted Zumba name, I am told) appreciates my efforts as I struggle to keep up with the energetic women and adds, You need an inexhaustible amount of energy to last an hour. Hes right, it seems. Though I have tried and tested various forms of workout such as aerobics, power yoga and salsa in the last few years and hit the gym at least four times a week, a 60-minute session of Zumba, I must confess, leaves me panting and exhausted.

The class begins with warm-up exercise with easy-to-grasp steps such as fast marching, hamstring curls, grapevines, the classic V step (moving back and forth in the shape of the alphabet) all common to elementary aerobics. The difference here is the essential movement of the hips and waist with every step, making even the warm-up surprisingly exhausting.

Suren insists we shake our hips and waist with great zeal. Its Zumba after all, he stresses repeatedly. And so, while Shakira sings Hips dont lie on the audio system, we try to emulate her admirable belly-dancing skills. The song seems to be a favourite with the ladies, all between 20 and 40 years, who, on Shakiras cue, turn up the energy, clap with the beat and sway with the lifting tunes. There is no inhibition in the cheerful orange room; the women perform the sensual steps with great lan.

The music shifts from fast Latin American beats to Punjabi hip hop. Even Punjabi rapper Honey Singhs Angreji beat makes an appearance. Suren spices up the routine with the sensual cha cha cha, the Cuban dance form popularised by the late Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing (1987). As I struggle to shuffle my feet to the fast tempo, Suren stresses on the importance of shifting my weight from one leg to the other. If done with energy, he adds, it can do wonders for the calf muscles and the quadriceps (muscles in the thigh). The most intense elements of the workout are the squats and the lunges, performed to the fast beats of La Cumbia by Cuba Club.

Suren does not allow us more than 30 seconds of breaks between the different songs. Instead, he varies the intensity of the workout by reducing the tempo of the music we now groove to Tono Rosarios Dont worry, be happy and switch to mambos, twirls and arm movements. But as soon as he sees our energy levels dropping, he switches to the explosive Jugni track and urges us all to jump like never before. An animalistic energy takes over the room and we fling our arms into the air and shimmy (the body is held still while the shoulders are alternated back and forth) our way into the last five minutes of the workout. If done with a consistent level of energy, 60 minutes of Zumba can make you lose over 1,000 calories.

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The story of Zumba dates back to the mid 90s when Colombian fitness instructor Alberto Beto Perez was on his way to conduct an aerobics class and forgot the music behind. And so, at the class, Perez improvised using his own mix of music from tapes he had in his backpack, comprising saucy salsa and merengue music that he grew up listening to. Instead of keeping count of the repetition of steps, the enthusiastic class danced along with him. Years later, in 2001, Perez brought his new dance-fitness style to Miami and set up Zumba Fitness. He even trademarked the word Zumba. The Zumba Fitness-Party launched by the company has found many takers in celebrities such as Madonna and Jennifer Lopez.

The brand also sells Zumbawear apparel and accessories, music CDs and even videogames.

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Hips don't lie