FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Yoga classes. Circuit training. And now Zumba, the fitness phenomenon that's taking over where step aerobics left off, is the latest group exercise trend being embraced by seniors who want to shape up.

The elder-friendly version, Zumba Gold, has popped up at senior centers, gyms and retirement communities. It keeps original Zumba's Latin party vibe, giving participants a workout while dancing to salsa and merengue beats. But Gold classes scale back on the high-impact and tricky moves.

"Once something gets popular, a lot of people want to do it," said Dr. Orly Avitzur, a neurologist and medical adviser for Consumer Reports. "We drag our friends, our sisters and our mothers along with us."

Avitzur has seen two generations of the same family Zumba-ing together.

At the Northwest Focal Point Senior Center in Margate, Fla., tables and chairs were pushed aside on a Tuesday morning and 17 women gathered in the center of the lunchroom. Loretta Bartley, 93, stood behind her walker. Everyone had on tennis shoes (except a woman in ballet flats); another wore a fuzzy lavender, short-sleeved sweater.

Within 10 minutes, they were shaking, side-stepping and smiling as Latina superstar singer Shakira purred in Spanish through the CD player: "You know I want ya! You got a lot of the sex appeal." Pop standard "Hit the Road Jack" followed later and everyone sang along.

"It keeps me active and keeps my brain moving, too," said Pat Kramer, 73, a retired school crossing guard sporting a star-spangled headband.

Kramer and her classmates like Zumba for all of the reasons group fitness is particularly popular with senior women, experts say: They have fun and make new friends.

Joy Prouty, a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette with 45 years in the exercise industry, didn't forget that fact when she and her business partner joined forces with Zumba Fitness LLC six years ago to create Zumba Gold.

"There is a big social factor to these classes," said Prouty, 71, of Delray Beach, Fla. "As people get older in life, they may have lost a spouse."

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Zumba Gold drawing more older women to group exercises