Zumba Enthusiast Sees The Beat

By Nancy K. Crevier

Like so many other Zumba enthusiasts, since Glenda Middeleer started taking the dance class at Z Place for Fitness in Plaza South, Newtown, she has fallen in love with the upbeat exercise program.

“My son’s girlfriend was taking classes at Z Place, and I love to dance. She told me to try this,” recalled Ms Middeleer, Tuesday, November 15, as she waited for an afternoon Zumba class to begin.

“I was in bad shape, so I thought this would be a good workout. At first, I went once a week,” she said. That was in February.

“Then I was going two times a week, then three… Now I love it and I come to Zumba five times a week,” she said. As a matter of fact, according to Z Place for Fitness owner Tammy DeMarche, Ms Middeleer has come to at least 106 classes since she joined.

None of this would be particularly unusual, except that Zumba is choreographed to music of a fast Latin beat, and Ms Middeleer is completely deaf.

“When I was 6 months old, I had the measles. I had the mumps and the chicken pox. I was a sick little baby, and that’s when I lost my hearing,” Ms Middeleer said.

But not being able to hear has never stopped her from dancing. As a young woman, she and her two sisters would travel to New York City and go dancing at the nightclubs there. At the clubs, she could feel the vibrations in the floors and in the air, and watch her sisters. “It was fun, but that was a long time ago,” Ms Middeleer said.

She also took part in Jazzercise classes “at least 20 years ago,” said Ms Middeleer. If the instructor did not use a lot of hand signals, though, it was hard to follow the movements.

The speakers at Z Place do not create enough vibration for her to follow the music in that manner, but she uses other methods to move as smoothly through the steps as any of the hearing members of the class.

She relies on watching what the other dancers are doing, and makes a point of standing toward the front of the room, so that she can easily see the instructor. She is able to lip read, if the speaker enunciates, and picks up cues in that manner whenever she can. “Zumba is the best,” Ms Middeleer said. “The instructors use their hands a lot to signal the moves, like to spin around, or turn the other direction,” she said.

Memorization of the dance steps is also crucial to keeping up with a Zumba class. “I memorize how many steps we go in what direction, and the movements. If it is new music, Tammy will sometimes tell me some of the movements before class. I’m doing pretty good,” Ms Middeleer said.

Ms DeMarche agreed that her client excels in the Zumba classes. “The instructors don’t have to modify any of the steps for her. When she first came in, I was curious how she would do it,” confessed Ms DeMarche, “but I was surprised by how quickly she caught on. She’s amazing.”

 “I have lost a lot of weight, about 15 pounds,” said the grandmother of six, who still has one of her own four children living at home. “I feel better, and I feel stronger.

 “I love everything about Zumba,” Ms Middeleer said. “The people are friendly. It’s just a fun place to be, and it’s not hard. I just do it.”