HEALTH + WELLNESS: Leanne Anderson’s Jazzercise classes at the Recreation Center

Dance oor Dynamos

Dynamos

Leanne Anderson’s Jazzercize program is all about fun, friends and fi tness

By Samantha Bey

On Mother’s Day in 2006, Leanne Anderson had a wakeup call when she caught a glimpse of herself in a picture. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh — I’m not doing this anymore,’” she remembers. At the age of 25, she had had her fi rst child eight months prior and had put on a lot of weight. “At the time, there were not a lot of fi tness programs in central Kentucky where I lived. My family wasn’t into fi tness, and we didn’t live an active lifestyle, but I wanted a change,” Anderson explained. The only group fi tness she could fi nd in her area was the local Jazzercise, which held classes in a nearby church gym. She decided to check it out and was immediately hooked after her fi rst class.

“I was initially just so into the music,” she said. “It didn’t even feel like I was working out — it felt like I was just dancing with my friends, and the hour went by so fast.” And what really sealed the deal is how quickly she saw her health improve after attending regularly. “I just felt so much better,” she said, “and I ended up losing about 50 pounds!”

Anderson, who attended a performing arts school through high school and studied musical theater and opera in college, was hooked on the program. She became an instructor and continued teaching classes after her family moved to Pensacola, FL, and then when she landed here in Coronado eight years ago.

Seven years ago, one year after she had started instructing here, Anderson bought Coronado’s Jazzercise franchise from Lois Hughes. Hughes later passed away, but Anderson and her Jazzercise dancers remember Hughes fondly. “Lois was amazing,” she said. “We channel her in so much [of what] we do and she’s always with us when we’re dancing.”

When Leanne took over the program, which had been running in Coronado for more than 30 years, each class had around 50 people in it. That trend continued until the pandemic, but she and the four other instructors are now seeing numbers slowly build back up as patrons get back to doing what they love. “The group dynamic of working out with other people is so motivational when it comes to fi tness, so that was really tough during COVID-19,” Anderson explained. But the program is back to about 50 percent attendance and growing. And they still o er all their classes on Zoom for those who prefer it.

And for those of us who may have two left feet? Fear not — Anderson explains that the program is designed with simplifi ed, repetitive moves so anyone can get grooving. Jazzercise was started in Carlsbad by professional dancer Judi Sheppard Missett in 1968, who had originally started classes to teach jazz dance. However, after noticing high dropout rates and asking for honest

feedback, she learned that her students were really there for fitness and not to learn the technicalities of jazz. She pivoted, recreating classes focused on simpler movements set to upbeat music and designed to target cardiovascular fitness. That was a far more popular model, and the program took o . Many of her students were from military families, so she found she could open studios all over the country by training instructors via VHS tapes, and she soon franchised the business. The iconic program now has more than 8,300 franchises in 32 countries.

Anderson explains that each class is a series of choreography to Top 40 hits, and that each song has only four moves to it. “It’s not complicated,” she explained. “If you have a dance background it’s fun to play with the choreography, but you certainly don’t need any foundation in dance to do it.” Her all-time favorite song? Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” “It’s a killer song and the moves are on point. I just love it every time.”

Anderson currently o ers three types of classes: Dance Mix, which is 35 minutes of dance cardio work and 25 minutes of strength exercises and stretching; Strength 60, which is a 60-minute combination of weights and bodyweight strength training; and Fusion, a dynamic 60-minute mix of

dance and strength. There are six classes o ered per week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:00 a.m. at the Coronado Community Center, Tuesday and Thursday night at 5:45 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. at Coronado Middle School’s Granzer Hall. Memberships are $59 per month for unlimited classes which, Anderson said, “is the most a ordable fi tness on the island.”

And since fi tness is always better with friends, the Jazzercise bunch gets together the third Sunday of the month for brunch, which they call, “Sip, Sip Hooray!” The brunch is held at a di erent member’s home each time. “These are our people,” said Anderson. “It’s like a big buddy system. When you go to class, your friends are there. And knowing your friends are expecting you on the dance fl oor is so motivating.”

“Some of the people in our classes have been doing this for more than 20 years, which really speaks to the fact that this is a fi tness program you can maintain your whole life,” she explained. “It makes lifelong fi tness fun.”

For more information, or to sign up for classes, call (850) 206-7708 or email jazzercisecoronado@gmail.com.