Dance party to raise funds for area food shelves

• Dance

Daily Globe file photo Zumba instructor Amy Roesner leads a class in January at St. Mary’s School in Worthington. Roesner and fellow Zumba instructor Shannon Fischer will host a Zumba Dance Party, a fundraiser for area food shelves, on Friday.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Two local fitness instructors are teaming up to raise money for a good cause.

Zumba instructors Amy Roesner and Shannon Fischer will lead a Zumba Dance Party from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at St. Mary’s School, 1206 Eighth Ave., Worthington. Money raised by the event will go to support area food shelves.

Roesner teaches classes in Rushmore and Worthington, while Fischer recently started a Zumba program in Fulda.

“Shannon came to one of my classes in Rushmore,” explained Roesner. “She had just started in December in Fulda and was seeing how everyone was running classes around the area. Later, we ran into each other at an event, and decided it would be fun to do something together.”

Zumba Fitness is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program that is now offered in 110,000 locations in more than 125 countries.

Because the emphasis in the classes is on a “dance party” atmosphere, Roesner and Fischer thought it would be fun to host an actual dance party as part of a kickoff into their new class schedules for the summer season.

“We just really want to bring that party atmosphere to life, and to help people realize that Zumba isn’t such a structured thing. You can do what you want,” said Roesner.

The party is open to anyone, whether they’ve ever attended a Zumba class before or not.

“If you’ve never been to a Zumba class, you will be comfortable there,” Roesner said. “You can stand on the sidelines and watch a song and join in when you want to join in.”

While the party will go on for three hours, the instructors don’t expect even the most avid Zumba participants to be on the dance floor the entire time.

“We’re putting it on like a wedding dance, and you don’t go and dance the entire time at a wedding dance,” she explained. “We’re going to have the cafeteria open, bring in jugs of water, and people can sit and take a rest when they need to and drink some water.”

The dance party is a chance for regular Zumba participants to socialize and have some fun and for the uninitiated to get a taste of what Zumba is all about.

“If you just want to check it out, you don’t have to stay for the whole time,” Roesner said. “Come have a little fun, get some exercise —we will burn a lot of calories in three hours.”

People who take classes from other instructors are also welcome.

“It’s great to go and experience other people’s classes, because no two Zumba classes are the same,” Roesner explained. “We all do some of our own choreography; a lot of us modify the songs that we get. Shannon and I will both be on stage, and you’re going to see me learning her stuff, and she’s going to be learning my stuff.”

The fundraising part of the party comes through an admission fee payable at the door. Participants who bring in a non-perishable food donation will get in for a discounted price. All monies collected and the food items will be divided between the food shelves in Worthington and Fulda.

Zumba merchandise will also be available to purchase at the event,

For more information, contact Roesner, 329-6983, or Fischer, 360-5708.

Daily Globe Features Editor Beth Rickers can be reached at 376-7327.

Tags: news, dance, party, raise, funds, area, food, shelves, zumba