SCHERERVILLE | "I don't talk too much when I'm up here," Kim Bleck said before leading a group of more than 60 participants gathered for "Zumba for a Cure," an event held Oct. 18 at Omni 41 Health and Fitness Connection to raise funds and awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
"You just move when I move."
That was easier said than done. Bleck, a personal trainer and aerobics instructor at Omni, was perpetual motion dressed in pink as she busted out a seamless variety of salsa, mambo, calypso and hip hop dance moves set in synch to a Latin-based beat.
"I try to come up with some set routines beforehand," said Bleck, who heads regular Zumba classes at Omni during the week. "But I want to keep things free. That's what I like about this class: it's so free."
Though it's not always free and easy -- especially for those who are fretful of their own sweat. Zumba classes aggressively target the glutes, legs, arms, abdominals and heart. But when you talk to Bleck after a pair of gyrating 45-minute sessions, the gain seems to outweigh the pain.
"I'm ready to do it again," she said. "It's all about giving energy, and getting it back. Give and take. I try to get them going, and they get me going."
Dolores Smolen, 81, of Munster, was able to keep up with Bleck and her fellow dancers.
"This is my second time doing this, and I love it," Smolen said. "Plus, I lost a daughter-in-law to breast cancer, so this means a little more to me."
Coordinating the event was Omni employee Jane Powers.
"Last year, we raised more than $1,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation," Powers said.
Participants were donate at least $20 if wanting a commemorative pink T-shirt, or $10 for no T-shirt.
"I've done this before," Powers said of Zumba. "It's a real fun way to burn off calories without knowing that you're doing it."
Longtime Omni member Ramon Rodriguez was not shy to put his Zumba moves up front and center -- especially during an improvised waltz with Bleck during a brief moderate period in the music.
"I've tried a lot of things they've had here," Rodriguez said. "But I like this a lot."
