There’s a rumble of energy rolling across Central Texas as women and men shake their booties, swivel their hips and stomp their feet to wild Latin beats as part of the dance aerobics craze called Zumba®.

Although Zumba has been taught in the United States since 2002, the phenomena just recently arrived in Waco. Here it is being taught by national fitness expert Shemane Nugent to packed crowds at both Waco YMCA facilities.

Part hip-hop, kickboxing and aerobics, Zumba incorporates salsa, samba, merengue, rumba and other ballroom dancing moves into a cardio class that is anything from ordinary.

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Shemane Nugent takes exercise up a notch with her popular Zumba class at the YMCA.

Participants shake, swivel, bob, bop, squat, hop and punch their way to fitness during an hour-long class that feels more like a great night out at a dance club, minus the makeup, heels and dark room. In fact, the Zumba philosophy, which is plastered on posters throughout the YMCAs, is to ‘Ditch the workout and join the party!’

“The most important thing is for you to have fun. Zumba is putting the fun back into fitness,” Nugent tells a class packed with more than 40 participants one late April morning at the Waco Family YMCA.

In Spanish, the word “zumba” actually is Colombian slang that means to buzz like a bee and flitter quickly about.

And that is exactly what Zumba participants look like as they wave arms in the air and form giant circles that rotate in different directions and meander all around the room.

Although Zumba appears to have a solid set of moves, its origin actually began as happenstance when an aerobic instructor, Beto Perez, forgot his music one day while teaching a class in Colombia in the 1990s. He grabbed some music he had in his car and started to ad lib aerobic and dance moves to his favorite Latin songs. His class was so well received that word spread about this new form of exercise. In 1999, Perez teamed with two marketing agents and took this new craze worldwide. It was launched in the United States in 2002 and by 2006 there were more than 2,000 certified Zumba instructors in the United States. Now the phenomenon is truly global with more than 35,000 instructors in dozens of countries worldwide and millions of participants doing Zumba everyday.

Back in Waco, Zumba newbies flash flushed faces and even giggle as they first witness some of the moves. But, most quickly join the party and get into the groove. Pretty soon most everyone in the room has released their inner Zumba as they wiggle everything they have.

“I had wanted something new that was aerobic exercise, and then they came up with this and it’s exactly what I wanted. It’s a little repetitive so you don’t have to think that much, but boy do we sweat!” said Jeanne Chop, 50, after taking her third class from Nugent.

Most of the songs are Latin-based, with some hardcore hip hop and ‘gangsta-esque’ tunes intermingled within. The music is varied and, that particular morning, the class even included a Charleston-style melody and a soothing yoga-like Middle Eastern cool down song. Most of the numbers last about four minutes with just a few seconds of break in between to grab a drink of water or towel off.

Although the steps appear complicated at first, most sequences break down easily and repeat in 24-count sets, so participants can relax into the music and let loose with their own style, while gyrating away unwanted fat and calories.

“It builds their self confidence because it’s something they’ve never done before,” said Waco Family YMCA Aerobics Director Jenny Hering. “They think ‘I’m strong. I can do this.’ It’s a confidence builder that they can move and shake and it’s OK to do it here. They don’t even realize they are burning calories. They are just having fun.”

Though all eyes in the class are on the petite Nugent’s slim hips and flat abs as she changes steps and adds new routines, she says she gets pumped up watching everyone else.

“I love watching people have fun working out,” Nugent says following an Earth-stomping class where the room rotated and twirled and participants hopped and hollered throughout. “I have never seen such enthusiasm before, relating to exercise. Every class I teach, somebody tells me something exciting like they’ve just lost 10 pounds, or say they are coming back with their mother, or grandmother or kids. We are changing people’s lives and that is so gratifying as an instructor.”

Nugent, 46, wife of famed rocker Ted Nugent, says she understands what it is like to be bored with an exercise routine. Throughout her life, she has tried and taught nearly every form of cardiovascular fitness, and even trained under legendary indoor cycling spinning inventor Johnny G. A certified fitness instructor for more than 27 years, Nugent said she grew restless and uninspired with her own workout routines until she took her first Zumba class in Las Vegas a couple of years ago.

Nugent had been in Las Vegas visiting her son who had been living there to train for basketball when she happened upon a Zumba class at a local gym. She says she left the class drenched in sweat and with the biggest smile on her face, and that’s when she knew it was for her.

Back at her Central Texas home, Nugent said she would create daily Zumba workouts by herself. But the author, fitness expert, television producer and motivational speaker soon realized this was too good to keep to herself. So, she retained a certification to teach Zumba to share the energy with others.

In April, she began teaching Zumba at both YMCAs. Although classes at the Doris Miller YMCA were initially slow to fill up, both facilities are now bursting with Zumba converts who arrive way early just to get a good spot in one of Nugent’s classes.

Latishia Ybarra, 20, took a class and loved it so much that she also recently got certified to teach Zumba along with a handful of other local instructors who are being personally mentored by Nugent.

“I’ve never taught anything, but when I started taking this class I thought it was fun and I wanted to learn how to teach it,” she said.

Ybarra especially shines during a “Pop It” song where she exhibits a unique ability to thrust her taught abdomen forward and back, while swaying side to side. She’s so good that Nugent strategically places her in the middle of the room so participants in the back can follow the routines by watching Ybarra.

Araceli Hernandez, 38, also is new to Zumba but quickly took to it and also received her certification. A native of Mexico, she and her husband and daughter are soon moving back and she plans to open her own Zumba studio in Monterrey.

“It’s amazing how you feel from Zumba. The energy from everybody — it’s like a big party and I want to be a part of that party everyday,” Hernandez said.

The craze continues to evolve and expand and has spread into other exercise forms, such as Zumba Gold for seniors and Aqua Zumba in the water, and even Kids Zumba classes. Aerobics director Hering says the YMCA plans to offer different kinds of Zumba classes this summer at both facilities.

“We wanted something fresh and new and we found it,” Hering said.

Nugent says Zumba is an inclusive activity and encourages everyone to let loose and have fun no matter their age, body type or ability.

In fact, one would expect the sexy rocker’s wife to show off her perfect physique, but while teaching a class recently she was wearing long black cargo pants and an exercise shirt that kept her naval well covered.

“This is not about being a certain image. I couldn’t be more covered up. I don’t wear tight clothes. It’s not about that. It’s about feeling good about yourself,” Nugent said. “If you ask people how they feel about themselves when they leave this class, they are soaring through the roof. And that’s what changes people’s lives because what happens is they’ll eat better throughout the day, they’ll be happier and more content and ultimately healthier.”