Pulling faces at Zumba classes

[HelenInHeels]

A bit of an off the wall topic! I've done Zumba classes for a long time but had a break of about a year until I started a new one last night. It was really good although what kept distracting me was the teacher pulling faces throughout the class!

Any of you who do Zumba get this? Never seen it before. I don't mean just looking happy I mean proper pulling faces!

Yes! Do we have the same zumba teacher...or are they all at it?!

It's like she is performing musical theatre or something. I like it though, its entertaining 😂

What kind of faces? I mean, sticky her tongue out, frowning, or goggle-eyed grinning and mad jazz hands type of faces?

Any chance they're simultaneously teaching face yoga? You might be getting a 2-for-1 special!

I stopped Zumba when the new teacher told us she didn't do instructions, 'we just had to watch her', then adopted a faraway gaze, as if lost in admiration for her own merengue, never making eye contact with anyone so she couldn't see us glaring probably. Unlike much-loved previous teacher who cheerfully pointed, shouted directions, name-checked everyone in the class, and made 45 mins go in a flash.

Yes that! "Ooh" faces, pop eyes, that sort of thing!

@DuhanDuhan I thought that there weren't any instructions in zumba and that you had to just follow the teacher until you learned the moves, or has it changed since I tried that one class about 25 years ago?

My Zumba teacher/friend definitely doesn't do faces 🤔

I don't know about Zumba but my face pulling during Body Pump would win me a girning competition!

God it hurts!

When you are trained as an instructor they tell you that you don't call out instructions. Just a few non-verbal cues and the rest if follow the instructor.

Is that like the faces they do in some dances in Strictly Come Dancing?
I never liked them, they look like grimaces.

Yes that!

I cannot fathom it! The ridiculous meaningless mouth movements ruin the dance.

Some dancing teacher must have once thought it added authenticity to a rhumba or something and the idea got stuck and passed on as what you are supposed to do!

Yes, I know this is the Official Zumba Line, and I kind of get why they do it, but... At my (council-run, largely 40+ clientele, belfie-free) gym, at least, Zumba tends to be a sort of 'gateway class' for people who aren't necessarily the most confident exercisers, or who are older, less fit, etc, etc. There was an amazing warm atmosphere in the previous class, because the instructor recognised that and made it easy to join in and feel part of the group. New instructor started with her thousand yard stare of silence, everyone instantly felt self-conscious because they didn't know what the hell they were doing all of a sudden, and class numbers dropped so dramatically the gym cancelled the previously waitlist-only weekend session. I'm reasonably fit and pretty quick to pick up choreography so I gave it a good go, but the vibe totally changed and it wasn't anywhere near as much fun. I think the lack of guidance from the instructor made me start thinking too hard about what I was doing, and that's never great for a middle-aged heifer trying to pull off reggaeton dancehall moves.

My Body Pump faces are so scary, though, I made the instructor burst out laughing this week.

Yeah I'm the same at total body workout every week. My facial expressions range from about to burst into tears at having to do the moves the instructor has just demonstrated, to "ouch this fucking hurts and I want to die".