Co-owners Nicole Avanzato and Karen Shaffer want people to know that a session at Jazzercise Center of Pennington contains more than just aerobic exercises.
“Half is dancing, but the other half is strength work and conditioning,” Avanzato said. “The wonderful thing is that any fitness level can take the same class.”
The combination of dance and exercise is what attracted Shaffer to Jazzercise, she said. Now, she has been an instructor for 31 years. Avanzato started taking classes when her children were young, and has been an instructor for five years. Both women emphasize the benefits of Jazzercise’s broad spectrum of activities and fitness exercises.
One Jazzercise class session incorporates pilates, kickboxing and yoga in addition to strength training, aerobics and, of course, dancing. One routine will burn about 600 calories, Shaffer said.
The instructors receive new music five times a year with mixes that include modern pop, country western and jazz music.
“If you don’t like one of the songs, well hang on a minute, something else is going to come on that you do like,” Shaffer said.
The mixes are choreographed, but each instructor will add a personal touch, Shaffer said.
“You can come to Nicole’s class on Monday morning, and you can come to my class on Wednesday morning, and although we’ve been given the same music, no two classes are going to be exactly the same,” Shaffer said. “So you don’t get bored, and that’s a big plus.”
The routines also give customers room for improvement. Beginners may use lighter weights or low-impact movements, then work their way up to using heavier weights and higher-impact activities. Even something as simple as adding more vigorous upper body movement, like pumping the arms, will increase heart rate and make for a more intense workout, Shaffer said.
“But when new customers come in, we always tell them, get the feet before you get the arms,” Avanzato said.
The Jazzercise Center of Pennington had been open for about 25 years in other locations in Pennington, but the co-owners moved in November 2010 to their current location.
“We love that it’s a bright open space, lots of windows,” Avanzato said. “As soon as we walked in here the first time, we tried not to be too excited, but it was perfect.”
They refer to the center as the “anti-gym,” because the co-owners don’t just want customers to sign up for a membership. Instead, Avanzato said the camaraderie of the instructors and customers encourages a big family atmosphere, where the instructors notice if a student is missing.
Including its owners, the center has about 10 instructors, all of whom are trained and certified through the franchise.
The exercise room is equipped with a stage for the instructors, and the walls are lined with weights, exercise balls and resistance bands. But a big part of the Jazzercise experience is that customers won’t find any mirrors there.
“It’s so people are not self-conscious, and so that people can kind of do their own things,” Avanzato said. “They can just be free and don’t care about what you look like.”
Both Avanzato and Shaffer live in Pennington, as do many of their customers. Many also live in Hopewell and Titusville, but Shaffer said about a third of the customers travel from Ewing and Lawrence, too.
The Jazzercise Center of Pennington is located at 2490 Pennington Road. For more information, call (609) 737-2057 or e-mail penningtonjazz@gmail.com.
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