About Me...

Melissa Lopez is a salsa dancer, Zumba instructor and MBA graduate. Her passions are fitness, dance, nutrition, marketing and people. She loves empowering others to look past their mental and/or emotional road blocks to achieve what they never thought they could. Empowerment is something she takes seriously.

Another Tid-Bit...

Melissa is licensed to teach Zumba, Zumba Toning, Zumbatomic (kids) and Aqua Zumba. Zumba is a party and her first priority is to make sure you are comfortable and ready to have a good time. Melissa is also an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.

Classes with Z8 Fitness

A month ago, my friends and I - all Zumba instructors - decided to start teaching at the same location. What we have come up with is an amazing opportunity to offer great Zumba in Westchester County at an unbeatable price: $10.00.

Zumba has brought us together to form Z8 Fitness and I want to share it with you all:
Check out our website at www.z8fitness.com or www.zumbafitnesswestchester.com

I teach on Wednesdays at 6:30pm.

The location of our classes is
St. Bartholomew's Church
82 Prospect Street
White Plains, NY 10606

Prices for 2011 have changed. Please take note:

Get Your New Year started off right with our Zumba specials. 
Drop in: $15, 5 Classes: $65, 10 Classes: $120

















and if you haven't tried Zumba then now is the time.  
Take advantage of *Zumba Special for New Students*

First Package of 10 classes for $100!



Classes


All class cards expire within 5 weeks of purchase. You will receive an email after you purchase class card with expiration date. Therefore, minimum use of a 5 Class card is once a week and minimum use of a 10 Class card is twice a week.


All others can pay a cash drop-in fee at the door.

Christmas time is here

2010 Zumba Fanatic Christmas Lists review:

If you are reading this, you are either a Zumba fanatic making your Xmas lists or a relative, friend, or partner to a Zumba fanatic.  You have probably spent countless hours thinking about that perfect gift.  Think no more.  I am armed and ready to break down some of the hottest gifts for the dance and fitness enthusiast.

Zumba Video Game:
It's a combination of the Zumba DVD's and a Live class all wrapped into one with one goal in mind . . . SWEAT and SHAKE.  I played the game on the Wii.  It works with a belt that you strap your Wii remote onto and it sense's your movements.  The game guides you through 30 or so routines with songs led by our Zumba superstars: Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley, and Gina Grant.  It's pretty awesome to see how similar or identical most of the routines are to the ones instructors do in class.  This is great because someone who has never taken a class and buys the video game WILL get a similar workout in regards to calories burned if you do an hours worth.  30 songs is definitely a good amount as well.  You can mix, match and customize your workouts or use it as a party icebreaker and have your friends join in.

Likes:  Loads of fun, Great music, Similar choreography to live class
Dislikes: Graphics could have been better, needs more Tanya B and Gina G (just love them), sensor belt kept falling off

The Michael Jackson Experience Video Game:
I don't consider myself the biggest Michael Jackson fan but I love this game.  The music is amazing and the dance moves make you sweat and ask for more.  This is a must have for any dance enthusiast.  It's packed with Michael's hits including "Thriller," "Billie Jean," "Smooth Criminal," and 23 more awesome songs.  I couldn't get over how addicting the game was.  Every time I finished a song, I wanted to continue to the next. Up to four people can play the game together.  You can dance with Michael or as a backup dancer.  The moves can either be similar or completely different depending on the song.  This allows for more game time.  I can't give this game enough praise.  The choreography is fun and easy enough to follow.  The Dance School breaks down the moves for you, and the design, graphics and look and feel are perfect.  

Likes:  Choreography is great, dance school is a perfect way for that Zumba enthusiast to incorporate some moves in his/her classes, song selection 
Dislikes: Would have been nice to have the full music videos to watch, holding on to Wii remote isn't very comfortable

ZumbaShop
Whether the person you are buying a gift for is an instructor or just a student fanatic, there is something at the Zumba.com shop that will put a smile on their face.  The new winter gear rocks and Zumba has brought back the ever so popular Zumba Samba pants.  Yes, the funky colored, windbreaker-looking pants with strings all over.  They are TO DIE FOR.   At the Zumba Convention, people were waiting in line for hours to get a hold of those pants.  I purchased mine a size too large because I just needed a pair.

Other ideas from Zumba shop:
- The Headliner Top:  It's long sleeved, purple and screams the 80's  (I'm wearing it on my profile picture)
- Promotional Materials:  A Banner to promote classes is a must have for any instructor
- Zumba accessories:  Water bottles, earrings, totes, wristbands and more.  These little accessories will make any fanatics day

Sneakers
As I mentioned before, the sneaker will make or break your workout.  Stop by a local sneaker store and speak to the sales person.  Sneaker styles and functions vary and its important for anyone doing Zumba to have a shoe thats light, comfortable, and stable.  We don't want anyone twisting their ankles or hurting their knees.  I love the Nike Huarache but that's just my choice.  There are definitely many more styles that are comparable.  


That's all!  Hope it was helpful.  I extend my best wishes to you and yours this Holiday season.  Many blessings into the New Year.  

I love this story on Yahoo News

For yoga master at 92, there is only the dance

By Dorene Internicola
Tue Nov 30, 6:06 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch, 92 years young, kept repeating her life's motto, there is nothing you cannot do, before a packed workshop in New York City.
Then, light as a bird, she glided into a gravity-defying arm balance to illustrate the point.
"I haven't been able to do the peacock since I broke my wrist in April, but I did it in that room," Porchon-Lynch said of the pose she demonstrated recently at Strala Yoga studio.

"In yoga every breath I take puts me on the right path." Porchon-Lynch has been practicing yoga, the ancient discipline connecting breath to movement, for over 70 years.
Along the way she has walked with Mahatma Gandhi, modeled couture in Paris, trod the boards in London, and acted under contract to MGM in Hollywood.

It was yoga breathing, she said, that kept fear at bay when she worked for the resistance in World War Two France. "I didn't realize I was doing any of them," she said of her many adventures. "It's just the natural path of life. You either travel on it, or you get stuck in the mud."

Born in Pondicherry, India, Porchon-Lynch studied under yoga legends B.K.S. Iyengar and Indra Devi. At age 50 she was given her first paying yoga job in the United States by fitness icon Jack LaLane.

Porchon-Lynch founded the Westchester Institute of Yoga, where she is director, in 1982. She teaches up to 20 hours a week and has trained over 300 instructors in her Iyengar-based style. Jane Fonda is an admirer, along with generations of young yogis.

In class she cuts a glamorous figure. When she's not adjusting a student's backbend or fine-tuning a hand position, she's weaving tales from her very colorful life into yogic tutorials.
"Duke (Ellington) told me he was watching a sunset and all the colors seemed to blend into deep purple," she recounted in an explanation of the chakras, or wheels of energy, yogis believe reside in the body. "I don't tell you these things from ego, but because it's what I know."
Tara Stiles, owner of Strala Yoga, says Porchon-Lynch is living proof that yoga actually works. "She is a true leader by example," said Stiles, author of "Slim Calm Sexy Yoga." Porchon-Lynch said her "most precious inspirations" come when people think they can't do something, "then there's a smile on their face, because they can."

When she's not teaching, Porchon-Lynch pursues another passion -- competitive ballroom dancing. Despite a hip replacement, she recently completed a 17-dance event where, she says her Tango partner was a 22-year old and her Cha Cha partner was 29. "Dancing is a continuation of yoga, like music," she said. "Music and dancing and yoga are all coming from within you."

She's writing her autobiography and completing a documentary about yoga and dance that took her on a recent flight over the Himalayas. "All of those mountains, so pure. Yoga helps us create a life where we're looking down from clouds instead of into the clouds," she said. "I call it the dance of life, since I'm always dancing."

The way she looks at life, she says, she has no fear. "The only fear I have is when people talk on the phone while driving. I'm afraid they'll get hurt."

December Deals at Dance Connection

DECEMBER DEALS!

Don't let the holidays slow down your workout routine.   Commit yourself to a consistent schedule by purchasing a class card for December.


10 classes for $80*
Purchase the card in person (cash-only) or pay for it online using PayPal.






*Class card can only be used in December and will not be extended without a doctor's note. Dates for classes in December are 12/2, 12/4, 12/7, 12/9, 12/11, 12/14, 12/16, 12/18, 12/21, 12/23

Dance Connection


Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays


Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm and Saturdays at 9am.  Studio located at 529 Main Street, 2nd floor New Rochelle, NY 10801.  (entrance to the studio is at Division Street).  Let's have a party!

Classes are walk-in friendly!  Stop in and take a class for $10 per person.