Collegiate Times

Participants in Tuesday's Fitness Around the World at McComas Hall will dance their way into better shape with the workout named after its creator, Kukuwa Nuamah.

Kukawa's Dance Workout is a blend of African, Latin and Caribbean dance moves, all of which Kukuwa personally choreographs. All of her dance moves are set to music from their regions of origin.

African dance is the base of the workout, and according to her, African dance requires that you move every part of your body and tones you all over, as opposed to Caribbean dance, which primarily focuses on the butt and Latin dance, which targets your legs and hips.

Latin and Caribbean moves are sprinkled throughout her workout to make it easier for people of all ages to participate. Kukuwa has been dancing since age three and has been teaching the workout for 26 years. She has studios and instructors teaching her unique fitness plan all over the world.

Ali Arner, assistant director of fitness and assessment for Recreational Sports, said that what attracts people to Kukawa's Dance Workout is "... (Kukawa); she makes it seem like a party. You get entertained and meanwhile you're getting a workout. It's also not what most people do regularly ... we've never had less than 100 people attend when Kukuwa is teaching," Arner said.

Arner could not have made this event possible without a little help from the student body. Morgann Wagner, senior human nutrition, foods and exercise major, is the special events supervisor for Recreational Sports and is responsible for helping coordinate Fitness Around the World and other special events.

On Tuesday, she will ensure that all the student volunteers and people helping out with the event are where they need to be. She will also make sure that the stage is set up for Kukuwa in the double-sided gym where the event will take place.

Wagner says that the purpose of special events is to "try to get different people to go. A lot of the guys just lift and some girls who don't know a lot about fitness will come to events. Then they buy a fitness pass and see that you don't just have to run to get a good workout."

This is the final special event at McComas for the fall semester. McComas will host five special events per semester, and this event is part of the master class series. Last year's master classes were Zumba and TurboKick, both of which are now being offered as group exercise classes.

Arner said it's a possibility that Kukuwa's Dance Workout will be offered, but it's also costly to train instructors and have them certified.

Originally, Kukuwa was set to teach at Virginia Tech on April 16 as a way to close International Week. But her class was canceled and she is here to "give (Tech students) joy. They said they were looking forward to me, and I'm happy to make it," Kukuwa said.

This is Kukuwa's fifth time performing at Tech. Her first collegiate teaching experience was at Tech, and since then she has taught classes at Virginia Commonwealth University, the College of William & Mary, James Madison University, the University of Virginia and others.

She also teaches African Cultural Dance at George Mason University, where she is an adjunct professor.

You burn 975 calories per hour with her workout, said Kukuwa. This Tuesday she will be teaching for an hour and a half starting at 6 p.m. Kuku can typically get through 15 songs in an hour and expects to get through a few more than that this Tuesday.

Due to this event, the following four classes will be canceled: 5:15 p.m. Step, 5:30 p.m. TurboKick, 6:30 p.m. Zumba and 6:45 p.m. Cycling.

This event is free and open to the public, and the first 100 participants will get a free T-shirt and a Subway coupon. About 150 people are expected to attend.