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Want to dance? Want to get in shape? Want to lose weight?

Walk by J.R.’s Archery building on Henry Street in Eden almost any night or Saturday morning and hear the beat of Latin American music. Inside, 15 or so Zumba Addicted Peeps are moving to the beat with instructor Britta Younts in an exercise/dance class.

Zumba is a workout for any age and shape, and it has taken hold in Rockingham County.

Jennifer Smith, a regular at the old Armory site, said: “It’s so much fun with the music. You get into the beat and forget you are exercising. I can tell when I miss a class, how much I need it.”

Zumba is a exercise/dance program set to Latin American music that originated in Colombia, South America, in the mid-1990s when an exercise class instructor forgot his aerobics music and instead used the merengue and salsa music tapes he had in his car.

Younts started one of the first classes offered in Rockingham County. Younts grew up in Stokesdale but later moved with her husband and daughter to Madison.

Younts had been a marketing director for Southern Foods in Greensboro for 10 years. She was working at the Madison-Mayodan Recreation Center when the staff determined that community needed an exercise program for seniors.

Younts researched group exercises and fitness trends and chose Zumba.

There are all types of dances in Zumba, she says, from the cha-cha to belly dancing and hip-hop.

“As long as you are moving, you are doing it right.” Younts says.

The exercises cover all points of the body. The tempo moves from slow to fast and back again.

Younts found Zumba or Zumba found Younts during a difficult time in her life. She had been diagnosed at age 18 with multiple sclerosis. When she began the exercise program, she suffered from  muscle spasms and fatigue and was taking medication for her disease.

Today, after two years as a Zumba instructor, she has lost 30 pounds, is less tired and no longer needs medication. Class members have their own success stories; one student reports losing 90 pounds.

Younts took a class to get certified as a instructor and now has her own business teaching Zumba. She is not alone. Zumba classes are available across Rockingham County.

She has performed at a field day at Huntsville Elementary School and in physical education classes at McMichael High School. On a recent Friday night, she participated in an awareness fundraiser for her Rockingham County MS team.

Younts started teaching one class a week and now works three to four nights and Saturday mornings, serving over 150 students a week.

She and other local instructors alternate classes in the J.R’s Archery building.

Beto Perez, who developed Zumba, designated several levels of classes: Zumba Gold for seniors, Zumba Toning for anyone, Aqua Zumba for water exercises, and Zumbatonics for children. Younts teaches toning classes now and is planning a summer children’s class.