Shake What Yo Mama Gave Ya!

Shakira was right. Hips do not lie. Especially the ones that showed up to ‘Tech Can Zumba’ at the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center on Thursday night.

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The annual canned food drive is a zumba event that is open to the Lubbock community. Participants were asked to bring two canned goods to donate to the South Plains Food Bank, and in return they got a free ‘Tech Can Zumba’ t-shirt and got to zumba for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Johanna Valencia, fitness and wellness coordinator at Tech, said she was very excited for the event. Valencia said she had a goal for 150 people, and they usually get around 300 cans to donate to the food bank. At first Valencia seemed skeptical about her goal, but by the time the instructors got on stage and people started dancing, it was apparent her goal was soon to be met. Her advice to participants was simply this:

“Just shake your butt and you’re good to go.”

Bryanne Velarde, Tech zumba instructor, said she originally wanted nothing to do with Zumba. She said she was a belly dancer for 12 years before she found her new calling.

“Tech Can Zumba was actually my deciding factor about teaching zumba,” Velarde said. “I was hesitant at first but I knew it was a good fit for me.”

IMG_6680Velarde said she loves everything about being a zumba instructor. She said the participants in her classes motivate her. Velarde said the thing that sets Tech zumba apart from anywhere else is the instructors. She said all of the zumba instructors’ choreography is their own.

“Everyone gets a little bit of all of the instructors tonight,” she said. “Plus it’s a great workout.”

To learn more about event going on at the Rec click here, and watch a recap below.

About Lauren Estlinbaum

Entertainment Director    —    Journalism major, Class of 2014
Lauren Estlinbaum grew up in Pearland, Texas, south of Houston (go Texans). She is a journalism major with a minor in apparel design. Lauren would like to work for either a fashion or lifestyle publication post-graduation. As she likes to say, she considers fashion magazines survival guides.