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Librarians from East Rutherford and Fort Lee are teaming up to bring their love of Zumba and fitness to the communities they serve.
It all started at a Bergen County meeting for librarians.
Maria Russo, 45, of Lodi and the children and teen’s librarian in East Rutherford got to talking with Esperanza Pacheco, 25, a Clifton resident and the teen librarian in Fort Lee.
“We realized we both had a love for Zumba and got to talking about different instructors and that led to talk about training,” Russo said.
“We noticed a lot of libraries have Zumba classes so we figured it was a good audience,” Russo added.
They already have separate Instagram followings and are in the midst of launching #DancingLibrarians as a duo on social media.
YouTube videos are up aand they are starting an #idareyouchallenege series — short videos offering 30-60 second dance clips to try.
“Zumba is great because people are all different sizes and shapes and fitness levels,” Pacheco said.
Both say the dance exercise helps them unwind and feel good and credit Zumba with feeling more like a party than a workout.
"It’s a party atmosphere with dancing — I feel like you get a dancer’s high," Russo said.
"It brought back the dancer in me. Zumba is for people who want to dance in sneakers, without having to go out or get dressed up," Russo said.
For Pacheco, it was the music she said.
"My parents speak Spanish but I never felt so connected to Spanish music. Now, it’s all I listen to in the car. I feel so connected to the rrhythms," Pacheco said.
Still, they agree the best aspect about Zumba is getting to be yourself
"You can let your freak fly and you don’t need a partner. That’s what I like about it," Russo said.
"You can be alone and with people at the same time," Pacheco said.
The duo will roll out a Mom's Happy Hour Zumba in March and are still working out the final details for that and more library classes.
Russo is teaching a Zumba class at G Force Fitness in Rutherford on Thursday.
Follow Russo and Pacheco on Instagram, @esppac and @miasfotos.
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