Dancing for pure pleasure

While we attend one of his classes, we run along his story marked by triumph.

 

7:25 in the morning. The class doesn’t start yet. They’re just some dudes who use the machines room at the gym. Mrs. Cruz “Cucha” Castillo begins to putt he steps waiting for the pupils (more female, actually) of every morning. The sound equipment is tuned on a local station broadcasting some music and news while the Sun strains through the windows. It’s Rosmy Gym, in Jardin, West Sullana City, Peru, and everybody is waiting for Cristian reyes, the aerobics trainer who is going to give his first class of the day.

 

The life between his birthday, an August 29^th, 1984, in Sullana City (Peru), and just after he turned 14 years old was like another boy else’s. That day, a gym’s trainer saw him to dance and left surprised. The offer was direct: “Are you interested to dance in my gym?” Cristian tells he responded affirmatively. Since then, all has been different. He engaged to the world of gyms and perfectionated his talent. He presented in many events and he ever got the first places.

 

Cristian has come in. Everybody comes into the aerobics room of the gym. The music starts to play. He says it’s mixed right for the classes. It starts breathing – gotta begin puffing up the lungs because this is all about. What few realizes is the music beat is synchronized to the same rhythm of heart beats.

 

The aerobic looksfor improving the blood stream and the breathing. Also, it allows to eliminate fat and toxins effectively if it’s done constantly and sustainibily. Cristian begins a basic in front of the step. Till here, the stuff is pretty simple – just go up, go down, and eventually flex. The idea is doing it at the music rhythm.

 

The big opportunity came in his 20 years old. Cristian was delegate to a national dance contest and he didn’t deceived. He faced contenders from around the nation and came back to Sullana with the title in his hand. In that moment, he wasn’t only working out in dance but he was involved in aerobics. Some of his female pupils got fascinating for evident achievements: wweight control, agility.

 

“You feel Good whehn the people begins to mention the things you wan, what you work in,” he comments. The speaker drowns Cristian’s voice while he tries to explain us what the next move to be. Matter of coordination. The aerobics test our synapses purposed to match taking the right step in the right time, and over all keeping harmony with the rest of the group. Collective work, too.

 

The music has the cadence of the techno sequencer but it’s heard crossovers suddenly with pop, rock, latin pop, merengue, elegant huayno, and even saya. “It’s the new trend – it’s about full-body,” hhe will explain us later. It’s the hald of the class and the effects begin to feel including the loading sweat, some tireness and thirst, but gotta hold on. At least the ones in the first row of steps seem not to spend too bad.

 

It’s not a casuality that Sullana gets achievements. “It’s a level better inclusive than Piura [City],” Cristian states. He’s not a pioneer on the issue but he’s one of the more enthusiastic, actually. That’s why he tries not to lose a chance to dance, or like he does now, teaching others to do it.

 

He has got many recognizements for having to train children, mainly, from different schools in Sullana. “What we need is supporting,” he says. “It’s not like other countries where that support is actually given.” And although he recognizes there are more professionals on the field everytime else, he feels the opportunities are not easy where the hand to reach.

 

50 minutes since the class started have already passed. One another has deserted. We breathe again, stretch. Five minutes of that. Cristian claps addressing the pupils (more females than males, we agree) of that day, marking the class is over. Some still will stay to work out waist. If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, Cristian will continue a machines routine.

 

The day just began. He has many things to do, and still coming back to the gym for the class with the afternoon group. Possibly, there would be a presentation on weekend, or he will spend with his family for good.

 

The day that Jardin Urbanization’s Association of Young Residents in sullana held a seminar with students of the last year of high-school at INIF 48 School, Cristian was there. His mission was getting about 150 girls move to the batuca rhythm, with the help of some guys of the association. Everybody moved… well, almost everybody, because the school’s principal and some teachers only looked at in the background.

 

Other talent this boy has hidden is a good voice for singing. “But he only sings for me in special occasions,” Mrs. Castillo kids. No way, the guy is quite shy although the stage is not an unknown land to him. Anyway, he is a winner, and who wins something ever expects something much greater. And for the record, when somebody asks him why he does all this, he only has one answer: “Because I like.”

  

“I feel uncomfortable when they look straight at it”

What you can do  when these better-developed body parts of yours seem to catch everybody’s attention.

 

Percy, 41, Works by turns at the reception of a public building. The suit fits him OK, as much as a guy asked him if he works out – Percy answers “yes, I do,” but, as he judges, he also have noticed many people, no matter the sex, look straight at his ass.

 

“The suit is made of a thin cloth,” he tells, “then, when I stand up, I feel the people look straight at my buttocks.” It’s when a confusing sensation fills him up: In one hand, it feels good when the people look straight at you, but sometimes you feel the looks want to get you naked.”

 

Among his chances, Percy has considered to diminish his muscle mass by doing exercise.  That means doing more cardio than power, or more aerobic than anaerobic if we say it otherwise. That could be an option, but is it the right one?

 

If having much muscle mass is a risk for your physical health, you should consider it, indeed. But if the reason is not at the physical frame, what can you do? Here some practical tips:

 

1. Don’t forget what motivated you – The first one you must remember is the reason why you entered training. Do you feel the same conviction than the first day?  Has it increased or decreased? If that excitement keeps strong, or if it has raised, it would be worthy you remind that to yourself everyday you wake up. But, if it had diminished, talk with your trainer alone for reviewing wwwhat is happening, defining what to do up forward.
2. Use your body language smart – Assume the people is going to see as they have eyes and you can’t do anything to stop them. Even, they can opine about, you can’t do anything to forbid it to them unless it turns stalking. However, if you detect somebody looks straight at that better-developed body part of yours, don’t act aggressively. Look at the eye, address a friendly smile like if were a greeting. The folk will realize you realized, so he or she will prefer to see aside.
3. Feel proud of all what you worked out – For what nobody ashame you with your body, begin not to feel ashamed of your body by yourself. Take atime alone for watching it, thinking these shapes catching the attention are the result of your own effort (and your genetics, maybe), so assume them like achievements or competitive assets. When you appreciate your body in a positive way, you can go much confident, much attitude, and the people will notice that immediately. They Will continue looking at you but you won’t feel overwhelmed about the way they look at you, actually.
4. Don’t do it if it’s by shame – Buying baggy clothes is an option only if it gives comfort to your body. But if you do it for eluding the problem, it’s going to increase the regret because, although you cover that highlighting part well, you’ll ever have the idea they follow seeing it anyway.
5. Switch your posse – Start to make friends who appreciate by your talent beyond your body shape, or that highlighting, umcomfortable body part, or who appreciate you like a full set, who help you to turn the uncomfortable into something natural. Of course, that will demand these friends have a wide-open mind, not telling about the psychological maturity. But consider if you relate with people who is ever repeating you the same, and  in the same tune, you’ll believe in the short-term or the long-term it’s the only way to see the world – your body too. A winner is characterized by keeping the comfort zones off.

 

Are those tips helpful to you? Do you have other queries? Write us on our Twitter account or at chulucanasgym@gmail.com

  

Balls, but another kind

Sports as a public policy demands creativity to change, adapt and include.

By ChulucanasGym. Photos by La Unión District Municipality.

When local administrations promote sports activities, the same ones are almost ever chosen: soccer and volley, becoming a gender role segregation.

Then, somebody decides to break up this circle (not vicious because it’s sports, neither virtous because it forces polarizations) and bets for something not to segregate, to be the same old thing neither. But, what happens if existent understructure is only thought for soccer and volley, and much for soccer?

That’s the La Unión (pronounce “La Oonion”) local government’s dilemma, in Lower Piura Valley, which officers had the chance to stay freeze, or make the cow jumping over the moon such as any sportsperson would do.

La Unión District Municipality is launching sports academies for this year. It left soccer and volley outside and began to explore another disciplines like athletism, but its actual understructure is not adequate for practicing it.

“We have a 4-lane athletic track when the mandatory is 16,” municipality’s social and touristic vice manager Teresa santos tells us.

They tried another options as table tennis and basketball.

As there are not adequate spaces for practicing table tennis, the municipality set up a library’s room for put on two game tables and start up the calling and selection of 8-10 year-old 59 boys and girls.

Peruvian Institute of Sports support them on this effort.

About basketball, things were pretty easy because there are actually .set-up fields for playing it, and calling is going to be open for 11-12 year-old boys and girls.

Table tennis academy was launched last June, and basketball’s one is scheduled to begin this July. The intttention is discovering and promote new local sports talents, and getting good scores in School Sports Games.

Inclusion and health

The challenge of this municipality will be keeping its inclusion standards, those made it 2016 Municipal Seal national winner. As they say, they were implemented integrative policies for children, teenagers, youth and seniors, as well as disabled people, which they will have to preserve for incorporate them academies management and creation of healthy spaces.

Regarding, they also will have to work investment projects for building, fixing alternative sports spaces. Why not thinking of benefits for private places with access to public keeping the same inclusion criteria and standards?

Parallelly, the municipality has to set this achieve to prevention of bullying, domestic violence and teenage pregnancy, what seem to be working isolated initiatives about.

The another issue what it must solve is the access to basic services as current water, about there is a Peru’s Ombudsman Office’s report denouncing its apparent pollution, that affects around 10000 people at least. District’s mayor Walter Ayala says the issue is his priority, and concrete sustainable actions are expected.

Since sports are part of physical and mental health, all those points must be solved methodically to guarantee spaces and moments of formation, amusement, and evolution for everybody.

 Tell us if your public or private organization  has an alternative approach to sports. Write us down at chulucanasgym@gmail.com

Post-produced by Sheyla Benavente.