Zumba.

Even the name is a kick. Which is appropriate, given how much fun I had at Thursday night's class.

The Latin-dance inspired workout was imported from Colombia in 1999, the innovation of fitness trainer Beto Perez, who'd forgotten his workout tapes for class. In a pinch, he grabbed some tapes from his car and improvised.

The result is an energizing cardio workout that combines choreography with camaraderie. How obvious is the camaraderie? Women were hooting, clapping and sending Latin trills to one another throughout the entire class.

"This is a boisterous group," said Cynthia Nicholas, a certified Zumba instructor, acknowledging that Thursday's class is her most lively.

The class starts slowly enough (I was grateful) with a demonstration of some of the key dance moves - salsa, merengue, box step. Then she demonstrates new ones - the machete, anyone? - and some of the arm movements, including a sprinkling of belly dance moves. Hips, shoulders, heads ... everything rolls during the warm-up.

Then the real fun begins. With the music blaring tunes from Ricky Martin and Shakira, this group of about 15 women follow Cynthia's every step, swinging, dipping, shuffling and spinning to the beat.

She doesn't stop, and neither do her students. By the end of the first song, my heart is pumping and I'm hoping I don't hurt any of the women near me with my clumsy footwork. (Note to reader: Despite living in Mexico for a year and hosting a gifted dancer/exchange student from Ecuador, I can't dance a Latin lick. The closest I ever got was a passable salsa one Christmas Eve after three glasses of wine. At least I thought it was passable.)

On to the next song, and then the next. The 15-second interval between is just long enough to steal a swig from my water bottle.

Cynthia varies the songs and the intensity of their beats to give the class some interval training. The slower-paced merengue "C'mon and Dance" is later followed by the wicked calypso tune "Zokaly PSO."

But no one stops. Even if you don't get the moves down perfectly, it's so much fun trying that you just keep at it. No pressure.

And there are glimmers of non-Latin steps in there. I swear there were a few Charleston moves and The Pony - it made me long for my go-go boots. There's even a little cultural training. One Cumbia dance step requires you to drag one foot behind the other - a reference to shackles and Colombia's slave history.

Bette Swett-Thibeault, a phenomenally fit woman, has been Zumba-ing since April. She said within a few months she was able to stop taking her high blood pressure medication - a testament to the health benefits of the class.

"I know I sound like an info-mercial, but I just love this class," she said.

I could see why. Despite my spastic technique, I never stopped smiling. Sometimes it was to laugh at myself, sometimes at the sheer fun of moving like a backup dancer on a VH1 video, sometimes at the embarrassment this would cause my teenagers if I ever did it in public.

The health benefits were incidental. Salud!