27/03/2025
๐๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.
After teaching since October 2017, this chapter is coming to a close โ and itโs hard to put into words just how much itโs meant to me.
Back in 2017, I was teaching Zumba to just two or three people a night in Kilwinning Sports Club. But come January 2018, the classes began to grow โ and soon I was teaching four or five times a week for KA Leisure in Irvine, Dalry, and West Kilbride, with two or three community classes of my own in Kilwinning. The rooms were packed, the energy was electric, and the faces โ so many incredible, familiar faces โ made it all what it was.
Zumba gave me so much more than a class to teach. It brought lifelong friendships, unforgettable memories, and it even introduced me to the amazing Nikki Kean โ a friend who later became my business partner.
Then came lockdown. The world stopped, but Zumba didnโt. Nikki and I brought daily virtual classes into peopleโs homes. Zumba remained the favourite. We hosted online warmups for charity walks and community events, and connected with people not just locally, but across Scotland, England โ even Spain. And many of those members still join us every week.
Since then, we opened Elite. We danced in car parks, in boxes taped on the floor, in George Square, Fife, schools, churches, retirement homes, workplaces โ anywhere we could bring the music and the movement. Iโm proud of every moment and grateful for every opportunity it gave me โ not to mention the mental and physical health benefits it brought to us all.
But somethingโs shifted. Over the past year, numbers have dropped despite everything Iโve done to keep it going. And while I know things change โ people, routines, even the industry โ it doesnโt make this decision any easier.
Zumba will always hold a huge place in my heart. It was my first proper passion in life and saying goodbye to it, even just for now, is emotional.
So I just want to say a huge thank you. To everyone whoโs danced with me since 2017, whether in person, online, or out in the street โ thank you. Youโve made these years unforgettable.
Tonight, Iโll dance with everything Iโve got โ one last time.
Steven ๐