Dancing and jumping to happy music is always fun when you’re a 10-year-old with energy to spare. The week of Halloween was extra fun – especially when Gabriela Flores, Zumba teacher extraordinaire, showed up in a blue tutu and a bag full of stickers for the kids in the group. Flores clearly knows her audience. Several mothers looked on, smiling, on a recent Tuesday afternoon as the 23-year-old led five rambunctious youngsters through a set of energetic dance steps, choreographed to the mambo, salsa, and pop beats of the Zumba soundtrack for kids. “We just laugh and dance together,” said Flores. And they did, with music blasting from a corner of the local school district’s multipurpose room. The kids worked to keep up with Flores on a series of high-energy songs, smiling back at her as they did modified jumping jacks, leg kicks, toe steps and sliding side jumps, punctuated by arm waves and hand claps. “I like the songs where you have to jump and turn around,” enthused Miguel Mendez, 11. Flores has been one of Puente’s five Zumba instructors for several years, leading a twice-weekly group of local adults (mostly women) through Pescadero’s version of the national Zumba craze that has people dancing for fitness and fun. Flores started a new ‘Zumba® Kids’ class in October when she … Continue reading Puente’s new ‘Zumba® Kids’ class is a hit