GIESALA:....you can have the freedom to adapt "on the spot" to one's class.
The other beautiful thing is that it is non-stacked choreo..meaning each song is its own routine and when the song is over...that idea is over..much like a bodypump or attack or any other program that is not Jam.
The biggest complaint I hear over and over from people is that Jam is too hard...and that is with the basic choreo only...people feel successful with Zumba and come back again and again...people leave Jam feeling very frustrated. The numbers don't lie..at our club, 10-20 people for a Jam class verses 15-35 people in Zumba...
I wish that the leaders of Jam would take a little hint from the Zumba people and allow more flexibilty in what is taught so instructors can adapt it based on the ability levels of the participants.
I will agree however, that the experience one has in a Zumba class is only as good as the instructor...One can get a very different workout from one instructor to another
10-20 people at a Jam class and that's not successful? Tough standards there. In my experience I've only seen a few people leave Jam class very frustrated. More newbies can be overwhelmed, but more of the deer in the headlights look rather than very frustrated.
When you adapt the lesson for a class...who are you teaching to? The ones who are struggling? The ones who are ready for more? Unless you keep it at the simplest, most basic level, wouldn't Zumba still be a challenge for some people the first time or two? How do you decide where to pitch the level of the class? There are times when 1/2 the (Jam) class will be new (1-3 classes) and 1/2 will be experienced (ready to add in the extra complexity....Zumba would be no different....how would you decide what level to teach at?
There are strengths to either approach of chorey. Jam actually has single track chorey for about 1/2 the class (warmup, iso, often times track 3, recovery, groove down). So I like the stacked chorey in the cardio blocks to compliment the individual track chorey. And based on how others have posted about earlier Jam, they like the single track focus in order to make it more complex, not less. So even single track chorey wouldn't automatically reduce the difficulty down.
In our gym Jazzercize is still packing them in, so I'm sure Zumba will continue to be successful where it has taken off. And, by its nature, is likelier to draw larger crowds. Here's hoping that Jam stays unique and continues to find an audience, so those who would be very frustrated by a simplier style of class will have something that challenges them.