Iranian government agency bans Zumba, and its fans fume
TEHRAN, Iran — To those Iranians shaking their hips and backsides to Latin American music during Zumba exercise classes, Iran’s Muslim clerics — and a U.S. company — have the same message: Stop it. It’s illegal.
The country’s Zumba fans, however, are refusing to back down.
“It’s fun. It’s positive,” said Sunny Nafisi, 33, a Zumba instructor who works in a Tehran gym.
An edict issued this month by the head of the Sports for All Federation, a government institution promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle, effectively banned Zumba classes for being contrary to Islamic precepts.
Ever since, Nafisi’s phone has been buzzing with messages from depressed Zumba aficionados.
“It is as if they have legalized alcohol — everyone is talking about it,” Nafisi said, referring to the liquor ban in the country. Even her mother-in-law called from California to ask if this was the end of Zumba in Iran.
“Of course not,” Nafisi fumed. “Zumba will not be stopped.”
Popular but proscribed activities, including Zumba dancing, are often tolerated if they take place semi-hidden or under a different name.
“I taught Zumba for years here,” Nafisi said. “But instead of calling it Zumba, I called it ‘exercise to music’ so no one would notice.”
Then another Zumba instructor started calling her classes by their real name. When authorities did not react, many other instructors swiftly followed.
“Suddenly it became free,” she said. “Maybe they just stopped caring.”
Until this month. In a letter, the head of the Sports for All Federation, Ali Majd Ara, decided Zumba wasn’t one of the accepted sports. The problem: Making “rhythmic movements” or “dancing” is illegal, his letter said.
For Nafisi, Iran’s clerics were not the only ones opposing her. So, too, was the legal department of Zumba Fitness, the U.S. company behind the fitness craze, which, she said had revoked her instructor permit last year.
Some U.S. companies interpret sanctions on Iran rigidly, and Nafisi received a letter saying that only if she moved to a different country would she get her instructor’s permit back.
Nafisi will go ahead with her scheduled Zumba classes in Tehran anyway, she insisted.
“I have 40 students — they want to work out,” she said. “I’ll just rename the class.”
“I have 40 students — they want to work out. I’ll just rename the class.” – ZUMBA INSTRUCTOR SUNNY NAFISI