ST. GEORGE —One woman is dancing her way through the community, bringing joy and healing to those in recovery, assisted living facilities and more.

“They say music and dancing is the only thing that turns on every part of your brain at the same time,” Shelley Larsen, owner of Shake it with Shell Zumba, told St. George News. “And it is the most beautiful thing to watch someone transform.”

Larsen said her own transformation journey began in 2008 when she and her family moved from Southern Utah to New Mexico – a decision that resulted in the worst year of her life. Regretting the move, she said she found herself overweight, struggling with health issues and extremely depressed.

“I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror,” Larsen said. “I didn’t know who I was. And that’s a weird thing to look at yourself and not know who you are, to not see anything familiar.”

Shortly after her family moved back to St. George, her sister invited her to attend a Zumba class, something she knew nothing about. She accepted the invite, stepped into a packed room and initially felt uneasy. But as soon as the music started, everything changed.

“I started going as much as I could,” Larsen said about Zumba. “I became addicted. I had a new love. I had a new passion. All of a sudden it went from ‘I don’t know who I am,’ to this complete inner transformation.”

After attending Zumba regularly, she and her sister were asked by the instructor to substitute for her class. The class went so well that the gym owner asked them to teach their own class every week. Their class originally began with about 11 people and Larsen said that quickly grew to 11 classes with 50-plus attendees.

They branded themselves as “The Latin Ladies” and brought Zumba to new places such as the Biggest Loser Resort, after-school programs, the Fourth of July parade, Iron Man and a variety of breast cancer awareness events.

“I think the reason why we grew so much is that we were fuller women, on the same journey,” Larsen said. “People came in and instantly related to us. We created a safe, nonjudgemental place for everyone, allowing people to find and feel better about who they were. Everyone transformed, including us.”

While most attendees tend to feel shy and timid when they come to Zumba for the first time, Larsen said as the classes continue, their confidence grows. Starting at the back of the room closest to the door for an “easy escape,” they work their way up each week, with some even dancing on stage.

Quickly outgrowing their original gym space, she and her sister received a sponsored studio space, where Larsen said they “rocked Bluff Street,” offering everything from hip-hop, jazz, tap, ballet, cheer, pole, hula and belly dancing and Zumba. 

As life changed and the Zumba wave went down, the siblings separated. Larsen said she hung up her dancing shoes for about 8 1/2 years and “went into hiding” until February 2021, when she was asked to teach dance at a bachelorette party. 

“I don’t know what it was, but something just ignited,” Larsen said about the event. “My little burner was lit again. Seeing the joy, the happiness, the silliness, the sweat, it was this whole creativeness of letting go and being able to be you, even if it’s for an hour.”

As she started up her own Zumba classes, she began to recognize familiar faces, such as Aimee Gonzalez, who she found out was going through recovery during the initial classes and was now the owner of three sober living homes. 

Gonzalaz said after her release from jail in 2011, she moved into a sober living facility and saw Larsen’s class down the road and decided to give it a try.

“I had finally smiled and felt joy for the first time in a long time,” Gonzalez said. “I also got my confidence back that had been lost for so long.”

Back in Larsen’s new Zumba class, she began bringing women in recovery with her. She said the ability to watch their faces light up and experience true joy and happiness has been a priceless experience.

“This can be a really awesome asset to the recovery world,” Larsen said about dance. “No one is doing it. The endorphins it releases, the natural high –  many of them don’t remember how to have clean fun and a high that’s better, because it lasts.”

Larsen has a mobile podcast, “Shake it Through the Community,” where she interviews people in the community who have transformed through her classes.

“There’s so much good here, so many great people here, just beautiful people and stories,” Larsen said about Southern Utah. “This is the foundation of where I’m going. It’s not where I’m staying, it’s just the start of where I’m supposed to be. I still can’t believe I’m here. I’m grateful.”

Larsen quit two jobs in October 2021 to pursue teaching dance full-time. Along with offering community Zumba classes, she also provides classes at an assisted living and memory care facility and is a coach at Premier Fit. For more information on Shake it Shell, along with a calendar of available classes, visit their website. Find them on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

‘You have one hour,” Larsen said. “One hour to commit to yourself, you have one hour to grow, and you have one hour to be uncomfortable. And being uncomfortable means you’re growing.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.