Zumba heals both instructor and students

Lisbeth Garces turned to Zumba in her darkest time, now uses it to bring hope

 Lisbeth Garces is a certified Zumba Fitness Instructor.
Lisbeth Garces is a certified Zumba Fitness Instructor. — K.C. Alfred

Lisbeth Garces moved to San Diego in 1988 because her 5-year-old son, Juan Carlos, had muscular dystrophy and needed medical care.

Back then, Garces was a 26-year-old single mom who left her native Venezuela on a military cargo plane without knowing a word of English.

In 1999, Juan died at age 15. To pull out of her depression, Garces eventually turned to Zumba, the dance-based fitness program.

She became one of San Diego’s first certified instructors and now, at age 52, Garces teaches the dance-based exercise to people with disabilities. The Birdland resident also started a nonprofit, The Juan Carlos Organization, that provides dance therapy for the special needs community.

Q: When did you first discover Zumba?

A: Dance was a natural, daily part of my home and community life while I was growing up in Venezuela. It’s second nature to me, and I’m good at it. When the Zumba movement began in this country around 10 years ago, I was coming out of the period of deepest grief for the loss of my son. I had never been an athlete, but I was drawn to dance again as a way of finding my way through grief and feeling some joy in life again.

Q: Please tell us about your son.

A: Juan Carlos was the most special person I ever knew. He was a smiling, good-natured boy who made friends easily. He and I went through so much together as I tried to find ways to support us, to help him have an active life, and to enable both of us to become fluent in English. Even as his muscular dystrophy got worse, he never lost his kind and caring spirit. I knew I would lose him before he became an adult, but it was devastating to me when he passed away. I fell into deep grief, but in the back of my mind I sometimes thought about finding a way to honor his memory for all that he gave me and others, making our lives richer.

Q: How did you get the idea to teach Zumba to people with disabilities?

A: Sometimes I thought about Juan’s words to me when he played Power Soccer, a game where bumpers are attached to motorized wheelchairs so that kids can push the ball around a gym floor. At that time, he had movement left only in his fingertips, but he said to me, “Being active makes me feel the most like a regular person.” A couple years after I became a Zumba teacher, a student in my class brought her son with her. He had Down syndrome, but he followed the entire class routine and enjoyed himself so much that suddenly a light bulb went on in my head.

Q: Who comes to your special needs Zumba?

A: My classes include people with Down syndrome, autism, brain injuries, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, people with prosthetic limbs, spina bifida, and various other conditions that present movement challenges.

Q: Besides fitness, what do the students get from your class?


