Valentina Dibbi is Bermuda's newest Jazzercise instructor.

Her love of the dance form, which was created in 1969 by Judi Sheppard Missett, began in 1991 when she wanted to stop smoking.

She loved the dance so much that she not only kicked her nicotine habit, she has been doing it for almost two decades.

Jazzercise combines moves from Hip-Hop, yoga, Pilates, jazz dance, kickboxing and resistance training and bundles them into one hour for a total body workout.

The classed are being offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in the mornings and evenings at The Old Berkeley Institute in The Jiketsu Martial Arts Centre.

Mrs. Dibbi explained that all ages, levels and sizes are welcome to come and join the sessions.

She says that when she started she knew that in order to quit smoking, she needed to exercise.

"So I looked in the paper and I looked around and they had something in a recreation centre (in California) and I went," she said.

"I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I went and I had so much fun and the next day I woke up and I felt like I had a new lease on life, I kid you not.

"So I went into work and I told my boss, who was a mentor of mine, and she goes, 'what's his name?' And I said, 'no, I don't have a new boyfriend', and I was a little embarrassed to tell her that it was just a Jazzercise class.

"I told her about it and she said, 'oh, I go too'. So it was just cool and I've been going ever since and that was 19 years ago."

Mrs. Dibbi was just glad that she found a fitness programme she could stick to, as over the years she tried a personal trainer, jogging, amongst others.

"The thing about Jazzercise is that the routines change, the choreographer keeps it current," she said.

"For a while we had Jazzerstep and now the tubes (elastic bands with handles on the ends) have come in and they are incorporated into our moves. We also have resistance training at the end of the class. Also whatever you are hearing on the radio, that's what's on, as the music is current.

"There are choreographed routines to those songs. So when you hear a certain song, you know the moves that go with it, so you can get more into it, be'cause you know the routine."

However, this is not her first time teaching, as she taught before marrying a Bermudian and moving to Bermuda.

"When I moved here (from North Carolina) there were no classes to go to," she said in her Southern twang.

"So I said, 'oh, oh, I'm going to have to start a class, that's it!'"

Growing up she was in several dance squads, but she found that as an adult there weren't many outlets for those who wanted to dance.

"There's salsa now, but for jazz and modern, you'd have to take a dance class," said Mrs. Dibbi.

"So for me this is a way to keep dance alive in my life and for two or three times a week to dance and not to smell a bunch of smoke in the clubs.

"I have also had people say that they thought they couldn't dance, but now at weddings and things like that they feel more comfortable.

"So it is not just for people who can dance, it is for anyone who wants to move and have a good time."

For more information on Bermuda Jazzercise ring 331-7001. Visit www.Jazzercise.com and click on find a class and type in Bermuda or visit the her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/across-from-Gorhams/Bermuda-Jazzercise-with-Valentina/109996225687958.