Barbie on Stilts

Barbie on stilts

Many mammals, such as members of the Cervidae family, walk shortly after birth.  Of course they are not bipedal  and they are prey.  People learn to walk comparatively late, but once they master that skill, they also learn to run, skip, jump, dance and, sometimes, stilt walk.
When you were little did you own a set of stilts like these?  I never mastered them and spent a lot of time hopping on and falling off.

These are peg stilts, available in a range of heights.  Some performers wear them while riding stretch bicycles and unicycles.  The worker who taped the drywall in my house wore Dura stilts rather than climb up and down a ladder all day.

Stilts were used by the ancient Greeks.  In some parts of France and Belgium, shepherds wore stilts as they guarded their flocks and villagers wore them to traverse marshy land.

A recent innovation, spring-loaded stilts, allow the wearer to jump or run.  Barbie favours those but wears them for performances only.  

Zumba Barbie

Zumba Barbie

I am sure you have heard about Alberto “Beto” Perez who invented  Zumba during the 1990's.  The story is that he forgot his music for an aerobics class and substituted Latin music.  His class loved it and demanded more.  It is now a major exercise industry with certified instructors and dedicated music and choreography.

Wikipedia reports that approximately 15 million people take weekly Zumba classes in over 200,000 locations across 180 countries.  One of my Zumba friends says that in France, people do Zumba in the discos.  There have been Zumba classes on Parliament Hill here in Ottawa.  I love to go to Zumba.

It is excellent exercise but it feels like a party.   During a one-hour class everyone dances to the  beats of cumbia, salsa, bachata,tango and chachacha.

Henry David Thoreau said "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes..." You can buy Zumba licensed clothing but it really isn't necessary... unless you are Barbie.