The Music for 18 Musicians Workout Video

Nobody likes a fat publicist, so I’ve been subjecting myself to these absurd Zumba classes on Thursdays and Sundays at my gym. Click here to see what I decidedly don’t look like doing it (although I do bear an uncanny resemblance to that woman in the back in the lime green top). I would characterize Zumba as dance, though the whole thing is so branded (the word “Zumba” pops into the songs, the instructor wears “Zumba” gear…) that it’s probably closer to aerobics. It is dance-esque, though, which had me thinking mid-shimmy #17 on Thursday that dance was more accessible than classical music because people can do it as exercise.

I have a picture somewhere in my iPhoto library of Hilary flexing her arm muscles and me flexing my arm “muscles”; suffice to say, she has more definition than I do. Eric and The King’s Singers probably have much better stomach muscles (no matter how many Pilates classes I may suffer through), and Hélène and Gabriel certainly have stronger handshakes. Having just seen Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” at Lincoln Center last week, I’m certain percussionists have great upper bodies (there’s one musician stage left during the piece who has to shake a maraca with his right arm/hand for about five minutes straight…ouch…). Playing an instrument is exercise. Singing is exercise. The New York City Ballet has a workout video, so why don’t The King’s Singers? Why doesn’t So Percussion?

To see if such a thing existed, I Googled “music exercise”. The results were all about music to exercise to, not playing music as exercise. I then Googled “playing music as exercise”, and again got a series of results about how people exercise better/differently when music is playing. Is it possible that no one has made a music-as-exercise DVD? Podcast? Gym class? There could be a percussion section for upper body strength, a keyboard section for hand strength…cello/harp section for leg strength…

Have I gone off the deep-end, or do we think there’s something to this?