Meet The Jazzercise Fitness Instructors

Marthese Attard

Marthese Attard started Jazzercise in 1986 when she attended a class in Stavanger, Norway. Since then she continued attending classes and enjoying Jazzercise for four years until she had to move back to England. She settled in Buckinghamshire which she found so beautiful but there was only one thing missing in her life, Jazzercise! She solved that problem immediately by becoming a Jazzercise instructor herself!

Marthese has been teaching since 1990 and her classes have been successful and popular from the start, now more so than ever. She aims to continue to set up more classes to cope with the demand from the local communities.

Over the past 20 years Marthese has kept herself extremely busy.  During this time she has: 

• Been awarded Masters Certificates of Fitness by Jazzercise Inc.  
• Awarded Platinum Rank for 2010 by Jazzercise Inc. (highest rank for Jazzercise instructors worldwide), and ranked 4th largest Jazzercise franchise worldwide.  
• Mentored/Trained Prospective New Jazzercise Instructors to lead them towards certification  
• Franchise Owner/Instructor of 29 classes in Buckinghamshire and 4 in Maidenhead.  
• Been Certified by Jazzercise Inc. since 21st February 1990.  

Marthese is also a postgraduate in Business Administration from Brunel University. She has worked in business administration management and as an accountant in the past and recently she has decided to devote all her time to her Jazzercise career to develop it further in new areas. 

Now for the fun stuff!   Marthese loves to tell silly stories about herself and life in general, sing to music (which is not her forte), and encourages everyone to have a great time dancing while teaching her classes. She makes her classes so much fun with her positive attitude, energy and motivation that her students always wonder how the hour long class was over before they even had time to think about it! Marthese believes that if you love your workout it will never seem long enough! Way to go!
So come along, Marthese would love to meet you.

Vicki Wheeler

Vicki Wheeler is, so far, the only Jazzercise instructor in the South Bucks area without a gorgeous accent from a far away country. Her life in a nut shell is that she’s educated to A’ level standard, she managed her own childcare business, is divorced with two children, but is now living happily with her partner Andy in Bourne End since Spring 2005.

When Vicki moved to Bourne End her friend Wendy persuaded her to go to a Jazzercise class, but being five stone heavier than she is now, and lacking confidence as she hadn’t been to an aerobics class in a long time, she needed some hand holding. So, on the first night Wendy collected Vicki and took her to Beaconsfield where she experienced the ‘wacky Italian’ Stefania and Jazzercise, her life was changed forever. What a great friend she’s got, thanks Wendy!

From the first night in September 2005 Vicki giggled and laughed due to the hip wiggling, glute squeezing, pelvic pushing sexy moves, so much so that she next attended class on her own, meeting Marthese and she was hooked. Vicki then decided to make some further changes and included healthy eating with the increased attendance of Jazzercise classes and her weight dropped. Below are two photos of Vicki before she started Jazzercise.

Vicki’s claim to fame is that she was spotted by three different instructors and encouraged to become a Jazzercise instructor, and all she was doing was having fun and enjoying the moves. She says ‘Jazzercise is great, you don’t ever feel that exercise is a chore because you’re having so much fun’, and that, she says, is why she became an instructor, so that she can let you experience this too, when you see her on stage you’ll see she’s still having lots of fun.

Just to warn you the picture of Vicki may not be accurate, she tends to change her hair colour, so when you meet her it might be brown, blonde, black, red, purple or pink and believe it or not it’s even been blue.

Keira Atkins

Keira started Jazzercise in September 2007 with a friend, they loved it and joined instantly. 8 weeks after joining she became a Class Manager and then in June 2008 started training to become an Instructor, Keira passed the workshop in February 2009 and become an Instructor.

Keira says she is an open easygoing, fun and adaptable person who loves people and music especially Latin or Funky dance music, she has a mad and beautiful Irish mother (great cook) and a laid back Greek father (builder).
Keira left college with a City & Guilds in Sports & Leisure studies, before that in her previous jobs she has been a lifeguard in 3 leisure centre's, a Nanny for 3 different families, a Gym Instructor in a busy London gym and whilst there she qualified as a Spinning Instructor which she loved teaching.

From the age of 14, along with her father and sister, Keira did karate for a period of 10 years, they all became instructors. Keira enjoyed teaching karate especially to the kids. After that she qualified to teach Box-a-cise and her most amazing job experience was as a Fitness Instructor/Personal Trainer on cruise ships where she sailed New York to Bermuda and then San Diego to Puerto Rico.
After this she then came home and fell pregnant with her daughter in 2001, got married in 2002 and then in 2004 had a son. After all of this she worked as a bank cashier until November 2008.

Keira says.. "The most wonderful part of Jazzercise is being part of an AMAZING team, whether as a customer, class manager, trainee or instructor the interest and support you get is so rare these days. I have made many friends through Jazzercise and I love being part of the large group of instructors we have at Jazzercise Bucks."

Antoinette Baker

Antoinette was born in London where she grew up and lived until 6 years ago. She went to Greycoat Hospital School in Victoria and then continued her studies in South East London. Antoinette worked for Carlton Television for over eight years. She hugely enjoyed her role as assistant to the Sales Director in this fast-paced environment. While working at Carlton she was able to frequent a popular gym in Covent Garden at least four times a week and this is when her love of exercise and keeping fit was cemented.

Antoinette moved to Amersham in 2002 where she got married and settled down. She now has two daughters aged three and five. Although English born both her parents are Jamaican (which adds to the cosmopolitan blend of the hot Bucks team!).

Antoinette qualified as a Jazzercise Instructor in February 2009 after being a class manager for over two years. After some serious contemplation, a little arm twisting and a tiny bit of gentle persuasion, Antoinette eventually plucked up the courage to get on the stage and has never looked back. Antoinette has found Jazzercise her most demanding challenge to date, however, she absolutely loves the excitement and thrill of getting on stage to motivate a class which she never imagained having the confidence to do.

Antionette says .. "Jazzercise has become a significant part of my life and even my two little girls practice my routines with me!! I find the music always appropriate and of such variety, it's so much more enjoyable than going to the gym. You have much more fun as your group of friends grows and you work out together, always ready to help each other with a little encouragement when needed. I have made some great friends whilst getting fit and trim and Jazzercise has given my confidence a boost."

Michelle Swaby

Michelle became a qualified Jazzercise instructor in February 2009, after beginning Jazzercise as moral support to her friend and to lose a few pounds.

After taking her first class at Cressex with Marthese, Michelle was hooked. She loved the dance and fitness combination. It was great fun and was nothing like any other form of exercise she had tried before. Everyone was there with the same goal and there was nothing hostile at all about a Jazzercise class, unlike some other classes she had tried before.

Michelle is educated to A-level standard and as well as being a Jazzercise instructor, Michelle works full time in account management for a distribution company. With Michelle’s slightly exotic background, she fits in with Jazzercise Bucks cosmopolitan mix of instructors as her father is Jamaican and her mother is British.

After qualifying as a Jazzercise instructor, Michelle has managed to find something to fill the time that was once taken up by training and revising. Michelle was married to husband Roy on the 9th September 2009 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Michelle Says.. "I’m glad that I decided to become a Jazzercise instructor, it has definitely become an important part of my life and I don’t know what I would do without it. The people you meet at classes are so very warm and friendly; you really do feel part of something special. I just want to help motivate people into staying fit and to reach there fitness goals, whilst having a laugh and a lot of fun on the way"

Sian Williams

Sian started Jazzercise in October 2007 with a friend, to loose weight and get fit. She attended a Marthese class at High Crest and was instantly inspired, she loved the music and the atmosphere and quickly became hooked attending regular classes 4 times a week. Sian had always been very active; she swam for Wycombe District Swimming Club from the age of 5 - 17 and participated in all sporting activities at school, but had never found an exercise as much fun as Jazzercise.

After a year she became a class manager assisting in all classes across the area. After some serious thought, and gentle persuasion from the team Sian began training to be an instructor early 2009, but was set back after a torn ligament in her foot and qualified in February 2010.

Sian is educated to A-Level standard and works as a senior recruitment consultant. She is a bubbly and confident character who loves being up on stage performing! She thoroughly enjoys learning new routines and always pushes herself to achieve high standards.

Sian says.....“I began Jazzercise to loose weight, get fit and meet new people. When I decided to become an instructor it was definitely a life changing decision. I should have done it years ago! It has given me back my confidence, and I have made some life long friends. Exercise should never feel like a chore, it should be fun and enjoyable. Jazzercise has enabled me to meet and exceed my personal goals and I now hope to be an inspiration and help others do the same."

Manager in a well recognised Recruitment Company. I have been there for 4 and a half years and absolutely love it!

Alison Goodright 

Alison first attended Jazzercise as company for her sister-in-law. She was already a self-confessed ‘fitness freak’ keeping active by running, attending pilates classes and using aerobics DVDs. Her first class was a Saturday morning in Hughenden, and she was immediately hooked. She says: “I smiled and laughed throughout the whole class!” As time went by, Alison began attending classes alone – in Marlow, Bisham and during the school holidays, in Loudwater. Soon, she decided to become a class manager for Dee and Michelle in Marlow and friends began to persuade her that she should become an instructor. In June 2010, she plucked up the courage and began training. She qualified in September 2010.

Alison is educated to degree level and despite having a somewhat less exotic background than some of her fellow Jazzercise instructors, she can claim to have lived overseas and to be a fluent French speaker. She is currently employed as a year 3 teacher in a local primary school. So when she’s not learning new routines or teaching class, she’s teaching her own class!

Alison says: “I love music and dancing, so it was hardly surprising that I fell in love with Jazzercise! I also love the mix of pilates, boxercise, dance and aerobics that it offers. The instructors energise and enthuse you, which is exactly what you need. Jazzercise certainly gives a fun, effective workout! When I joined the team I was welcomed with open arms; the JazzBucks girls certainly are a friendly bunch!”

Tanya Doherty

Tanya joined Jazzercise in February 2010 after being persuaded to attend a class by her twin sister Kirsty, and from day one she was obsessed!  It was only in her second class that Marthese tried to coax her up onto the stage, and after four months, Tanya agreed to start her instructor training, which she passed in September 2010.
Tanya works for a local wine importer so, as you can imagine, wine tasting is one of her passions and she has been with her employers for over five years working her way up to her position now as Premium Wine Training and Support manager.  Tanya’s job takes her all over the UK every week but she loves getting back to teach her Jazzercise customers, whom she misses on her trips away.

Tanya says: “I have always been fairly active and have had different gym memberships, trying countless types of fitness classes, but they always became tiresome after only a matter of months.  Jazzercise really is the best form of exercise I have ever tried and I am absolutely hooked.  I love to dance as well as look after my figure and that is why Jazzercise is so perfect, we burn hundreds of calories while having fun at the same time!”

Tracey McWilliam

Tracey started Jazzercise in 2007 after being introduced to it by her Aunt in Scotland. She loved it so much she looked for a local class. She loves to keep fit and used to do synchronised swimming and long distance running but had to hang up the glittery swimming costumes and nose pegs when she started working full time. Eager to find something else that combined choreographed routines with music without having a treadmill in sight she went along to a class with Marthese.  She was hooked from the start and has introduced her friends to it too. She was approached by a couple of instructors about getting up on stage and after some arm twisting she decided to give it ago and qualified in February 2011.

Tracey works for British Airways as a communications specialist for the pilots. She enjoys the perks of working for an airline, travelling all over the world with her discounts. When she’s not jet-setting she loves teaching her classes.  

Tracey says: ‘I have never got bored of Jazzercise, I love the diversity of routines and music, which change often. The classes are so much fun – I sometimes forget I am doing exercise. I look forward to every class and the great bit is it works!  Jazzercise is really social too; I have made some great life-long friends who I love to catch up with when I go to class.' 

Laura Cowie

Laura started Jazzercise in 2007 after hearing about it through some friends. She had always been very active from a young age, playing tennis, dancing and swimming for Wycombe District Swimming Club but had never found anything quite like Jazzercise. Laura went to her first class at Highcrest Community School and was instantly hooked!  She initially joined to lose weight that she had gained at University, but as the weight fell off she still found herself loving it so much that she would be attending 4-5 classes a week.  She soon became a Class Manager and from there was persuaded to become an Instructor, qualifying in February 2011.
 
Laura is educated to a degree level, having studied Psychology at University and is set to begin a Postgraduate Diploma in September 2011 in Speech and Language Therapy. She currently works in the Speech and Language Department in a Specialist Secondary School with children with autism and hearing impaired children with additional communication difficulties.  She loves her job and how rewarding the field that she works in is. When she is not working, she loves to burn off some steam and calories dancing away at Jazzercise.
 
Laura says: ‘I tried going to the gym but it didn’t work for me because I KNEW I was doing exercise. Jazzercise is different - it’s fun, energetic and a great workout and what’s more, I enjoy it so much I often forget that I am doing exercise - it feels like a night out with the girls! Jazzercise attracts a great crowd of customers, class managers and instructors and has a fantastic atmosphere; I love being a part of it and have made some fantastic friends. I leave every class smiling and de-stressed and I hope that customers leave (and return!) to my classes feeling the same way!’

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