Jazzercise Has Toned Down a Bit but Kept Its Verve : Dance-and-fitness classes that were started in 1969 have been updated and are still going strong.

Jane Fonda hadn’t gotten into aerobics when Judi Sheppard Missett conceived of a combination dance and fitness class way back in 1969.

Missett, who first offered the class at a studio in Evanston, Ill., in between her performances as a professional dancer, didn’t have a name for her technique back then. But by the early ‘70s, after moving to northern San Diego County, she had dubbed it “Jazzercise,” and the rest is fitness history.

Today, the workout that dates back to the days of Woodstock is still going strong, with 4,500 instructors at 276 centers in 26 countries, including more than 75 instructors in Orange County at Jazzercise studios and other locations.

The franchised fitness program has flourished over the years, thanks to a combination of constant change and dependable sameness. Workouts, which instructors learn from videotapes, are revised every eight weeks to follow the current aerobics wisdom, now emphasizing lower-impact workouts.

But despite the frequent updates, Jazzercise classes, like McDonald’s and K mart, are comfortably consistent the world over. Go to an evening Jazzercise class in Cypress, for example, and you’ll find the same workout you would at a morning class in Irvine, or Wiesbaden, Germany, for that matter.

The music may vary and each instructor has her own individual style, but the moves are the same. And that comes in handy for women in a variety of situations, from businesswomen who travel frequently, to military wives, to working moms who need classes convenient to both home and office.

All the classes are designed to begin with slow stretches, then increase in aerobic intensity before tapering off again. Some instructors have students check their heart rates to make sure they aren’t exercising too hard; others depend on other methods, such as engaging the class in conversation or even yelling, to make sure no one is breathing too hard.

Students pay either on a class-by-class basis (walk-in fees range from about $3.50 to $5) or buy a month’s worth of class tickets to bring down the cost.

Barbara Balowitz of Cypress, an aerobics aficionado for the past decade, dropped into her first Jazzercise class a couple of weeks ago and decided to stick with it. Although she still does her regular aerobics class at a local gym, Balowitz says she particularly enjoys Jazzercise because “you get to wiggle more. You can interpret the music any way you want to. There are certain steps they follow, but I usually do my own thing.”

Balowitz says she’s been doing regular aerobic exercise for “at least 10 years” and she likes it because “you can cope with stress so much better when you do aerobics. You’re able to bounce back from things that happen to you.”

She was invited to join the class by her friend Goldie Levison, also of Cypress, who says she chose Jazzercise because “it was either this or volleyball. I thought about going to a health club, but I’m just not into that meat-market scene.”

Although there are occasionally men in Jazzercise classes, the classes are predominantly female. The all-female atmosphere in most classes gives participants, and instructors, a chance to discuss personal matters between songs and especially during the quiet cool-down stretch period at the end of class. In some classes, they share details about their family lives, health problems, vacation plans and even the occasional dirty joke.

“We’re almost like a family,” says Niki Parker of Costa Mesa, who teaches the class at the Cypress Community Center as well as other locations.

Parker puts plenty of her own personality into her workout, constantly asking the class questions such as: “Who’s burning fat?” “Who’s breathing?” and “Who’s ready to quit right now?”

But she doesn’t aspire to create her own routines. “If I started improvising, it wouldn’t be Jazzercise,” she says.

“I enjoy it because I get so much back from it,” Parker says. “It’s great during a class because of the energy level we can create together. Everyone supports everyone else, and it’s much better than working out alone.”

Terry McCollum, who teaches at the Irvine Jazzercise center, draws on her background as a dietitian to offer cooking and nutrition tips during her workouts.

Instructors also keep a lookout for students who are doing exercises improperly or need special guidance.

The word jazz in Jazzercise may be misleading, since instructors choose from a wide range of music. Some have rap workouts, others are exclusively country, while most use several different styles during the one-hour exercise period.

“In the beginning, we used (records) and had to keep switching them,” Parker says. “Now we have cassette tapes.”

Students are rewarded for the number of classes they take with special premiums, such as Jazzercise tote bags or water bottles.

Each Jazzercise class is designed to accommodate both low- and high-impact exercises, and beginners as well as advanced students. As the chain has grown, specialized classes have also been added, including Super Sessions, longer, more challenging workouts; Fast & Fit, a half-hour class, and Jazzercise Lite, with a lower intensity than traditional Jazzercise workouts.

“You don’t have to be a dancer to be a Jazzerciser,” Parker says. “But you can still enjoy moving to the music.”