My name is Angie Acosta and I am the founder and owner of Queen City Dancing Queen. Queen City Dancing Queen is a dance-inspired fitness company that provides adult group fitness classes to the Greater Charlotte Area.
I have been teaching group fitness classes since my sophomore year at NC State University in 1997. I became interested in group fitness because although cheerleading was my passion in high school, I didn't have the gymnastics and tumbling skills to continue to cheer at the college level. For a while I was completely at a loss for what to do with my energy and desire to entertain until I found my first step aerobics class. After 3 months of taking class, I knew that I had to train to become an instructor. In 1998, I became certified with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America and I maintain this certification active to date. I began teaching a variety of different kinds of traditional group fitness classes, such as Hi/Lo, Step, Kickboxing and Sculpting. I found that exercising with others was so much more fulfilling and motivating than exercising alone, and so group fitness classes were a way for me to be motivated to exercise and help others to do the same.
In addition to my love for group fitness, I have also always loved dance. While I have mostly just danced for fun and for my own personal enjoyment, I have taken lessons here and there to improve and enrich my dancing skills and knowledge. Since I was a cheerleader throughout my grade school years, I danced a lot while growing up. During my college years, I lived in Spain for a year, and while I was there I took lessons to learn to dance "Las Sevillanas"- a form of flamenco. My husband Daniel taught me how to dance Salsa and Merengue, and I also did train briefly with the Carolina Latin Dance Company in 2005 where I learned how to dance cumbia and other latin folkloric dances.
Despite my love for dance, it wasn't until about 3 years ago when a friend took me to a Zumba class that I discovered how to put dance and exercise together in a way that was fun, easy and a GOOD workout. Zumba is latin dance inspired fitness and it incorporates dances such as Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Reggaeton, Flamenco and Samba in a format that is easy to follow and fun to do. Merging my love for dance, especially Latin dance, and group fitness, Zumba was the perfect formula for me. And so, I began teaching Zumba in a variety of gyms and studios around the greater Charlotte area. I also developed a class called DanceOut! that involves all genres of music and dance styles- American and International. Although my classes are dance-inspired, you don't have to be an expert in dance in order to join. In fact, at the beginning of each class, I always emphasize this... "If you are moving, you are doing it right!".
I began my company Queen City Dancing Queen when I realized that the people that were taking my classes at various gyms and studios wanted MORE of my dance-inspired classes. However, in order to follow me they were having to join different gyms, signing (and paying for) long term contracts that were not ideal for them. By bringing my classes to independent locations such as recreation centers and dance studios, my participants could take my classes more times/week at a price that was more affordable. In January 2008, with the support of my husband and business partner, Daniel Acosta, I started Queen City Dancing Queen classes with 5 different locations in Charlotte, Harrisburg and Gastonia. When I became pregnant a few months later, I knew without a doubt that I was going to keep my classes going, but I also knew that I would need more help. That's when I began to train some of my faithful participants to become instructors. Now we have a growing weekly class schedule in the Greater Charlotte Area and a fabulous instructor team of 12. I have also personally developed other dance-inspired classes such as Hit It, Beginning Moves and Urban Shimmy.
Fitness is one of those things that I strongly feel should be fun, so I try to make each class that I teach like a party. When exercise is fun, it is something that you WANT to do, not something that you HAVE to do. Our participants will tell you that not only are our classes more fun, there is also such a beautiful community involved, so that when you are there, people are happy to see you and when you are gone, they notice. It is such a different experience that you get from most gyms where it's "every man for himself" and you can go in and out un-noticed. I am happy to have created such a wonderful organization with classes that bring people happiness each day.
I really hope you’ll come to one of our parties soon! Check the weekly class schedule for class times and locations and come see for yourself that exercise can be fun!
On a personal note…...I had my first child, Dahlia Valentina, on December 3, 2008. I was fortunate to be able to dance right up to my due date, and I am back to my pre-baby body and feel great! I owe it all to our classes.
