Inc. – Just Dance: How the Founder of Jazzercise Started a Dance Fitness Revolution

Judi Sheppard Missett practically invented the women’s workout movement.

The Godfather of Soul—James Brown—once said, “Get up off of that thing. Dance and you’ll feel better.” And although that sentiment is more about the mindset adjustment felt when you lose yourself on the dance floor, people who dance as a form of exercise also prove to feel better physically. However, moving feet to a beat wasn’t always accessible as a form of working out. In fact, outside of dancehalls and courses meant for professionals, the chance for women to exercise, let alone get in a little choreographed cardio, was limited.

Enter Judi Sheppard Missett.

In the 1960s, Missett was a performer with a company called Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. But she also taught a class called Jazz Dance for Adult Beginners. Unfortunately, most of the attendees couldn’t keep up with the rigorous professional dance routines—particularly the wives and mothers who enrolled.

What she learned as she talked to clients led to an interesting discovery.

“We don’t want to be a professional dancer, we just want to look like one,” Missett says attendees told her. “And so that was the light bulb.” She took that to heart and asked the company’s director if she could try teaching something new.

Read the full Inc. article here.