Jazzercise: Hit music, fun classes and a serious sweat. But first forget what you think you know. | Your Observer
Jazzercise: Hit music, fun classes and a serious sweat. But first forget what you think you know
Forget the legwarmers and the leotards. Today’s Jazzercise, at least in the high-energy, community-focused studio in Lakewood Ranch, is all about smiling and sweating
- ByMark Gordon
- | 5:00 a.m. August 20, 2026
- East County
- Neighbors
DeAna Muehlen traveled from central Oklahoma to Bradenton in mid-July, coming 1,360 miles for a family reunion. She hit the area’s beaches, coffee shops and restaurants. She checked out some sunsets. She also had something of an unusual, non-touristy must-do on her list: go to a Jazzercise class, at the area’s only Jazzercise studio, in Lakewood Ranch. Three Jazzercise classes, actually, during her six-day stay in town.
And this was July 2026 — not July 1986, the year and era many people think of when they hear Jazzercise, the fitness studio that bills itself as the original dance party <a href="https://healthylife7.com/pregnant-women-who-did-one-type-of-workout-had-lower-diabetes-risk/” title=”Pregnant women who did one type of workout had lower diabetes risk”>workout. Founded in 1969 in Chicago by dance instructor Judi Sheppard Missett, Jazzercise is a fitness studio pioneer, shimmying and stomping long before Zumba, SoulCycle and others went hyper-niche within the industry
And, as most people of a certain age recall, Jazzercise had a moment in the sun in the 1980s. Back then its core client base were suburban moms decked out in bright leotards and brighter leggings, doing pelvic thrusts and hip swivels. Jazzercise lost some of its shine in the ensuing decades, as other concepts had their moments
But Jazzercise never went away.
USA Today, for one, published a story in 2021 under the headline “Why Jazzercise, the ’80s exercise phenomenon is still going strong 50 years later.” And in August 2025 the New York Post published a story about Jazzercise titled, “This retro workout is the antidote to uber-competitive fitness culture — and it’s making a comeback with Gen Z and millennials.”
Muehlen, 46, is a jubilant Jazzercise devotee who doesn’t buy into the gym for grannies stereotypes, either. And for good reason: Jazzercise changed her life
A mom of three, Muehlen was sitting in her home in Oklahoma in 2023 when the TV show “Good Morning America” ran a segment on Jazzercise. “I said, ‘oh my gosh, that looks like fun,’” Muehlen recalls.
Muehlen says she sheepishly signed up for one class, which soon became two and then quickly blossomed into at least five a week. Combined with lifestyle and diet changes, Muehlen has lost 110 pounds, she says, since her first Jazzercise class. It’s why, she says, she looked up the schedule at Jazzercise Sarasota Lakewood Ranch before she left Edmond, Oklahoma, and told a relative she had to borrow a car and leave the reunion for a bit to take some classes
“It’s not just a workout,” Muehlen says. “It’s a community. It’s so uplifting. It’s really focused me mentally. It’s made me a better mom, a better friend, a better daughter, a better everything.”
Muehlen found that same welcoming environment at her Jazzercise classes in Lakewood Ranch in between the family gatherings. The 2,400-square-foot studio is in a small shopping plaza, just east of Interstate 75 off University Parkway, on Lake Osprey Drive. Linksters Tap Room is to one side, and the center is also home to an insurance office, golf swing business Golftec and Lucky Pelican restaurant, among other tenants. (Jazzercise members sometimes go to group lunches at Lucky Pelican.)
Attorney-turned-fitness-entrepreneur Shari Nastri owns the Jazzercise Sarasota Lakewood Ranch studio. When Nastri first started taking Jazzercise classes in Connecticut some 20 years ago, she too, had the same feelings, and a chip on her shoulder, she says, about “this being your mother’s thing.”
But, just like many others who take one Jazzercise class, they soon learn 2026 Jazzercise is markedly different from the past. Same in sweat. And connecting to a community remains a priority. But today’s Jazzercise incorporates modern muscle-building techniques that also improve bone density, among other highlights. “We love our roots. We lean into our roots,” Nastri says. “But we also want to evolve.”
Get after it
Jazzercise Sarasota Lakewood Ranch offers some 40 classes a week, under names such as Cardio Sculpt, Vital Sculpt and Stretch. Most stretch sessions are 30 minutes, other classes are 60 minutes. The sculpt classes are fast-moving, with dance moves, high-intensity interval training and recovery elements mixed into a fast-paced hour.
Most classes have between 20 and 30 participants, says Nastri, though she won’t cancel classes with four people and some have as many as 40. The majority of participants are women, though some men take classes, Nastri says. That includes her husband, Jim Nastri, who has taken sculpt classes and the small-group Elevate sessions, which offer more individualized training. The age range, overall, runs from people in their 20s through a few in their 80s.
The studio is an open space, light and airy, with no mirrors and a small stage at the front. A high-energy instructor stands on the raised platform and teaches while looking out at the participants, using a combination of tough love and soft you-got-this motivation. Classes are also on video, for an anytime, on-demand fitness option
Jazzercise Sarasota Lakewood Ranch is one of about 7,500 Jazzercise franchised locations in 20 countries worldwide, with 32,000 classes taught each week, according to the Carlsbad, California company’s LinkedIn page. There are some common themes among all the studios. But Nastri has some flexibility, too, on classes, schedules and operations at her studio. Nastri has also been on the Jazzercise Franchise Advisory Board since last December
Healthy hustle
Nastri started her work career as a lawyer, mostly as a defense litigator in insurance, in Connecticut. Fitness was an outlet to balance work and raising three kids with her husband. “I got into fitness for stress relief,” she says, “and as my kids got older, I really stuck with it.”
Being healthy and fit has long been a priority for Nastri. Her dad died of cancer when he was 44 — she was 19 years old. Her mom lived until she was 72, but died of congestive heart failure. “I’m 56,” she says, “and I feel stronger and better than I did when I was 46.”
Nastri started as a Jazzercise instructor in Connecticut in 2006. The Nastris relocated to Lakewood Ranch in 2022, and she bought a franchise in 2023, where she remains an instructor
There were some naysayers at first, telling her not to do it. Concerns like there’s too much competition. You’ll lose people during the summer. Lakewood Ranch is too old. Nastri has found the opposite is true. “Sure people have options” for fitness classes, she says, “but there’s also a lot of people here.”
Jazzercise Sarasota Lakewood Ranch’s membership base has been growing, partly by word of mouth and partly through Nastri hustling on the marketing side, including attending as many Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance events as possible.
Nastri says her best moments at Jazzercise come when she converts doubters to doers. “I love when people come here and tell me they never wanted to exercise and they don’t feel comfortable in their own skin,” she says, “and then they realize how much they enjoy it here.”
The flipside, her No. 1 obstacle, is getting people to stick with it
“The biggest challenge is getting people to recognize that it needs to be part of your routine to have these classes,” she says. “I think some people think it’s selfish when they prioritize fitness, but they need to realize your body is like a car, and you wouldn’t run your car without an oil change or gas. You need to take care of it.”
Sponsored Content
Sign Up for Daily Headlines
A daily dose of news from Longboat Key, East County, Sarasota and Siesta Key
Sign Up for In Case You Missed It
A Saturday dose of the week’s top stories from Sarasota, Longboat Key and East County
