Todd Chen, director of Rise Dance Company, stepped into salsa serendipitously: after a disastrous party that found him standing at the sidelines as more experienced dancers twirled his date around the room, he began to apply his hip-hop experience to Latin beats. Instead of hoarding his newfound sultriness, Chen recruited a team of seasoned instructors, who break each move into simple steps that are easy to learn and practice. The company's dynamic group Zumba workouts pair Latin-inspired dance steps with vibrant world music. As with training a parrot to rap, both Zumba and traditional salsa classes revolve around repetition to build up a repertoire of steps that translate to dance floors everywhere, helping students internalize the moves as they melt stress and calories.