The Kent Dance Ensemble is organizing a “Guilt-Free Ice cream Social” and Zumba class Friday starting at 5 p.m. in Music and Speech Center Room D123.

Sabatino A. Verlezza, the student director of the Kent Dance Ensemble and recently licensed Zumba instructor, said he wanted to give busy, on-the-go students a fun way to get active.

The social will start with an hour of Zumba, an exercise program that incorporates Latin dances such as salsa, merengue and cumbia, in addition to hip-hop and reggaeton among others.

“I’ve had people in my class who burn between 600 to a 1,000 calories per class,” Verlezza said. “So it’s a really high energy, high-cardio workout, but the music is so much fun. It’s my favorite part of teaching the class that the music is so exhilarating.”

After the class, participants will be able to enjoy ice cream and take part in games and activities put together by Kent Dance Association.

While the purpose of the event is to raise money for the ensemble to bring in guest choreographers, dancers and other performers for the program, Verlezza said one of his goals was to not overcharge students.

“I’m a student myself and would never want to overcharge, nor can people afford much,” he said.

Entrance into the event is $3, which includes the hour-long Zumba class, ice cream and games.

“I really wanted it to be more about the experience than about us trying to raise money because we have other means of doing funding,” Verlezza said. “But I thought this would be a really fun way of doing a back-to-school kick off.”

Fiza Shah is a news correspondent.

Contact Fiza Shah at [email protected].