Thea White
Hello, my name is Thea. I am 52 years old, a mother of three and a fitness and dance instructor.
I have been teaching exercises and dance routines ever since I can remember.
I used to bring my tape recorder to school and have my classmates follow me through a variety of
exercise routines. I would make up moves on the spot. In college, I studied in UC Irvine and UC
Los Angeles majoring in Dance. I've wanted to pursue a dance career but after college,
I couldn't afford to put myself in a dance class, so I thought if I taught fitness I could kill two
birds with one stone. It was while working at the Holiday Spa that I discovered that I could
coordinate fitness exercises. I was fortunate enough to catch the fitness craze back in the 80's.
During those times of the fitness boom, I taught at Voight Fitness Center, one of the very well known
fitness centers in those days. I capitalized on my dance training by putting funky dance steps into
my fitness classes. I did it in a way that everyone could easily follow along; just the way I did
when I was nine years old with my classmates in elementary school. My class was called Jazz Funk.
My Jazz Funk exercise work-out took me all over the world. I've been to Japan, France, Italy,
Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. Due to the demand for my workouts, I was able to
choreograph, and star in two fitness videos: Jazz Funk Video produced in Chicago in 1991 and Power
Funk Video produced in Philadelphia in 1992. These videos open up opportunities for me to appear on
various shows like The Montel Williams' Show and The Today Show. I was also featured in various
magazines including the BE (Black Elegance) Magazine, Harper's Bazaar and the Muscles & Fitness Magazine.