Two years after the Zumba scandal in Kennebunk made the whole state blush, this lively form of exercise is bigger than ever. In a lot of places, it’s been joined by a new craze called Bokwa. In the Lewiston-Auburn area, Adriane Kramer teaches both. We caught up with her, which is no easy feat considering her almost spastic energy level, and asked her all about it.

I just got used to the idea of Zumba. Now you’re telling me there’s something called Bokwa? What is it? I am coming up on eight years of teaching next month. Still teaching at Club Texas and, of course, Girl Power. I find that some of my classes are looking for new things to try, so I went to a Bokwa certification and I love it!

Bokwa is different. It is not really a dance workout – there is no choreography and no counting steps. Participants draw letters and numbers with their feet, while moving together to music in free-form rhythm.

Are your classes all women, or are boys allowed? Everyone is doing it. If you can move and you can spell, you can do Bokwa. From 4-year-old kids, to men and women in their 70s, to guys with “two left feet,” to world champion dancers, Bokwa engages participants of all ages in the same class and to the same music. Once you know it you own it! Because it doesn’t feel like working out at all. And because of the energizing music, the fun and predictable steps, and great motivation coming from people moving together to music, participants become addicted to Bokwa. You would not even realize you were burning up to 1,200 calories in one workout.

Have the Zumba/prostitution jokes pretty much dried up by now? The prostitution case that affected many of us still has its punches. We still get some looks as if we were the ones doing it because we wear the clothes that say Zumba on them. We still hear the remarks and such, and of course we see it in the news at least one time a month. Look, here we are talking about it again. It didn’t hurt my classes though; if anything it brought people in because they were, let’s say, “curious.” Hehehe . . .

Any truth to the rumor that you used to be an air traffic controller? I was an airplane engine mechanic in the Navy. Loved my job! Yes, I was fortunate enough to work with my husband and work on planes he would be the engineer of. We traveled all over Europe and had some great times.

Got anything cool coming up? I do have some stuff up my sleeve coming up the gauntlet. I am currently back to teaching strength training classes on weekends as a P90X coach and I have my favorite hula hoop class. I will be certified in Bokwa Step in March and I just got my license for Zumba Step. So needless to say I am going back to some roots by teaching step again, and I love it.