Phoebe (Janet O.) Kilby

Phoebe Kilby has been a dancer all her life, taking classes in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Folk Dance for many years.  She became a licenced Zumba Instructor in August 2011.  Since that time, she has taken Zumba Basic 2, Aqua Zumba, Zumba Gold, Zumba for Kids and Zumba Toning.  She attended the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Zumba Instructors Conventions and is certified in CPR and AED.

Phoebe is particularly skilled at choreography and has developed some original routines for her classes.  She taught her first class for the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at Eastern Mennonite University from May through June, 2012, and then again in 2013 and 2014.  Her supervisor, Valerie Helbert, can attest to the enthusiasm of her students, who came from all over the world, including such countries as Brazil, Liberia, Somalia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Syria, and Australia.  Some of these students were funded by scholarships from the U.S. Agency for International Development.  When asked by USAID staff what helped them be resilient in the face of having to address the problems of war, oppression and injustice in the classroom, one student immediately said: "Zumba!"

Phoebe was the official Zumba instructor for the STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) Program at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University from 2012 to 2014.  Director Elaine Barge took Phoebe's Zumba Class at SPI and sees the value of Zumba in helping people deal with personal trauma.

In 2015, Phoebe moved to Asheville, NC.  She is currently teaching Zumba, Aqua Zumba and Zumba Gold for the YMCA of Western North Carolina and Aqua Zumba for the YWCA of Asheville, NC.