PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
Love of exercise started with Jazzercise
Fitness trends come and go. Gyms close up shop. But
for the last 34 years, Port St. Lucie’s Sandi Hellstrom-
Leonard has kept her Jazzercise students on their toes.
“Sandi is very theatrical up there. She’s performing
for us!” says Maria Funka, a Hellstrom-Leonard student for
26 years.
The second of three sisters, Alexandra Haczynski, was
raised in Delaware. No middle name - “Alexandra Haczynski
was enough!” she said. Her father’s nickname “Sandy”
evolved in high school to Sandi … so that she could dot the I
with a star, which she still does.
The draw to entertainment, to performing, began early. At
age 5, she experienced two life-changers: dance lessons and
her first movie. “As I walked into the theater, I thought it was
the coolest thing ever.”
One of her favorite sayings is an African proverb: The road
doesn’t tell the traveler what lies ahead. Even regrettable
things in life, in other words, play a part in where you end
up. For example, moving to South Florida in 1976 with her
first husband was quite a culture shock for someone used to
the rich cultural scene near Philadelphia.
After working several jobs, one as secretary for an engineering
firm, Hellstrom-Leonard read an article about Jazzercise;
a program blending dance with resistance training,
Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing. Developed in 1969 by a dance
teacher whose students were more interested in fitness than
50 Port St. Lucie Magazine
JOHN BIONDO
Hellstrom-Leonard leads her Jazzercise class at the Riverwalk Center in downtown Fort Pierce. The class is a mix of long-time customers and visitors.
>>
BY ELLEN GILLETTE