Joint Base Lewis-McChord fitness class patrons wish volunteer instructor Annie Gurrola was able to teach more classes. The sergeant first class is a full-time Soldier with JBLM Dental Command, a mother of three and is in the final stages of finishing her master's degree. She donates her limited free time to teach Zumba and fitness classes at Wilson Sports and Fitness Center on Lewis North.

But this fall, her class members can work out with Gurrola as often as they desire.

Gurrola was one of six Zumba instructors selected to be immortalized in the upcoming Zumba Fitness Core video game for XBOX Live, Kinect for XBOX 360 and Wii. Gurrola - dressed in a blue shirt, gray shorts and with her brown hair hanging loose - appears randomly throughout the game dancing in scenes ranging from a Venetian Ballroom to a Tiki Beach. The video game, which will be released Oct. 16, is designed for users to strengthen their core and abs.

"I'm really proud," Gurrola said. "It's more for my students. It will be fun for them. They really like me so here you go, get the game and you get to have Annie."

Through the Zumba Instructor Network, Gurrola was selected as an "Unsung Hero" last August for her involvement in her community. Based on all the nominations, six instructors were selected to appear in the video game. Gurrola found out in February she was selected and signed a confidentiality contract promising she wouldn't discuss the project while it was being created. Gurrola then submitted a variety of photographs of different angles of her face and body. It wasn't until recently at the annual Zumba Convention in Orlando that she saw herself for the first time as a video game Avatar.

"I went to the convention and people were playing the demo and I saw myself," Gurrola said. "I said, ‘That's me!'"

Gurrola's sister said her Avatar has her smile and her nose, and a friend of hers said her video game version dances like she does, too.

The video game features a lineup of main instructors while Gurrola and the other five instructors appear as back up dancers. Gurrola can be spotted anywhere from the back row to the front row.

She won't receive any money for the project, but she will receive a free copy of the game when it's released. Page Mansfield, a JBLM Air Force spouse, will be one of several of Gurrola's students who will purchase the video game and ask her to sign it.

"She's so dedicated to all of us," Mansfield said. "Her talent, her dancing, everything. I've been coming to her class for two years and I've lost almost 50 pounds."

Dancing has been Gurrola's passion since she was growing up in her native Puerto Rico. She danced for her territory's dance company until she went to college and then enlisted in the U.S. Army 17 years ago. As a Soldier, she volunteers to dance at Hispanic heritage month events and became certified to teach Zumba in April 2010.

"What I really enjoy about Zumba is how I can share my culture with other people," Gurrola said. "I feel proud that people are dancing salsa and merengue. That is something that is part of my culture and I feel like I'm sharing that with them."

Gilda Lozada, a JBLM dental hygienist and Gurrola class member and groupie, arrives early to the gym to save a spot in the front row for Gurrola's class.

"She makes me sweat," Lozada said. "She really makes me work."

Others interested in learning from Gurrola live can attend one of several classes at Wilson Sports and Fitness Center. She typically teaches Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and regularly fills in for other instructors.