Zumba!
I want to share my opinion as to why I personally love Zumba® Fitness. I have a very diverse background in dance. Many of you know (or not) that my father is from Cali, Colombia. I grew up listening to congas and Latin music. Watching my dad play drums on the steering wheel while driving to the movies was normal for me. As I got older and took classes in ballet, tap, and jazz, I had an appreciation for musicality, technique, body form, discipline, and rehearsal time. It was fun for me to practice, practice, and practice some more to learn choreography.
As I got older, I learned Bollywood and African Step and have continued to learn Indian Bhangra and Bollywood as I recently learned from being a background dancer for the Learn Bhangra App and joining a local Bollywood team. I continue to expand my knowledge by taking classes and workshops right here in the Triangle! I took a West African class for 4 weeks at SAS in Cary last fall and had a blast! Participated in the Caribbean Festival in August and brushed up on my Soca skills with the infamous Erica Dixon, another local Zumba instructor and Zumba® Jammer, at her Soca event and loved every second wearing a feather headdress while marching down Fayetteville Street! I am super excited, about my decision to join the brand new local Jr. Brazilian Samba team with the Triangle Dancers in Durham in January. They also have an upcoming Bachata series coming up and there are always workshops on Zouk, Kizomba, Salsa, Afro Salsa, Bellydance, Swing, and MORE if you Google, use Meetup, or join the local Facebook groups.
My point is this…. I LOOOOOOOVE world rhythms!
Learning bhangra!
I get fuzzy feelings learning new styles! WHY? Because it’s my way of celebrating every student (that’s YOU) that walks into my classroom! And Zumba® Fitness has given me the opportunity to do that. Attached are a few photos from my back office. Every ZIN (licensed instructors) using “ZIN NOW” has access to a database of downloadable music and choreographies to use for class. I have been registered to use this database of Zumba® music since 2010 and was trained in 2009. I have acquired quite an extensive library of music!
My goal is to DIVERSIFY my playlists! If you are an instructor, I encourage you to please take some time to challenge yourself in the New Year. Join at least 1 ZIN Jam session in the next 3-4 months! I promise it will be worth it and we have 9 incredible Zumba® Jammers who are ready to share their knowledge. I plan on attending a future jam session in January, but there are SOOO MANY coming up. Check your back office for the full list and schedule!
If anyone has attended my classes, THIS LIST is exactly why I choose to represent so many beautiful genres. If Zumba® does it, then I do it! Obviously, I can’t include everything, but I NEVER repeat a genre more than twice in my playlist. Why? Because I don’t have to! I challenge myself and my students to use their bodies differently EVERY week because each genre and song within each culture has a unique approach to choreography. THEREFORE the body moves differently, emphasizing different muscle groups and getting a complete body workout. Basically, getting an awesome sweaty workout session, while dancing and having fun, which keeps you coming back and achieving results!
If you are a student…. please take a minute to look at this list. This is what Zumba® is encouraging. DIVERSITY! Which means, please appreciate the vastness of the program. Each instructor is unique and will bring something new to the table. As Zumba® grows, so must we! Zumba® is NOT a hip-hop class. It is NOT a Latin-Pop class. It is NOT a Soca class. It is NOT a top 100 class, etc. It’s a little bit of every culture kind of class!
There are some great new releases coming down the pipeline that I can’t wait to share with you all! I hope I have the opportunity to dance with you!! Baila! Baila!
What world rhythms are your favorite to dance to?!
