Sometimes great ideas are born from accidents. In the mid-'90s, no one could
have predicted the success of the Zumba® program, not even Alberto "Beto"
Perez, who created the Zumba experience, after what many have called a true
"happy accident."
THE ORIGINAL "FITNESS-PARTY"
As a fitness instructor in his native Cali, Colombia, Beto's life took an unexpected
turn one fateful day in the mid-'90s when he darted off to teach an aerobics class
and forgot his traditional aerobics music. He improvised using his own mix of
music from tapes he had in his backpack (salsa and merengue music he grew up
with). Spontaneously he created a new kind of dance-fitness, one that focused
on letting the music move you (instead of counting reps over the music). Energy
electrified the room; people couldn't stop smiling. His class loved it! And on that
day, a revolutionary new fitness concept was born – the Zumba®Fitness-Party.
After the initial success in Colombia, he took the class to the United States in
1999. Zumba is considered exercise in disguise, with a typical class burning
between 500 and 1000 calories.
As of 2009 there were more than 20,000 Zumba instructors in 35 countries.
Exercises
Zumba exercises include music with fast and slow rhythms and resistance
training for fitness and losing weight. The music comes from the following dance
styles: cumbia, salsa, merengue, mambo, flamenco, chachacha, reggaeton,
soca, samba, belly dancing, bhangra, hip hop music, axé music and tango. There
are seven different types of classes for different levels of age and exertion,
including one based in the swimming pool.
Cumbia is a Latin American music style that originated in
Colombia's Caribbean coastal region.
Salsa is a dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and
African cultures. Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are
recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino"
where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised
or performed with a set routine.
Merengue is a style of Latin American music and dance with a two-step beat.
Partners hold each other in a closed position
Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuban origin that corresponds to mambo music
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in
Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played
an important part.
The Cha-cha-chá is a style of Cuban music. It is popular dance music which
developed from the danzón in the early 1950s.
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin Caribbean urban music.
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical
development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, it borrowed ideas from
predominantly black popular music in the United States and Caribbean such as
soul, funk, disco, electric blues, hip hop, and rap beginning in the 1960’s
and zouk from the French Caribbean islands of Martinique &Guadeloupe, as well
as reggae from Jamaica in the 1970s and the more melodic form of modern
Jamaican dancehall.
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical style originating in Bahia and with its
roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious
traditions.
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional Middle
Eastern dance, especially raqs sharqi. The term "Belly dance" is a translation of
the French "danse du ventre" which was applied to the dance in the Victorian
era. It is very misleading because you use every part of the body in the dance;
the most featured body part usually is the hips.
Bhaṅgṛā is a form of South-Asian music and dance highly influenced by the
culture and language of Punjab. Bhangra also refers to a folk dance. Bhangra
dance began as a folk dance conducted by Punjabi farmers in 11th century to
celebrate the coming of the harvest season.
Hip hop music is an American musical style that developed as part of hip
hop culture, which is defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing,
DJing, breakdancing and graffiti writing.
Axé is a popular musical style originating in Salvador, Bahia,
Brazil approximately in 1986, fusing different Afro-Caribbean genres, such
as Marcha, reggae, and calypso. It also includes influences of Afro-Brazilian
music such as Frevo, Forró and Carixada. The word "axé" comes from
a Yoruba religious greeting used in the Candomblé and Umbanda religions that
means "soul", "light", "spirit" or "good vibration".
Tango is a dance that has influences from European and African culture. Dances
from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the
modern day Tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos
Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of
music from Europe