He said it’s that party atmosphere that makes people curious about the music. How do you enjoy the party if the music’s no good?”īill Roedy, former chairman and CEO of MTV International, is a consultant for Zumba. We need to put the music in front because it’s a party. It’s ‘boom-shh-boom-shh-boom-shh,’” Perez said, imitating the beat of workout music. “In the aerobics world, it’s very cheap music. Perez said the music is treated differently in Zumba than in traditional aerobics classes. “She would never, ever have heard Pitbull on the radio because she doesn’t listen to those stations, but because of Zumba class, she’s listening to him and I’m like, ‘Mom, stop singing Pitbull songs.’” “My mom loves Pitbull, and she loves Pitbull because of Zumba class,” Perlman said. Polynesian music blares from one room while the sexy samba of “Mas que Nada” pulsates next door, all punctuated by a “Yeah!” Walking through the convention space, you hear an international smorgasbord of music. She was one of 8,000 Zumba instructors from around the world who attended the annual Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando, Fla. “Being from Michigan, I wasn’t exposed to any of that music, and now it’s easy to find and we hear it so often,” said Jill Cooper of Ann Arbor, a longtime fitness professional. Some 14 million people in 185 countries are now dancing and singing to the songs, smiling and sweating in Zumba classes and clamoring to buy the music. It has expanded worldwide, creating new fans of dance styles such as Perez’s native cumbia and new fans of Latin music. Zumba, a dance-based fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez in 2001, was born and is still based in South Florida. When he showed it to us, he said, ‘I said Zumba nine times in the song and it’s because you guys have inspired me.’”
I am looking forward to sharing my passion with you.“Daddy Yankee texted me five days ago and said, ‘I wanted you to know that ‘Limbo’ is as much your hit as it is my hit,’” said Zumba Fitness co-founder and CEO Alberto Perlman. It is a Fusion of House, Afro, HipHop and Salsa. A good example is one of the songs that I will be instructing during the event. Recently, we have been seeing songs that combine different beats from different countries. Sports and Dance have always united countries and now Music is tending towards the same direction. On my playlist I will include Latin, Oriental, Indian and Fusion Songs that also include African beats. The routines of Latin and International songs feature aerobic/fitness interval training with a combination of fast and slow rhythms that tone and sculpt the body. Zumba fitness classes incorporate Latin and International dance steps along with Aerobics to music for a fun cardiovascular and muscular workout. Zumba and sports will remain a part-time occupation for me, just to keep my own passion aflame. Currently I teach Zumba and Toning classes from home instead. Before the pandemic I was teaching at several gyms in Montreal which are now not fully open yet. My enthusiasm for dancing, sports and mental wellness are so immense, that I feel an unwavering urge to share it. The whole Latin culture with its music and its dances became so fascinating to me, that I decided 3 years ago to learn the language itself. A few years after, I started talking lessons in Salsa, Bachata and Social Dance in general. I became a certified Zumba instructor and a member of the ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network), and suddenly I found myself teaching instead of attending classes.
It was the spark to a completely new journey for me. When Zumba came along, I fell in love with it on “second” sight. The times spent exercising have always served as a positive mean to control my stress and enhance my mood. Over the years, sports and workout have been constantly included into my busy weeks, even before immigrating to the West.
A decade and a half later, when my sons were about to go their own ways, I discovered my passion for dancing. At the age of 24, I married into an Armenian-Greek family and moved 5 years later with my husband and my 2 young sons to Montreal, Canada. I grew up in a multi-cultural society and went to a German school where I was taught 4 languages. My name is Claudia Iskandar, 48 years old, born in Bavaria, Germany to my German mom and raised in Cairo, Egypt, the homeland of my dad.