Zumba - Dance Your Butt Off!
Written by Shoshana Pritzker Tuesday, 11 May 2010 21:16
By Carol Ann Weber
Zumba— It Makes You Want to Dance
What is it about certain songs or rhythms that, as soon as you hear the music, your body can't help but start gyrating? Well, it seems that Zumba, a hot, Latin-flavored fitness/dance craze, has that effect on everyone who’s tried it. Developed by Colombian-born Beto Perez, who brought his freestyle moves to Miami in 2000, Zumba classes (which means “to buzz like a bee”) were literally an instant sensation as soon as Beto hit the city.
When Perez first arrived in Miami, he couldn't speak a word of English. He comments that his English is “not so good-looking,” but trust me, Beto is. And it’s his hot body and hot moves that have inspired more than a million people in 30 countries to take Zumba classes every week.
“I feel like Forrest Gump,” says Perez in his very broken English. “I just started dancing and people followed me.” Which is exactly what happened when this sexy Latino demonstrated his class for the manager of a Miami gym. As Beto began his audition, a crowd of patrons gathered around the outside of the glass-enclosed studio. About halfway through the routine, the manager happened to glance behind her and noticed all of the onlookers were dancing. Beto was hired.
Beto's partner and CEO of Zumba Fitness, Alberto Perlman, loves to tell the story of the phenomenal growth of what has now become a multimillion-dollar business. “I was passing by the Olympia Gym [in Miami] in 2001 and saw Beto onstage with 120 people screaming as they followed his dance moves,” recalls Perlman. “He was using live drummers and the energy was just amazing. I asked what this was and it was explained to me that he just dances and people follow. And, people were losing weight and getting results. I knew then this was going to be something very big.”
Perlman worked with Perez to develop an infomercial in 2002, which sold about $20 million worth of DVDs in the first six months. They launched in Latin America, the United States and in a total of 30 countries. “Everywhere we went, people loved the concept because it didn’t feel like fitness,” says Perlman.
In 2003, Kellogg's put ZUMBA on 2 million cereal boxes as part of a fitness campaign geared to the U.S. Hispanic market and as a result, their sales increased by 5 percent. Then, in May 2006, Perlman says he got a call from Emilio Estafan, Gloria Estefan's husband, who stated he was impressed that people were dancing to Latin music in places where you wouldn't expect it. (Zumba is huge in Ohio. Go figure). Estefan was involved in a joint venture with Mark Burnett (of “Survivor” fame), and a deal was struck to integrate Zumba into Burnett’s reality shows.
In October 2006, Perez and Perlman put on a Zumbathon in Miami, raising $25,000 for breast cancer from the 1,000 participants. To date, Zumba is now being taught in about 5,000 gyms. In addition, they've sold more than 2 million DVDs worldwide, and over 3,300 instructors have been trained in 18 countries.
According to Beto, the hour class isn’t only an aerobic workout that helps you burn up to 600 calories a session, but very effective interval training which also results in overall toning and firming. The session begins like a “regular fitness class” with a 15-minute warm-up, and then, after the second set, a salsa song comes on and everybody starts dancing. Beto employs various Latin rhythms as well as something he calls “Reggaeton,” which is a combination of reggae, hip-hop and funk. He even throws in a little country. The interval training comes in as you move from high intensity— like merengue or samba— to a lower intensity— like cumbia (from his native Colombia)— and then back up again. This lasts for about 40 minutes, ending with a 5-minute stretch and cool down.
So, as the T-shirt on many of Zumba devotees states, “Get Zumba-fied” and get in shape!
For more information go to www.zumba.com.