Zumba routines

Brand new blog category.  I will list the choreography links that I like best and that I'm learning.  This is the result of hours of searching for steps I like.

Normally, I would never have considered getting certified in Zumba because 1) I'm not a natural leader and, 2) living in a rural area would normally make it hard to obtain fresh dance moves.  But if I want to Zumba, and not alone, I will have to be the one to teach it.  Small town and no one else is doing it. 

Praises to YouTube and the wonders of information shared on the internet!  Instructors are only too happy to create and share their wonderful music selections and fun dance steps they've put together. Also, Zumba sends DVDs with new choreography to its members every two months.  These two factors mean that even though there's no dance studio here and the closest city is 70 miles away, I can attend the instructor certification class and then continue learning dances on my own from the Zumba DVDs and the YouTube community.  Way cool.

My favorites:

"Kuliquitaca" by Tony Rosario choreographed by the Merengue Sisters.  Got it memorized and it's my favorite one of all.  Very fun to do. My daughter-in-law speaks Spanish fluently and she said the beginning of the song he speaks of his love for his country and the rest. . . . is gibberish. Cracked me up. I told her I couldn't find any English translation. No wonder.

Tanya's video  This is the most viewed of all Zumba videos.  She's got Latin dance in her blood I'd say and interacts beautifully with her class.  I've memorized the first song, Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" and almost all of the third song "Mueve La Colita"  The literal translation of colita is "little tail" so it's saying move your little behind.  I'm gonna substitute plain hand clapping for the spanking movement. I think she looks good doing the little spanking part, but the rest of us would look lame. I've seen it done badly and it's pretty sad to see. If you're gonna be cool, be all the way cool, but if you ain't got it, face it. I'm not too proud to admit I am not as cool as Tanya.

Lola's Cumbia Celtica I love to watch the girl to the right of Lola.  Also love her shoes.  Must have the shoes.  The hips in the forward walking section are taking me the longest to learn.  Takes some finesse to get the hips going with the shoulders and take 8 small steps forward all at the same time all in unison.  lol!

Courtney Sajben's choreography for "Say hey, I love you" by Michael Franti.  I heard this song on the radio last week.  Checked to see if anyone used it for Zumba and, voila!, found Courtney's video.  I was attracted to this vid because I like her "Say hey" arm wave and the forward walking "window washing" arm movement.  Cute and cool.

So this is five songs, fast ones.  I need a warm-up, a cool down, plus three more.  They say a one hour Zumba class consists of about ten songs.

I'm finding that, for example in Lola's cumbia, a dance actually requires a bit less energy after I memorize it.  In learning a dance, I expend more energy trying to keep up, correcting myself when I do it wrong, comprehending the movement, and cataloging it in my brain.  Catching up when I've executed the steps wrong takes up energy.