Zumba Licensed

I'm not Zumba certified.  I'm Zumba licensed.  Our teacher explained that certified has, hmm, a bit more prestige when you're out looking for a job.  Obtaining a Zumba license requires eight hours but certification is a lengthier process done through ACE or AFAA and is more expensive.  Additionally, a certified person must complete CPR and First Aid classes.  Many of the Zumba students in the workshop, including me, don't have all that, so we can teach Zumba but not aerobics and all the other stuff that teachers who work in a health club can do.  That's cool with me.  I only wanna teach Zumba.  I do want to get CPR and First Aid training someday. My sister has CPR and she said they teach you to do the compressions to the song "Staying Alive."  She said so many people know the song and when they sing in it their head it helps them do the compressions not too fast and not too slow, but just the right speed.  Funny!

The eight hour workshop was brutal.  When we danced it was fun, but man, it was hot.  The daytime temp outside was 115 degrees and inside the gym with 60 people exercising it was stifling hot.  I had hoped they'd have the AC turned way up high but they didn't.  Everyone was a limp little leaf.  Except for the teacher, Vanessa Lupercio.  She's a tiny little thing, about 4'10", and she was non-stop energy.  She worked 12 years as fitness instruction for the National Guard.  I don't know where she gets all her energy.  I liked her a lot.  She'd demonstrate the steps, and say okay let's do it.  We'd do it and stand there completely worn out and she'd say, "I love you."  It would make us laugh because even though we were so hot and miserable we knew she had our best interest at heart.

I had diarrhea before the class because I was all nervous about moving for eight hours.  I know I can do a one hour class but I've never taken any kind of movement class for eight hours.  I took it easy all morning because I'm not a morning person, and dancing before noon is antithesis to the existence of Liliana.  Fortunately, I needed no emergency trips to the bathroom once I got there.  Thank you for that.  By afternoon I was so beat, but somehow during the dance routines I forgot that I was a limp noodle and I was able to put a bit of pop into it.  I said "a bit."  I just wanted to keep up.  There were two or three women older than I, so I wasn't the most ancient artifact there.  Heh. I was at a bit of a disadvantage having had only four Zumba classes and most of the students are taking it regularly.  There was one girl who had had only one Zumba class.  There was was girl (woman) who lost over 50 pounds with Zumba Fitness and she got a free, cute tee shirt.

I notice I'm attracted to all the Reggaeton dances the most.  Reggaeton originates from Jamaica, is most urban, and it's what you'd generally call Latin hip-hop.  I'm surprised that every song I'm most drawn to turns out to be Reggaeton.  Cumbia is super easy and way fun. Salsa, strongly influenced by Cuba, Africa, and Spain, is another we learned, and the fourth we learned is Merengue which is pronounced not like the pie, but like mer-AN-gay.  I like Samba steps very much and was disappointed that Samba in not taught in Basics 1.  You have to take Basics 2 for that rhythm.

Vanessa commented twice on how much she liked my pink top.  Boom chicka boom!

She taught us the Zumba formula so we can create our own dances and be authentically Zumba.  Vanessa said, you can't do all Reggaeton rhythms or it's not Zumba.  Zumba is a combination of international rhythms.  I thought it telling that she said you can't do all Reggaeton.  I suspect a lot of the dancers like the Reggaeton the best.  We had one man in our class.  He was very popular by the end of the class.  He was quiet and seemed nice.

The last thing we did was choreography and though I was dreading it, it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the class.  We were divided into four groups, each given a piece of a song to dance to.  We had to make up steps and be able to perform them as a group.  When we were all done practicing our parts, we all sat down and Vanessa played the song, a great song called "Fuego" which means fire.  When your group's piece came you had to jump up and dance it all out then sit down, and the next group would jump up and dance and sit down.  It was great fun to see which group would jump up and what steps they made up.  We knew it was the last part of the class so everyone put all their energy into it.  It was fun to do and fun to watch.

I was so happy when she handed me my certification of completion.  Really, really happy.  After lunch (I ate a salad), I had a tummy ache.  I think no matter what I ate I probably would have gotten a stomach ache.  I'm not taking any more classes in Tempe, Arizona, in July!

I have realized that teaching a Zumba classes requires more than I thought.  I mean, just the practice of the choreography is time consuming.  But I need insurance.  What?  No one ever mentioned insurance!  What's up with that?  That's gonna cost me a couple hundred bucks.  I have $170.00 in my account.  I have to figure out how much to charge per class.  I have to figure out how to offer classes - in a session or use packages.  I have to make a sign-in sheet and I need a liability waiver that follows the requirements of this state.  Paperwork.  Records.  Oh my.  No one ever mentioned all this.  And so, that's what I've been researching and thinking and doing since Monday.

I'm meeting tonight with the owner of a studio here in town.  I hope to offer classes at two venues.  One, at the gym, and two, this studio.  I have to print posters and think about advertising so people will know when and where to come.  Suddenly I'm worried about the routines being too hard for some people so I'm picking some easy ones to add.  I'm considering making the very first class free and calling it a "Beginner's Demo."  Yeah, that's an idea.  And I'll break down the moves and do the song twice since everyone will be brand new and probably anxious about if they can do it.  Everyone can do it!  It's way fun.  But I need to convey that.

See.  It's more than jump in and teach a class like I thought I was going do!  How come nobody told me about all this?  I guess that's why there are way more licensed instructors than there are actual classes.  Hmmm.  I think so.