Zumba

Zumba was founded in 1998 by Pérez in Cali, Colombia. Pérez, an aerobics instructor, forgot to bring his regular music to his aerobics class. He happened to have cassette tapes of Latin dance music—salsa and merengue—and danced to them instead, which Pérez later taught as "Rumbacize".[3][4] In 2001, Pérez partnered with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, and the trio released a series of fitness videos sold via infomercial.[5] Insight Venture Partners and the Raine Group made an investment in 2012.[6][7] The company expanded into class instruction and by 2015, according to Perlman, there were 14 million Zumba students in 186 countries.[8]

The word "Zumba" is a neologism that was expressly created as a brand name.[9] The original name was "Rumbacize", a combination of rumba (a Spanish word "party" and various dances) and Jazzercize.[10][11]

Zumba choreography is composed using all or some of the sixteen core steps. There are four basic rhythms: salsa, reggaeton, merengue and cumbia,[12] and each basic rhythm has four core steps.[13]

An instructor coaches a Zumba class in a fitness center

Zumba classes are typically about an hour long and are taught by instructors licensed by Zumba Fitness, LLC.[14] In one Zumba class, a person can burn up to 600 kcal, depending on the energy put forth.[15][16][17][18] The music comes from the following dance styles: cumbia, salsa, merengue, mambo, flamenco, chachacha, reggaeton, soca, samba, hip hop music, axé music and tango. Zumba is one of the most versatile fitness workouts, as classes can be geared for any fitness level.[19]

There are ten types of classes, for different levels of age and exertion.[20][21]

• Zumba Gold is a program designed for beginners and older people.
• Zumba Step is a lower-body workout that incorporates Zumba routines and step aerobics with Latin dance rhythms.
• Zumba Toning is for people who do their workouts with toning sticks. It targets the abs, thighs, arms, and other muscles throughout the body. This type of Zumba class provides participants with a cardio workout and strength training.
• Aqua Zumba classes are held in a swimming pool. The instructor leads the class poolside while participants follow in shallow water. Moves have been specially adapted to combine the same dance movements used in a Zumba Fitness class with those used in aqua fitness classes.
• Zumba in the Circuit combines dance with circuit training.[22] These classes usually last 30 minutes and feature strength exercises on various stations in timed intervals.
• Zumbatomic, Zumba Kids[14] and Zumba Kids Jr. classes are designed for children between the ages of 7 and 11.[23]
• Zumba Gold-Toning is a toning class for older participants with goals of improving muscle strength, posture, mobility, and coordination.
• Zumba Sentao is a chair workout that focuses on using body weight to strengthen and tone the body.[24]
• Strong by Zumba was launched in 2016. This specialty combines high intensity interval training with Synced Music Motivation.[25]
• Zumbini is a class for babies and children at the ages of 0–3 years old and their caregivers. Their live classes stream on BabyFirstTV.[26]
• A Plate by Zumba is an e-learning program to learn about healthy eating habits.[27]

Zumba instructors have the option to become ZIN™ Members (Zumba Instructor Network members) to receive monthly music and bimonthly training DVDs to assist with the creation of music and choreography for their personal Zumba classes.[28] By 2019, there are more than 100,000 Zumba instructors around the world.[29]

Zumba is a total-body cardio and aerobic workout, which provides a large calorie consumption.[30] A study shows that a person burns 300 to 900kcal with an hour-long Zumba exercise.[18]

Because Zumba offers different options, proponents of the Zumba program claim that it is safe for all ages, meaning that anyone from age 0 to 100 can participate in this form of aerobic exercise.[31] Some of the classes are specifically aimed at elderly people, to help them build strength, improve motion and posture, and socialize.[32]

Besides its high calorie burning benefit, Zumba can help lower the risk of heart disease, reduce the blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and increase your good cholesterol.[33]

In June 2017, Zumba was banned in Iran for being un-Islamic.[34] Shortly after, in August 2017, six people were arrested after being accused of 'trying to change lifestyles' by teaching Zumba.[35]

The annual ZINcon takes place in the US, where Zumba instructors from all over the world are reunited and attend master classes, speciality training and a Zumba concert.[36] In addition to the Annual Zumba Convention, Zumba also holds a number of shorter one-day Academies where instructors can meet and attend master classes and rhythm sessions. These events are held in cities globally.[37] In January 2016, the first Zumba Cruise took place.[38]

In 2005, the Zumba Academy was launched to license instructors for teaching Zumba classes.[39] Zumba sold DVDs via infomercials in 2002.[40] More than 10 million DVDs have been sold.[41] In July 2012, Zumba released the compilation album Zumba Fitness Dance Party. In 2007 the company launched a clothing line called Zumba Wear.[42][43] As of 2012, official apparel sales amounted to $10 million per year .[41]

In 2010 Zumba released its first fitness video game on 30 November 2010.[20] As of August 2011, it had sold 3 million copies.[44] The Zumba Fitness 2 video game was released in November 2011. A similar game was released on the Xbox 360 as Zumba Fitness Rush in February 2012.[45] Zumba Fitness Core was released in October 2012 for the Wii and Xbox 360. The game includes new features such as nutrition tips and ability to set personal goals.[46] Zumba Fitness: World Party was released on 5 November 2013. It features a new World Tour mode that unlocks songs from seven global destinations as a player progresses, as well as authentic customs, local rhythms and native dance styles.[47] The game was followed by Zumba Kids on 19 November 2013.[48] All of the Zoë Mode-developed Zumba titles run on Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3. In November 2019, Zumba Burn It Up! was released by 505 Games, for the Nintendo Switch, the first Zumba game in 6 years.[49] It will be released in Japan on June 18, 2020.[50]

• How I Built This - Zumba: Beto Pérez & Alberto Perlman

Media related to Zumba at Wikimedia Commons