ZUMBA!!

I am the worst dancer in the history of the world. I make Bill Cosby look like Fred Astaire. As a little girl my parents put me in dance classes like most good parents do for their little girls. I was consistently the worst dancer on the stage. I can vividly remember wearing a yellow monstrosity covered in sequins and dancing to Michael Jackson's Beat It!  I looked into the crowd and saw terror in the eyes of the spectators. Although confused at the time I have come to understand why they were afraid. Sometimes my flailing spastic gyrations actually caused physical harm to the other dancers.  I was always two or ten beats behind the music. It was sad and must have been absolutely humiliating for my family. They tried their best to be positive but looking back they certainly didn't encourage a dance career.

When our Relief Society decided to learn how to ZUMBA for one of our activities back in May, I was prepared for further embarrassment and possibly injury.  BUT, it was so much fun.  I even managed to convince myself that the other ladies weren't laughing at my lack of coordination because they were too busy focusing on the instructor.  Just in case you don't know what ZUMBA is here is an explanation straight out of WIKEPEDIA.  Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Squats and lunges are also included.
The class moves incredibly fast with little instruction. Essentially, a Latin blooded teacher with tons of rythym dances and you try to follow.  Our Zumba instructor kindly agreed to teach us for free every Saturday thoughout the summer. It was incredible. I hate working out but I actually had so much fun doing this exercise.  In a one hour Zumba class you can burn more than 1200 calories.  I will take that over running 6 miles any day. Alas, summer is over and with it went my free Zumba.  Then I found Zumba for the Wii. I was skeptical at first, but I ordered it anyway. It arrived Saturday and it was worth every penny.  If you want a great and fun workout in the privacy of your own home, you have to buy this game. It is AMAZING.  Since I got it I actually think I am turning LATINA. Watch out Shakira, these hips don't lie!!!