11/08/2016
Origin of Zumba
Zumba was created by the choreographer and fitness instructor Alberto “Beto” Perez in the mid-1990s. According to the official Zumba website, it was a result of a “happy accident” – Beto was on his way to teach an aerobics class and realized he’d forgotten his music. He didn’t have time to double back and get it, so he improvised, using the salsa and merengue tapes he happened to have on him. Instead of strict rep-counting, he ended up improvising a class that was the perfect mix of dance and aerobics that kept his students moving and having fun!
In 2001, he started teaching his hybrid dance/aerobics in Miami, and through another “happy accident”, he got in touch with two other Albertos – Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion. Together, they called the new style “Zumba”, a word that doesn’t have any specific meaning but has become synonymous with this great combination of fitness and fun, and brought it to fitness centres all over the world.
Zumba was designed to be low-impact, and to be an intense and efficient calorie-burning workout that is adaptable and suitable for all different ages, body types and levels of fitness
