Zumba is by far, my favorite thing to do. I started going to classes about 4 years ago at my local YMCA. My mom saw it on an infomerical and said "Lindsey, you need to start doing this". I went to my first class, stood in the back, scared to death that I wouldn't know what to do. It was a 1 hr class, and the instructor moved so fast. She was doing dance moves I havn't done since I quit hip hop dance classes. It was high performance and I felt like I would never be able to keep up.
Naturally I quickly became obssessed with it. I was going to class 7 days a week at an hr at a time. My instructor noticed how much effort I put into her class and she said "You would make one great instructor, you should do this". I smiled politely and said "No thank you, I LOVE doing this, and if I make it a job, I may learn to hate it". She understood, but told me if I changed my mind that she could be my personal trainer. I said "You need personal training to do this"? She said "Well, of course you do. In order to get certified to do this, you have to attend a 10 hour training day where you do this for 4 hours at a time with little breaks and they score you on performance, stamina, teaching ability, and if they don't think you can do it, you will not get certified. Holy Crap. Ten hours?
I came home, thought it over and said "I am doing this". I want to have my own class, and I want to change peoples lives like it changed my life. You may be laughing at me right now when I say this. It changed everything about me. It taught me how to lead and not follow, it taught me discipline, it taught me that I can do anything as long as I work like crazy to get there. I trained with my Barb for 6 months. Then came the day to go to my last class/try out day which took place in Akron for 10 hours.
I walked into the Akron YMCA(which is 3 floors by the way) and saw over 80 people there at least. We started dancing at 9am and didnt break until 12pm. Biggest work out of my life and so much fun. This contiued all day until 7pm. Along with speakers and then try outs at the end of the day. I went through 3 pairs of clothes by the time I had to try out. Nerves began to set in. I was trying out for co founder of Zumba Fitness(who happens to be a billionaire and has their own Zumba Fitness Studio).
Try Outs went better than expected. the judges loved my performance, my facials, my energy, and everything. After 30 minutes of evaluations, I walked out proud with a beautiful license in hand.
My friends joke around with me often regarding my voicemail. (You have reached Lindsey Wagner, Zumba Fitness Instructor) My class always tried to contact me regarding Zumba classes, times, prices etc. People have no clue how difficult it is to be an instructor. This is not aerobics. This was not cheap. This took a great deal of time & effort. I also had to get licensed in 4 other classes just to teach Zumba. Zumba is an art.
If you have never even heard of what Zumba is, or have not seen it performed before, It is a mixture of all latin dancing, irish dancing, belly dancing, hip hop, and different dances that are performed world wide. It also helps you learn different cultures and why they dance the way they dance. It may look silly to us, but there is always a beautiful story that goes with each dance I teach.
I have lost 25 pounds since doing Zumba. A lady in my class just had a baby and has lost 30 pounds in under a month.
Zumba is Success.
So the next time you see a Zumba instructor and say something in your head about how lame it is. Remember how much time and effort, practice, training and performing we have to go through just to help others.
Here is a quick video to help you understand what Zumba is-Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbf8-bAQF4&feature=relmfu
-Lindsey
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