MULTIMEDIA REFLECTION 1

   I would like to introduce you the most entertaining way of doing sports and dancing. Last summer, I was excessively bored and did not know what to do. Luckily I came across some Zumba workout videos and had a lot of fun until the holiday was over. I want to give information about Zumba to my friends so that they can spend enjoyable moments at their odd times and become knowledgeable about a worldwide trend- Zumba. Zumba is a dance-fitness program developed by Alberto Perez who is a Colombian dancer and choreographer. It is the most widespread dance-fitness program all over the World and practised by the people who want to dance, lose weight and have fun at the same time. The discovery of zumba rises from a simple coincidence. In 1986, Perez forgot to bring his aerobics music casettes for the workout class he was training and used traditional salsa music instead, which is unusual for aerobics. At the end of the class, he realized that the attendees enjoyed this improvised style of dance very much and he decided to improve that style. He called it ‘Zumba’ which means ‘buzzing like a bee’ in Colombian  language. Zumba incorporates samba, hip-hop, soca, merengue, mambo, martial arts and some Bollywood and belly dance figures. Zumba has captured a number of people’s interest around the world that 

approximately 14 million people take zumba classes weekly in more than 150 countries. As a result of  Zumba’s speedy spread all over the World, a company called ‘ Zumba Fitness’ has been founded to meet the increasing demands of people for Zumba workout DVDs and additional equipment such as colourful Zumba socks, bracelets, shoes… People who practise Zumba professionally wear colourful costumes and accessories which reflect South America’s warm climate and  active, good- humored people.Zumba Fitness Company gives the license for being a Zumba instructor after training the fitness coaches. One has to take Zumba Instructor Training course and keep his/her instructor license current through a variety of courses offered by the Zumba Academy, or by joining the Zumba Instructor Network. The effects of Zumba on people’s physical appearance is amazing and satisfactory.  There are many people who wrote their success stories about losing weight and keeping fit on the internet. Finally, everyone who wants laugh while exercising or learn basic figures of all kinds of dances should give Zumba a try . 

                                                   

            

                                                                  VIDEO REFLECTION

   I chose this video, because it is the first video which made me acquainted with Zumba. It includes many figures of Zumba which incorporates many other dance styles’ movements. One can learn how to do Zumba to some extent by watching the video.  The video reflects the mood boosting effect of Zumba with the colourfully dressed and joyfully exercising people in it. As I stated in the journal, there are a number of people who perform Zumba as shown in this video. The song playing in the background is an oriental music which shows that Zumba is influenced by many cultures. ‘Girls dancing on the stage’ scenes show that people organise parties to make Zumba more well-known. In my opinion, Zumba is very appropriate form of doing sports at home especially in these winter times thanks to do videos which instruct us how to do it. You can find various types of Zumba workout videos on internet if you are interested. HAVE FUN !