Good afternoon

I've just heard about a dance craze called 'Zumba' which was started in Columbia by a man called Beto Perez

apparently it's danced to salsa, merenge, reggae and mambo music and there are now 20,000 instructors teaching Zumba in 35 countries

anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has heard about this dance and, if so, have you tried it ..... sounds great

it's not so much a dance but workout (similar to salsacise)

Zumba is an exercise routine that is loads of fun. It is based on the Latin dances from different regions Flamenco, Salsa, Marenge (spelling!), Samba etc and there is also Reggaton which is a mix of funk/hiphop and Reggae..

It is very fast and as I said a lot of fun. The music is great too. On my DVD's (ebay) Beto speaks in Spanish (i think) and there is a girl that translates, I thought that'd drive me mad but oddly it doesn't.

It is very hard work and in one ad I saw that it can burn approx 1000 calories per hour once you reach the higher levels (i'm not there yet!). It is infectious though because they actually look like they are having a great time, not going through the motions to dull escalator music as on some other dvds.

My 4 dvd pack had beginners, advanced, rapido and a toning (abs, bums and thighs) dvds.

Hope that helps, I suppose the test is if I were to buy it again the answer would be yes, unlike some other fitness dvd's.

I love Zumba!! It's fast, great latin moves, fantastic music..it's so much fun (not your regular boring fitness work-out)!

Hi ...... many thanks for all this information, it's a great help, I love Latin dancing and music so Zumba sounds perfect, and it's good exercise too

I think I'll try to find a class near me and buy the DVD as well

If you can't find any classes already up and running, try contacting your local dance schools (Yellow Pages will have a list) as they are often on the lookout for some new craze.

Zumba is great. Although it is basically fast movement, it can be easily adapted to suit real beginners, or those who are older or not very fit.

hello kaycee, thanks for that information

I have found two Zumba classes in my area, and I told my dance teacher about it too, so there's a chance he might start teaching it if there's enough interest

I'm not a beginner and I love all types of dancing, especially Latin, so I'll be looking forward to trying the Zumba classes asap

I was just about to start a thread on this, as I've heard about zumba & I'm thinking about giving it a go. I love salsa, so hopefully I'll enjoy this too. I want some regular exercise that doesn't make me feel like I'm being forced to exercise, if you know what I mean.

hi robinsbatman

there are several classes in my area and I'm thinking of trying Zumba too .... I like salsa and merengue, and Zumba lessons would be like exercising but with some great Latin music

did you know that there's a Zumba fitness DVD out now?

I've seen the one on the infomercials - with the exercise plan, dumbbell-type rattle thingys & p&p it works out at about £45. A friend's ordered it, so when it comes we're going to try it out together. If we don't like it, it will be going back before the trial period expires.

I don't blame you there's also a Zumba Fitness DVD Kit, with toning sticks, for £39-98, which I'm thinking about ordering

I think that might be the one she's ordered. I'll let you know what it's like before you spend your money.

thanks robinsbatman, that would be great