Woo hoo!!! I made it onto Zumba’s Instagram account with my very first #zmoji video! Check it out below:
I am pretty sure “Firehouse” + this routine is a fave amongst MANY Zumba Instructors who have listened to Zin 66 — it was definitely one of my favorite songs when I first watched it. 🙂
The 2 Hour Zumba Party that took place yesterday at Rogers Park was SO MUCH FUN!!! It did not even feel like two hours of working out. It was definitely a party!
Zumba Ronnie is a pro at putting together these fun events. She was the host and had several guest instructors come help party with her. I was really excited to be one of her guest instructors! 🙂 I loved the other instructors’ energy + routines — Felicia, Lance Zumba Rose + Jerod were definitely inspirational + motivational! And even though I was scared to battle — that was one of the funnest moments. The gym was pretty crowded… There were vendors and lots of Zumba Wear available for purchase.
One of my fave numbers was when Zumba Ronnie and her ZCrew *slayed* Beyonce’s Formation!
All the party-goers were so nice and ready to jam! No drama — just good old fashion fun with a whole lot of sweat! Another awesome part about this party was the live DJ — DJ Proyet — who was playing all of our songs… As well as all the lovely friends I made because of our love of Zumba Fitness!
Partial Playlist (what I can remember and not in any specific order):
I cannot wait for the next event! ^_^
I officially started teaching a permanent Zumba class at 24 Hour Fitness La Cienega Sport back in April! The class takes place every Sunday at 9am. The address is: 5045 W. Slauson Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90056.
And I am happy to announce that starting in July, I will also be teaching Zumba at 24 Hour Fitness Mid Wilshire Active every Wednesday at 8pm! The address is: 3699 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 110 Los Angeles, CA 90010.
Come #MoveItWithMaria — get your *FREE PASS* and check me out!
Last week, I had the chance to teach a few routines in one of my favorite Zumba classes! There was a special two hour “Neon Party” Zumba class at 24 Hour Fitness. I was a ball of mixed emotions — excited to teach routines to my workout buddies and scared that I would be hard to follow.
My playlist included songs I really liked that I listened to a lot — and chose routines that had some basic patterns… But somehow I managed to make it complicated inside my head. I practiced the couple of nights before to these six songs:
The day of my teaching debut — I was so nervous that I was watching Zumba routines (#2 + #5 from above list) during my lunch break and making notes! Yup, notes! Like I was studying for exams! Who even makes choreo notes for learning Zumba routines!? o___O I do!
Still excited and scared for the class — I showed up with my notes and when my songs came on, I went to the front of the class and tried to teach the routines as well as I could (I even posted my notes on the mirror). Good thing Kim Marie (instructor and one of my fit-sporations), Celeste (guest instructor) and my classmates are so supportive! I’m still not where I want to be… but I feel a bit more confident and comfortable to teach a routine. Next fear to face will be facing the class (and not just looking at myself in the mirror when I’m teaching). Baby steps… 🙂
My friend Breyda was able to record me teaching! @__@
It was a great experience and I am grateful for Kim Marie‘s support! ❤ Photos from the two hour party are below. 😉
Well… It finally happened! I have been passionate about Zumba so much that it has lead me to overcome my shyness and sign up for the instructor training. I was always checking the instructor training schedule to see what was close by, but when I saw Gina Grant was teaching — I told my friend Taylor that THAT was the instructor I wanted to be taught by! I mean, she is definitely one of my faves… And she was nothing less than amazing!
Taylor and I signed up to take the full day training course and we graduated (along with the rest of the students who signed up)! Photos from a couple of months ago when we had our training day at Work Out World in Anaheim, CA:
I have since joined the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN), created my Zumba website and I am listening to music to gather my playlist (and practicing my routines) in hopes of teaching soon… I hope I can find a job. O_O
One of my zumbalicious friends who also went to the dancehall master class shared this video with me! It’s one of the routines that was choreographed by Latoya Bufford and Cat Chiemelu!
I attended my very first zumba master class this weekend! It was two hours of zumba and dancehall fun! The instructors that led the routines were LaToya Bufford and Catherine “Cat” Chiemelu — they were so amazing! It is beautiful just to watch them dance. This event was hosted by the lovely Zumba Kiki (sooo pretty) and she also led the zumba portion during the event. All the sweaty fun took place at Stevenson Park gym located at 17400 Lysander Drive, Carson CA 90746.
Here I am BEFORE I danced my booty off…
Here is a hyperlapse video I put together on my IG (@richmade_m). The song in the background is Jump by RDX. n_n
I can’t wait for my next zumba event!
I love watching Alejandro’s choreography and the talented dancers that are always in his videos. I also love his song choices — especially the ones with dancehall flavor!
This weekend was filled with some quality time with friends, family and myself! I went to my regular Zumba class on Saturday and met up with friends I’ve known since the 8th grade later on that evening. I hung out at my Mom’s house on Saturday night and stayed over to do my laundry.
My Mom does not hang too many things on her refrigerator, but she does have a few magnets with positive and uplifting messages. Like this one, for example, “Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are… Rich is who you have beside you.” So true… Isn’t it?
On Sunday, I got a good workout in at 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Clarita! This gym was the cleanest 24 I have ever been to (I currently have a sport membership). I did my cardio in the Zumba class and then went to the smith machine for a lot of weighted squats and lunges! Here is a sweaty selfie…
When I came back to my Mom’s house, my sister Chef Banana had a delicious sandwich prepared for me! Tuna with mustard, tomato and cucumber on toasted wheat bread.
Chef Banana and I went to the market and picked up some ingredients for ceviche. I saw something really strange — limes were at the store for $3.49/lb — which is pretty pricy! Apparently, my sister knew that there was a lime shortage and that’s why the prices were so high. Anyway, we grabbed what we needed and she prepared the ceviche.
All fresh ingredients: shrimp, tilapia, tomato, onion, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeño, serrano chile (only one because they are so hot), lemons, limes, salt and pepper…
After the ceviche was chilled in the fridge, it was ready to be served! We had tortilla chips with the ceviche (not pictured).
She also prepared a spring mix salad with sesame oil dressing and croutons.
And for presentation purposes, Chef Banana did practice her plating skills. I like how the ceviche is presented in both the glassware — the martini glass makes it a bit more fancy…
That was my weekend recap — I wish all weekends can be filled with loved ones + sweat + yummy food!
richmade 