ZIN and the art of exercising

ZIN and the art of exercising

If you love dancing and moving in sync (or not) to peppy notes, then exercise doesn’t really become a chore. Combining dance with exercise, Alberto Perez innovated zumba and encouraged people across the globe to take charge of their lives and become healthier and happier.

Shweta Kulkarni, a Zumba Master Instructor based in Pune, started doing zumba when she lived in the USA. “I practised zumba and lost 30 kg. When I came to India in May 2011, I started looking for zumba classes in Pune. I searched on zumba.com and found an instructor only in Mumbai,” says Kulkarni.

Later, she became a Zumba Education Specialist and an instructor. “When I started as an instructor, it was tough because nobody wanted to do zumba, they wanted to do aerobics and step aerobics. The first 50 zumba instructors in India have worked really hard to promote this form of exercise,” she adds.

Making zumba company an instructor-based model was a vision of Alberto, popularly called Beto, and his partners Alberto Perlman and Albert Aghion. Colombia-born Beto, who was in Pune last month to take a basic and master class, says, “Once people started joining my class in Miami, USA, we had the option to approach gyms or corporates with this dance-exercise form. But we decided to make it an instructor-based model. We have a website, you can search for a zumba class in your city, country. We train instructors. For a certain fee, we let them have all the choreography pieces, music. They are eligible for new training styles and they are a part of Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN). We also have something called Zumba Education Specialist (ZES). The instructors are our business partners.” 
 
Currently, zumba has 16 Master Trainers in India. Kulkarni, who represents Pune and other smaller cities like Solapur, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad and Nanded, is one of them. 

“When I started out, we used to have one instructor training programme in the country. Then in 2015, Beto came to India for the first time, after which zumba got a boost. This was followed by ZES call. We are 17 Zumba Education Specialists (ZES) in India. Sucheta Pal is the first one and she is leading the team,” Kulkarni adds.  

In 2015, Kulkarni became ZES for Pune and then Maharashtra. She travels to these cities to make sure that the zumba activities are conducted legally. “It has got better and better with a bigger team. People are reassured that there is a leader around us, who can guide us for classes or the event. When I have to do an event, I make sure that I come with my ZIN community. As a team, it makes a lot of difference,” she adds.

Music is what sets apart zumba from other exercise routines. Beto, during his visit, mentioned that he works with 10 music producers to keep discovering new tunes. He worked with Badshah the rapper and introduced his music to a wider audience in the Western world. He has also incorporated Bhangra tunes with Regga. Says the 50-year-old, “Yes, zumba comprises Latino music — salsa, meringue, bachata, reggathon — 50 per cent of it. But I am trying to combine Latino music with other genres. There are so many forms.”

This has gone down well with Indians. “In the beginning, the company would only send in Latino dance styles. The people in smaller cities couldn’t accept the music. Then the company started developing its music bank, accepting suggestions from ZIN and ZES. And today when you get a ZIN Volume, you will find a Bhangra mix in the international dance styles. Thus people in Solapur, Kolhapur and other towns have started feeling more connected to it,” Kulkarni mentions. 
 
Talking about how the dance exercise is catching up in India’s tier-II cities, she says, “The initial response that we got from Kolhapur, Solapur was mainly from dancers, who would do choreographies. They would teach their students Bollywood or international songs in the name of zumba. But as awareness spread through social media following Beto’s videos on Instagram, people began demanding, ‘Aap zumba sikhao na’. These dancers realised that they should also get a certificate and licence. That’s when the numbers grew. In Sangli and Kolhapur, the community is around 5,200 and they have 72 ZINs. In Solapur, we have 52 legal instructors,” she adds.  

About Zumba and Beto
As the story goes, Beto, an aerobics instructor in Colombia, forgot his exercise music tape and then had to rely on his personal music comprising Latino music — salsa, meringue  and his class got hooked. He was 16 then.
 
Later, Beto moved to Miami, USA, and happened to meet the mother of his would-be business partner — Alberto Perlman. “Alberto’s mum was my student and she said, ‘My son has a business offer’. I said, ‘Sure, why not!’. Our third partner is Alberto Aghion. He is the operations guy. Funnily, all three of us are named Alberto,” he says, adding, “We want people to be happy, to have fun while exercising.” 

Currently, the billion dollar enterprise has presence in more than 180 countries, and 15 million people are part of the movement. When asked about the reason for its success, Beto replies, “The music is peppy, fun. You don’t need to be a dancer to be able to learn zumba. Anyone can learn, but yes, practice is necessary.”

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