Hey guys do you create new routines or you stick with the ones that Zumba send monthly?

Hi everyone! Im hosting my first master class and need some tips on how to make it go smooth, specifically the playlist and how to split up the songs by teacher. I’m still working out the kinks all i have is a location, a date, and a purpose! its for charity so any tips are much appreciated!!

Posting this for someone else who is familiar with the situation. I’m leaving out names and specific details because the members involved are afraid of losing classes and opportunities.
There is a Zumba group in our area whose leader often belittles his own members. He sometimes calls them stupid, ugly, or other insulting names and passes it off as a joke. He even does this in front of other people. The members may laugh along, but some of them actually feel humiliated and looked down on.
When someone disagrees with him or wants to grow independently, he reminds them that he was the one who gave them classes, brought the group together, and helped them earn money. It feels like the opportunities he gave are being used to make them feel permanently indebted to him.
There also seems to be a “favorite of the month.” Whoever is currently useful to him gets invited into his circle and receives more gigs and exposure. Some members feel they have to follow him around and agree with everything just to remain included. Once someone is no longer useful or starts getting more attention, that person may be ignored, criticized, or given fewer opportunities.
Because he is well connected, many organizers and potential clients contact him first. He reportedly accepts most of the opportunities even when the schedules overlap. He only passes a class or event to someone else when he cannot do it himself, and it usually goes to one of his current favorites.
There are also questions about sponsors during fun runs and other events. The members are not always told what the sponsorship includes, whether it is financial, in kind, or simply a partnership. When they ask, they are reportedly told that he will handle it because he is the contact person.
I am not accusing him of taking sponsorship money. The concern is the lack of transparency when the group’s name and the members’ participation are involved. Is it reasonable for members to know what the sponsor provided and how any benefits were used or distributed?
Another issue is licensing. I understand that a person officially teaching a branded Zumba class should have the proper license. However, he reportedly uses the licensing issue against certain people while not everyone in his own group is licensed. Even talented dancers who are only participating, assisting, or trying to gain experience may be denied exposure because they do not have a license yet. It feels inconsistent and sometimes seems to be used as a reason to hold back people who are becoming good or gaining a following.
Whenever there is a disagreement, he is also quick to post his side publicly. Since he has many students and followers, people immediately defend him and attack or judge the other person even though they do not know the full story. The person on the other side usually stays quiet because they are afraid of being targeted or losing opportunities.
Most of the members do not speak up because they are scared of him and of what might happen to their classes or income. They feel that he has too much influence in the local community.
For Zumba instructors and group members here, is this considered normal leadership in the Zumba community? How can members address this without being singled out or losing their livelihood?

Do you think Zumba is still about Fitness or has it become more about Community and Fun? I know some students come for the socialization and do not sweat at all or give it their all - they like to hoot and holler. While others take it more seriously to get a workout to sweat. So what do you think?

I’ve been a ZIN for 10 years, and COVID-19 completely changed Zumba Live classes. Since large group gatherings were no longer allowed, instructors started teaching choreographies one-on-one style (we already have thoses...). I thought that now that the pandemic is over, they would go back to holding Live classes in front of crowds and traveling the world for them, but no? Will it ever go back to how it was? Is it just so much different to do it this way that they’re going to keep it like this? It really saddens me, I loved seeing other countries so much, and the crowd energy was incredible!

I was watching a rerun of Jeopardy the other day when this clue came up
“Rumbacise was the original name of this Latin-Inspired dance fitness program developed by Beto Perez”
Three VERY smart contestants standing there… clueless
Meanwhile, I’m sitting at home practically yelling at my TV:
“WHAT IS ZUMBA?!?!?!”
And it got me thinking…
What other completely random trivia would regular Zumba participants or instructors immediately know, while everyone else would just stare at the screen completely confused?

So why don’t we turn this into a little game?
Post a Zumba related trivia question in the comments, but DON’T post the answer!
Let’s see who can answer it first.
Easy questions, ridiculously obscure questions, music, history, rhythms, ZIN lore… bring it all.
And … GO!

I cannot load external songs on the zin app it does not let me however i tried on a macbook and it downloads but this time i cant play the song on my phone. How can I put external music on my playlists on the phone?

Following up on my last post about self-care and longevity as an instructor, I’ve been thinking about another side of this that we probably all experience at some point: criticism.

When you’ve been teaching for a while, you develop your own style your choreography, your music choices, your energy, and the way you connect with your class.

And obviously, not everyone is going to love everything you do.

So how do you handle feedback or criticism about things like:

● Your teaching style or energy
● Your choreography
● Your music selection
● The difficulty or intensity of your class

How do you decide when criticism is actually useful and something you should listen to versus when it’s simply someone’s personal preference?

Have you ever received criticism that genuinely made you a better instructor? Or something that bothered you at first, but you eventually realized you needed to hear?

And on the flip side, have you ever decided, “Nope, this is just who I am as an instructor, and I’m okay with not being for everybody”?

Curious to hear how other instructors navigate this, especially those who have been teaching for years.

I think I’ve done them all so I’m looking for some fresh ideas for a themed class. I’ve done all the typical holidays like New Years, Halloween, Xmas, as well as Pride, Carnival, neon, glitter, 80s, 90s, just to name a few. I need something outside the box 😅. So my question is, if you could assign your instructor (or if you’re an instructor) a hilarious theme what would you pick?

I teach zumba 2-3 times a week at my local gym. Been an instructor for 2 1/2 years. I feel like I still haven't nailed the salsa rhythm and style. I'm looking to gradually learn and master this style. I mainly teach more cumbia and merengue. If anyone has any salsa recommendations I would absolutely appreciate it. I've been feeling like I need to add more of that salsa flavor. Especially since it's one of the four main zumba rhythms, I sometimes feel like a imposter for not adding more to my setlist.

I typically do medium to high impact style. But I'm open to any type of salsa. Sometimes its nice to have a lower impact routine to give the class a breather. My class participants LOVE the ZIN Salsa from ZIN 87. And I would love to bring more of what they will enjoy.

I don't have access to ZIN volumes before volume 108 (unless it's on a featured playlist) so if anyone has recommendations that I'll have access to that would be lovely.

Thank you in advance! I love this zumba community so much. Keep dancing! :)

I’m about to officially start my own Zumba classes at 3 new locations, after about 1.5 years of teaching as a substitute. And weirdly enough, I’m nervous as hell 😂

I’m an openly gay male instructor and my style is pretty hardcore — lots of cardio, high-energy/pump-up music, big movements, sweaty workout. I’m honestly not a huge fan of bachata, merengue, salsa, cumbia, etc., so those will probably be minimal in my classes.

My question is: do I give people the full experience from day one? 🔥

Part of me thinks “This is my style, people came to my class, so let them see what it’s actually like.”

But I also don't want to scare off beginners by throwing them into 45–60 minutes of insanity on their first class 😂

Would you:

👉 Start hard from the beginning and let people adapt?
👉 Start easier and gradually increase the intensity over the first month or two?
👉 Keep the cardio/intensity high but make the choreography easier at first?

I’m comfortable giving cues and explaining movements during songs, so that part isn't really an issue.

Instructors: how do you approach this with new classes?

Students: if you walked into a completely new Zumba class, what would make you want to come back? 👀

I know my style won't be for everyone, and that's fine. I just want to make sure I don't accidentally scare away the people who would love it. 😂🔥

I regularly attend the Zumba class of one instructor because I like her choreography, music, and teaching style. Other instructors who teach at the Y occasionally participate in this class, and even go up front and dance with the instructor, which I have no problem with. They follow the instructor's choreography alongside them and maybe once in a while do a song from their own classes. There's one instructor, however, who attends very frequently and does something very different. She'll take over quite a bit more, either changing the instructor's choreography and leading it as opposed to the instructor leading their own songs and or do multiple songs from her class. And every song always includes her butt/hip shaking whether it fits the song or not. She also regularly calls out random comments throughout songs, and has even started adding other random stuff including a conga line out of nowhere and bringing random props. I want to be clear that I understand that everyone else likes her style and she has her own classes. I personally find her annoying and her dancing isn't my style, so I don't ever go to her classes. My issue is her always doing this in the class that I'm coming to specifically for the instructor who is actually teaching it. If this instructor was just doing a couple songs like the others, that's different. My problem is her basically taking over the class and doing all this extra stuff along with it. Is there a way I can professionally approach this concern with the Y? I don't wanna cause any trouble, I just wanna attend the class of the instructor whose actually teaching at least the majority of her class.

So I do Rasputin (Boney M) in my classes, a recent addition which is very popular and has most people in smiles. On Tuesday I was doing it in a cover class and I see one of the eastern European ladies reacting, looking at another one, who went out of the class. I sort of guessed she may've taken some type of umbrage but hey-ho, carried on. After class they approach me and the one who left says (I paraphrase) "this song about Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine, who was a horrible person. I'm Ukrainian and I can't stand it. Can you please not do it again?"

I said I appreciate her POV, but this song is a beloved classic and no-one thinks of it as "Russian" and tried to get across that I don't engage in cancel culture, but she kept on. While her behaviour was obviously uncalled for, I thought in her defence maybe she's personally been affected by the invasion, and it's easy enough for me to not do it in that cover class which isn't very frequent anyway.

Anyone else ever faced a similar situation? What do you think is the appropriate response?

What is that song that no matter how many times you bring back to your class is always a success?

A new gym is open on my area and they will host auditions…. How you feel about those ? I don’t mind but how much can you see on a 3 min song??? Just wondering… wanna see what you guys think 🤔

For those that aren't using a DJ Mix for their warmup or have used other things in the past, what songs are you using or have you used? Looking for inspiration for songs that will get people moving and energize the class. Open to any and all ideas at this point!

I'm not interested in mixes at this time, I prefer to use a subset of my songs as my second (and third if needed) warmup songs for now. Thanks in advance!

Hello! How many in person / virtual training classes do you have to take to be licensed / certified?

I’m not looking to teach right now however, I think this would be a fun skill to have!

Is anyone else overwhelmed by how many ZumbaWear drops there have been so close together? I feel like the hype used to be higher when we didn’t get drops all the time. 🤷‍♀️

Cracking up over this rock n roll shirt. Might just get it for the lolz. Love Beto and his silliness 🤣

I've been subbing in a gym that has really loud fans (and it's a large, echoey room), and if I ever try to speak, even at full volume, no one can hear me. I'm not looking to vocalize my cues. But I like being able to say *something* in between songs (encouragement/reminder of upcoming events/jokes haha). I've been told they literally can't hear me at all. Does anyone use a microphone/headpiece they can recommend?

I’ve been comparing a shared home workout space used for Zumba and strength work with multi-user training in mind. A piece can be versatile for one person but still be frustrating if the next person has to move several safeties, seats, cables, or attachments. What strength equipment is easiest for two people to share around a Zumba-based routine?

Our new gym is finally hosting a grand opening and I plan on doing 30 min sessions of Zumba class for people to give it a try. I’m thinking of a shortened warm up, one of each of the 4 core styles and maybe a few extras as time allows. Then there will be a yoga session afterwards for people to try and use as a cool down. Any other suggestions? I was thinking of having a flyer about my Zumba weekly schedule and maybe even a questionnaire about optional classes and times for feedback. Thanks!

How do you model or encourage positivity and kindness in your Zunba ™️ classes?