DANCE ZUMBA

Zumba is an exercise fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Pérez during the 1990s. Zumba is a trademark owned by Zumba Fitness, LLC. The Brazilian pop singer Claudia Leitte has become the international ambassador to Zumba Fitness.

Zumba classes are typically about an hour long and are taught by instructors licensed by Zumba Fitness, LLC. In one Zumba class, a person can burn up to 600 kcal, depending on the energy put forth. The music comes from the following dance styles: cumbia, salsa, merengue, mambo, flamenco, chachacha, reggaeton, soca, samba, hip hop music, axé music and tango. Though the word "zumba" has several meanings in e.g. Castilian and Latin American Spanish, it is stated by Zumba Fitness, LLC to be a neologism that was expressly created as a brand name. The original name was "Rumbacize", a combination of rumba (a Spanish word "party" and various dances) and Jazzercize.

Zumba
How It Works

Grooving to the beats of salsa, flamenco, and merengue music feels more like a dance party than a workout, which is exactly what makes Zumba so popular. The Latin- inspired dance workout is one of the most popular group exercise classes in the world.

The high-energy classes are set to upbeat music and feature choreographed dance numbers that you might see in a nightclub. You don’t need to be a great dancer to feel welcome in a Zumba class. With the tag line, “Ditch the Workout, Join the Party,” the classes emphasize moving to the music and having a good time, no rhythm required.

There are several different kinds of Zumba classes, from Aqua Zumba workouts to classes like Zumba Toning that incorporate weights for additional calorie burning and strength training. There are even Zumba classes for kids.

Working up a sweat in the 60-minute classes burns an average of 369 calories -- more than cardio kickboxing or step aerobics. You’ll get a great cardio workout that melts fat, strengthens your core, and improves flexibility.

Intensity Level: Medium

Zumba is an interval workout. The classes move between high- and low-intensity dance moves designed to get your heart rate up and boost cardio endurance.

Areas It Targets

Core: Yes. Many of the dance steps used in the routines emphasize the hips and midsection to help strengthen the core.

Arms: No. Traditional Zumba classes do not target the arms. Specialized classes like Zumba Toning use weights to help strengthen and tone the arms.

Legs : Yes. The jumps and lunges that are parts of the choreographed movements help work the quads and hamstrings.

Glutes :  Yes. You’ll feel the burn in your buns while you move to the beat.

Back : No. Though the workout involves your whole body, it's not focused on your back muscles.

Type

Flexibility :  Yes. The dance moves were designed to enhance flexibility.

Aerobic :  Yes. The high-and low-intensity intervals make Zumba an excellent cardio workout.

Strength :  Yes. Traditional Zumba workouts emphasize strengthening the core, while Zumba Toning and Zumba Step workouts incorporate weights to build muscles in the arms, legs, and glutes.

Sport :  No. The classes are not considered sports.

Low-Impact :  No. The classes are high-energy and involve jumping, bouncing, and other high-impact moves.

What Else Should I Know

Cost : Yes. You’ll need to sign up for classes through a fitness center or buy Zumba DVDs to follow the choreographed steps.

Good for beginners : Yes. Zumba emphasizes moving to the music and having fun regardless of your fitness level.

Outdoors : No. The classes are offered in fitness studios.

At home : Yes. You can buy Zumba DVDs and follow the dance workout at home.

Equipment required : None, except for your sneakers.

What Dr. Melinda Ratini Says:

Zumba is one of the most fun and versatile fitness crazes to come along in a long time. Classes can be geared for just about any fitness level. Though most Zumba involves high-impact moves like bouncing and jumping, it can be modified to meet your needs.

If you want an overall strength training program, look for a Zumba class that incorporates some light weights for your upper body.

You can start slowly if needed, or you can dance your heart out if you are in great shape. If you just love to move your body to the music, then Zumba is for you.

Talk to your doctor before joining a class if you have been inactive, have any medical issues, or take any medicines, just to make sure Zumba is right for you. And talk to instructors before class about your fitness level and any health conditions you have so they can suggest modifications.

Is It Good for Me if I Have a Health Condition?

If you have been hooked on the Zumba beat since before you became pregnant, you have no problems with your pregnancy, and it’s OK with your OB-GYN, then you can keep stepping. But there are some changes that you need to make to stay safe.

Steer clear of high-impact moves if you have knee or back pain or arthritis. Other ways to get a good workout are gentler on the joints.

Zumba has a lot of high-impact moves that can wreak havoc as your hormones loosen up your joints. Talk to your instructor about switching out some of those jumps and bounces -- or any routines that might throw you off balance. And remember to stay cool and hydrated during your workout.

If you have a handicap or other physical limitation, consider wheelchair Zumba classes, which are a good, fun, nonweight-bearing workout.

If you have diabetes, Zumba is a great way to lose weight and build muscle. Your blood sugars will go down as your energy level soars. Check with your doctor first to see if you’ll need to change your diabetes treatment plan.

Besides losing weight, Zumba can help lower your risk of heart disease, reduce your blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and boost your good cholesterol. If you have heart disease, your doctor may suggest starting back on the road to fitness in a cardiac rehab program instead of jumping right into a Zumba class.

Dance

Dance is a powerful impulse, but the art of dance is that impulse channeled by skillful performers into something that becomes intensely expressive and that may delight spectators who feel no wish to dance themselves. These two concepts of the art of dance—dance as a powerful impulse and dance as a skillfully choreographed art practiced largely by a professional few—are the two most important connecting ideas running through any consideration of the subject. In dance, the connection between the two concepts is stronger than in some other arts, and neither can exist without the other.

The movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself.

Although the above broad definition covers all forms of the art, philosophers and critics throughout history have suggested different definitions of dance that have amounted to little more than descriptions of the kind of dance with which each writer was most familiar. Thus, Aristotle’s statement in the Poetics that dance is rhythmic movement whose purpose is “to represent men’s characters as well as what they do and suffer” refers to the central role that dance played in classical Greek theatre, where the chorus through its movements reenacted the themes of the drama during lyric interludes.

The English ballet master John Weaver, writing in 1721, argued on the other hand that “Dancing is an elegant, and regular movement, harmoniously composed of beautiful Attitudes, and contrasted graceful Posture of the Body, and parts thereof.” Weaver’s description reflects very clearly the kind of dignified and courtly movement that characterized the ballet of his time, with its highly formalized aesthetics and lack of forceful emotion. The 19th-century French dance historian Gaston Vuillier also emphasized the qualities of grace, harmony, and beauty, distinguishing “true” dance from the supposedly crude and spontaneous movements of early man:

The choreographic art . . . was probably unknown to the earlier ages of humanity. Savage man, wandering in forests, devouring the quivering flesh of his spoils, can have known nothing of those rhythmic postures which reflect sweet and caressing sensations entirely alien to his moods. The nearest approach to such must have been the leaps and bounds, the incoherent gestures, by which he expressed the joys and furies of his brutal life.

John Martin, the 20th-century dance critic, almost ignored the formal aspect of dance in emphasizing its role as a physical expression of inner emotion. In doing so, he betrayed his own sympathy toward the Expressionist school of modern American dance: “At the root of all these varied manifestations of dancing . . . lies the common impulse to resort to movement to externalize states which we cannot externalize by rational means. This is basic dance.”

Dance

This article discusses the techniques and components of dance as well as the aesthetic principles behind its appreciation as an art. Various types of dance are discussed with emphasis on their style and choreography. The history of dance in various regions is treated in a number of articles; see dance, African; music and dance, Oceanic; dance, Western; arts, Central Asian; arts, East Asian; arts, Islamic; dance, Native American; arts, South Asian; and arts, Southeast Asian. The interaction between dance and other art forms.

A truly universal definition of dance must, therefore, return to the fundamental principle that dance is an art form or activity that utilizes the body and the range of movement of which the body is capable. Unlike the movements performed in everyday living, dance movements are not directly related to work, travel, or survival. Dance may, of course, be made up of movements associated with these activities, as in the work dances common to many cultures, and it may even accompany such activities. But even in the most practical dances, movements that make up the dance are not reducible to those of straightforward labour; rather, they involve some extra qualities such as self-expression, aesthetic pleasure, and entertainment.

One of the most basic motives of dance is the expression and communication of emotion. People—and even certain animals—often dance as a way of releasing powerful feelings, such as sudden accesses of high spirits, joy, impatience, or anger. These motive forces can be seen not only in the spontaneous skipping, stamping, and jumping movements often performed in moments of intense emotion, but also in the more formalized movements of “set” dances, such as tribal war dances or festive folk dances. Here the dance helps to generate emotions as well as release them.

People also dance for the pleasure of experiencing the body and the surrounding environment in new and special ways. Dance often involves movement being taken to an extreme, with, for example, the arms being flung or stretched out, the head lifted back, and the body arched or twisted. Also, it often involves a special effort or stylization, such as high kicks, leaps, or measured walks. Dance movements tend to be organized into a spatial or rhythmic pattern, tracing lines or circles on the ground, following a certain order of steps, or conforming to a pattern of regular accents or stresses.

All of these characteristics may produce a state of mind and body that is very different from that of everyday experience. The dance requires unaccustomed patterns of muscular exertion and relaxation as well as an unusually intense or sustained expenditure of energy. The dancer may become intensely aware of the force of gravity and of a state of equilibrium or disequilibrium that normal activities do not generate. At the same time, the dance creates a very different perception of time and space for the dancer: time is marked by the rhythmic ordering of movement and by the duration of the dance, and space is organized around the paths along which the dancer travels or around the shapes made by the body.

TOP
Open chat