How do you sing “®”?

The unusual thing about ZIN MegaMix 32 is... absence of any salsa, merengue and cumbia (which, some of you may recall, are three of the four styles they teach at the Zumba^® Basic 1 course). Six out of eleven tracks are “Zumba Fitness originals” of varying quality. (Actually I quite liked Africanisima: it is so different from what Zumba normally sells.) And, apparently, it’s not enough just to put “Zumba” in every song, it must come together with registered trademark symbol. Hence the title Zumba^® Battleship, the yuckiest song of the compilation.

MegaMix 32 Song List

1. Calor — Warm Up *
2. Sueña Desierto Es Carnaval — Latin Pop ◊
3. Toma Reggaeton — Reggaeton ◊ ☙
4. El Tucanazo — Quebradita *
5. Desengonçado — Axé — by Cecéu Muniz
6. Go — Ragga Caribbean ◊
7. Africanisima — African Dance ◊
8. Zumba^® Battleship — Dance / Hip-Hop ◊
9. Luxor Baladna — Belly Dance — by Movses Panossian
10. Ojos Negros — Middle Eastern Pop ◊
11. Seasons of Love — Musical Theater *

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals
☙ Spicy Lyrics

What are we gonna do with it?

In the unlikely event that you are following this blog, you could have noticed that I am not a big fan of Zumba-ing double acts. Now imagine how happy I was receiving ZIN 41 and watching another live class. With another double act. Mind you, in some respects it’s very different from Tanya and Gina, Lindsey and Kass, or Zumbatwinz for that matter. Most importantly, Betsy Dopico totally out-dances her co-presenter Ricardo Marmitte. One-on-one class with Donna Giffen is all right. I quite like her way of building up the routine, it is just that the music, once again, fails to inspire.

No bhangra, flamenco or samba. Doesn’t matter, I gave up on the music from ZIN long time ago. But... as funny as it sounds, my favourite choreo on the DVD is the one for Now That We Found Love, a cover of the most ridiculous cover I ever heard.

Song List

1. Mueve ese Eskeleto — Electro Merengue — by Fulanito ☙
2. Pretenciosa — Salsa ◊
3. Me Gustan Todas — Techno Cumbia * ☙
4. Pose — Reggaeton * ☙
5. Now That We Found Love — Disco Rap *
6. Mereketengue — Pasito Duranguense ◊
7. Bem Vindos — Funk ◊
8. Taca Taca — Merengue / Calypso *
9. Como un Angel — Reggaeton Pop — by Zulayka ☙

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals
☙ Spicy Lyrics

One year on

You know what, I just realised that I did my first real Zumba class exactly one year ago. Time for a progress report?

Well, there’s not much to report. My morning class on Tuesday and Thursday was all but dead for weeks — only one student was attending and then not always. So I decided to stop the morning classes in the Botanical Park for a while. The only class still running is the Wednesday evening at FuerteFusión. Sometimes I have two students, once I had eight students (all hip scarves were in use!) but most often I have four people there. I can’t say this keeps me extremely busy, but at least it’s a weekly event I look forward to — something the morning classes ceased to be long time ago.

One rainy sunny rainy (yes sometimes it rains even here) day I was sitting and contemplating whether it was the time to close the shop and concentrate on something else. Ironically, it was exactly when my Facebook page accumulated 100 “likes”. To help me to celebrate this momentous achievement, Facebook presented me with €30 publicity voucher, which I can spend to promote my page so it could get even more “likes”. Oh bother. I would prefer just €30 in cash. It turns out that in order to redeem the said voucher, I have to give Facebook my credit card details. Thanks but no thanks, I’m fine.

I prefer Gangnam Style

The latest ZIN offering is, as per usual, not especially good, not especially bad, not especially fresh. All standard Zumba fare except maybe covers of Chic’s Le Freak (which was big in 1978 and ever since) and Rihanna’s We Found Love (which by now everybody should be thoroughly sick of).

Forget Zumba for a moment (or longer). This weekend (better late than never), I discovered Gangnam Style by Korean rapper Psy — apparently, the most “liked” video on YouTube. And I can see why.

MegaMix 31 Song List

1. We Found Love — ElectroPop / Warm Up *
2. El Lapicero — Merengue — by Raul Acosta & Manikkomio ☙
3. Al Son De Los Cueros — Salsa — by Sonora Carruseles
4. La Cumbia Tribalera — Tribal * ☙
5. Ahora Es — Reggaeton * ☙
6. Agachadita — Cumbia * ☙
7. Danca Da Cordinha — Samba / Axé *
8. Le Freak — Disco *
9. Trikitrikitran — Rumba Flamenca — by Mayka
10. Las Cosas Pequeñas — Bachata *

* Covers
☙ Spicy Lyrics

Getting nasty?

A live class without Beto, Tanya or Gina: now that sounds like a good idea. Long overdue, I say. But the implementation? A class with Lindsey Taylor and Kass Martin on ZIN 40: it is just like the class with Tanya and Gina. Except without Tanya and Gina.

What’s the point of having two instructors anyway? Even though each of them quite obviously can dance, poor synchronisation makes the whole show appear messy. When Beto dances together with two/four/more other instructors... well, they may be not that well synchronised either, but at least you know who to look at for “master” routine. Here it is just not the case. (Can we have a class with Zumbatwinz next time?) And another thing: the students surely are not supposed to repeat that floor body wave. What’s this showing off for?

In One-on-One, Michael Thomas shows some interesting moves, but somehow none of his routines makes a convincing whole. The only song/choreo from this DVD I would like to try is Coisa Brasileira from the live class. That’s 1—0 Two Ladies vs One Guy.

A new feature: now songs with “spicy lyrics” are indicated with a little chilli pepper icon. So that you know.

Song List

1. Me Va Quema el Celular — Merengue * ☙
2. Vamos Pa’ La Pista — Salsa ◊
3. La Suavecita — Cumbia / Reggaeton * ☙
4. Fuera de Control — Reggaeton — by K.L.C. Clave Cubana ☙
5. Maria — Rumba Flamenca ◊
6. Getting Nasty — Techno Dance — by KCB ft. Lady Lauryn ☙
7. Coisa Brasileira — Axé / Capoeira ◊
8. Ponte los Tenis — Electro Merengue ◊
9. Come On Eileen — Ska Punk * ☙

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals
☙ Spicy Lyrics

Home ☼ ☼ ☼ home

Home Still Home

To live in Fuerteventura and go on holidays to Britain, rather than the other way round — that feels weird. Good too. England was nice, most of the time. Scotland was beautiful. The weather was pleasing. The prices... well that was a bit of shock. Even so, it was great to be there and see friends. I even managed to play a gig with Arco Iris. Better still, to come back home.

Home Sleep Home

Finally, sleeping in my own bedroom. The days are hot, but after dark it is nicer outside. Maybe should consider sleeping on the sunroof — after I’ve done with cleaning, that is.

Home Sweep Home

After a month away, the patio, terrace and sunroof are covered in a thick layer of Martian dust. The surfaces in the house... are covered in a thinner layer of the same dust. I keep on sweeping.

Home Swim Home

As I just said, England was mostly nice. The visit to Wells-next-the-Sea was an exception. The weather was good, even hot by English standard, so it looked like everybody decided to go there on that particular Saturday. In a nutshell: long and slow drive; no decent parking; inefficient staff in a café (and nothing spectacular in terms of food); incredibly crowded beach, without swimmable sea. That served as a reminder why did we move to Fuerte in the first place. Needless to say, the next morning after the return we cycled to the beach for a dip. Bliss.

Home Slim Home

After all this driving around Britain (that is, sitting in a car for a good part of a day), I’m back to walking, cycling, swimming and, you may have guessed, Zumba-ing. And no more full English breakfast for me till next year.

Actually, I almost went para zumbar in London. There are hundreds of Zumba instructors there, but in search for a “local” class (that is, something within a walkable distance from the place in North London where we were staying) I came across one free class that was held in a church. The only problem was... it turned out to be “ladies only”. What a disappointment.

Home Sweat Home

My, it is hot outside. So, following the suggestion from my student, I moved the morning classes from 10:00 to 9:00. Nine o’clock! That really is early for me, but today’s class has proved it was the right decision. I think by 11 we would be “well done” (as opposed to more usual “medium rare”). Nevertheless, as I just realised, this is exactly what I said to my students: “Well done everybody”.

Feel Alright

Sometimes I wonder, should I even bother? (Writing about monthly ZIN releases, that is.)

Or shall I put it the other way: sometimes they wonder, should they even bother? (Compiling their monthly offerings, that is.)

Truth to be told, I found ZIN MegaMix 30 rather... listenable. I did not care much about Buraku and That’s Not My Name though. Nothing fantastic or even remotely original, but all in all... it feels alright.

Song List

1. Apache (Warrior One Remix) — Warm-up *
2. Torero — Latin Pop *
3. Que Cosa Tan Linda — Salsa *
4. Fever — Reggaeton *
5. Buraku — Caribbean Hip-Hop — by K-liber4life
6. Mis Ojos Lloran por Ti — Quebradita *
7. El Baile de las Cocoteras — Cumbia *
8. That’s Not My Name — Punk Pop *
9. Verano Sólido — Merengue *
10. Feel Alright — Tropical / Pop ◊

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals