The first outing — I mean, out of the island — since I moved to Fuerteventura last July. All for a good cause: a Zumbathon organised by Lesley Thom of Zumba Lanzarote. The money raised go to the local charity A.F.O.L. (Asociación de Familias Oncohematológicas de Lanzarote) — apparently, the only cancer charity on Lanzarote.
The event took place at rather posh (five-star!) hotel Hesperia Lanzarote in Puerto Calero. While wandering about the hotel looking for the Zumbathon venue, I walked into the registration desk of the Natural Products Conference. It felt a bit weird, like entering the time portal into the past. As soon as I got the right directions, I hurried back to the present.
Apart from Lesley, there were four guest instructors: Jorge Blasco, Lynsey Carroll, Wanda Knight and yours truly. I did three songs (all very short): Kulikitaka by Banda Brasileña De Carnaval, Bubamara by Fanfare Ciocărlia and M’Toto by Zap Mama. (We were practicing the latter one with my morning class for the last couple of weeks.) I think they went rather well.
The whole thing was great. OK, this is the only Zumbathon I ever been, so I couldn’t compare. Then again, maybe I could. For I know that elsewhere my colleagues were struggling to get the people interested and had to cancel events like this. But here we had well over 100 zumber@s thoroughly enjoying themselves — yes, I even spotted some men dancing! I’m sure there would be even more if at some point Lesley didn’t indicate that the venue is getting too crammed and there won’t be any tickets sold at the door. She promises next time it will be outdoors with unlimited places. Bring it on.
