I’ll say it anyway

It’s been a while since I enjoyed Zumba’s audiovisual offerings that much. The live-in-Prague class with Donna Giffen and Walter Diaz is good! Their dancing styles are very different and, as with other ZIN double acts, the synchronisation at times is far from perfect. But, for the most part, their choreo is a pleasure to watch. And it is funny (not just fun blast sizzlin’ insert your favourite Zumba cliché here). And where their routines get too complicated or, on the contrary, too repetitive, there Maria Browning picks it up in one-on-one class.

The music... is not bad either. Except for Zumba Loco, but one could guess that much from the title. (Why did they use it as a soundtrack for ZIN 43 Sneak Peek, is anyone’s guess.) I don’t really like synthpop but I have to applaud the Zumba’s take on A-ha’s hit Take on Me — brassy chorus replacing the annoying synth riff of the original, and especially the accelerating samba coda. A thumb or two up.

Song List

1. Tu Boca — Merengue ◊
2. Salsa Choke — Salsa ◊
3. Shant — Bhangra ◊
4. Arremangala Arrempujala — Punta * ☙
5. Take on Me — Batucada / Samba *
6. Quemando Bota — Banda Tribal ◊
7. Zumba Loco — Hip-Hop / Dance ◊
8. Mueve la Pompa — Electro Soca *
9. Llamado de Emergencia — Reggaeton *

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals
☙ Spicy Lyrics

ZIN 42 and MegaMix 33

In the latest ZIN Newsletter (naturally, not available to general public), it is said that Beto cites ZIN 42 as his favorite ZIN Volume. Really? I can’t believe he meant it. What is there to listen to? Del Puente Pa’ alla is good (even though I still prefer the Grupo Niche version), but the rest? Rumba en Moscú? Sexy and I Know It? Yuck, yuck, yuck three times.

The live class was filmed at the 2012 Zumba Instructor Convention. That could explain... no, it can’t explain anything.

The camerawork is worse than usual, which is already bad enough. There is supposedly stellar (by Zumba standards) crew dancing around Beto but some of them keep disappearing from the frame. I spied one half of ZumbaTwinz and some other people that looked familiar. I liked what the girl with crimson-red hair (sorry don’t know her name) did on Inténtalo. Also, there were some funny steps in the aforementioned Del Puente Pa’ alla, I have to try those. The rest is disposale. And where on earth did Beto find those pants? I couldn’t find the official ZIN 42 sneak peek to illustrate this, maybe they were too embarrassed to release it.

By comparison, MegaMix 33 sounds like a good compilation. My favourite tracks are Medellín Feria de Flores and a cover of Huey Dunbar’s bachata Yo si me Enamoré.

ZIN 42 Song List

1. Pa’ que lo Bailen Bien — Cumbiaton ◊
2. Del Puente Pa’ alla — Salsa *
3. Rumba en Moscú — Russian Folk ◊
4. Inténtalo (Me Prende) — Tribal * ☙
5. Fiesta Buena — Latin Hip-Hop / Dance — by DJ Mam’s teat. Soldat Jahman & Luis Guisao
6. Corazoncito Bonito — Bachata / Merengue ◊
7. Move Ya Body — Hip-Hop * ☙
8. Give It Up — Champeta / Soca ◊
9. Sexy and I Know It — Electro House * ☙

MegaMix 33 Song List

1. La Maldad — Merengue * ☙
2. Medellín Feria de Flores — Salsa *
3. Ella Anda Sola — Reggaeton * ☙
4. Segura Na Cintura — Axé ◊
5. Show You How To Love — Dance (a cappella) — by Pentatonix
6. Dame la Ola — Reggaeton Electrónico * ☙
7. Yo si me Enamoré — Bachata *
8. La Morena — Kuduro — by Vic J feat. Montano
9. Me Enteré — Reggaeton Pop *
10. Dekole — Caribbean Soca Beat — by J Perry (feat. Shabba & Izolan)

* Covers
◊ Zumba Fitness originals
☙ Spicy Lyrics

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