Yes!! I am a Zumba Instructor.

Finally after some years, uncountable cardio dance classes - personal, corporate and gym clients and several instructor certifications... I finally get the opportunity to be licensed for Zumba. Imagine how ecstatic I was when I heard that I didn't need to travel out of Singapore to get my license and that it was going to be held in Singapore. I didn't need to hesitate much to get my registration and I waited impatiently in anticipation for the 19th of March to come around... and then it did.

California Fitness, Level 13 Aerobic Studio Raffles Club.... 30 hours of Zumba instructor training.. spread out over 3 days till the 21st of March, with Levels 1 and 2 conducted, a total of 8 styles of merengue, cumbia, salsa, reggaeton, flamenco, tango, samba and bellydance conducted. 2 Zumba licenses achieved and a hell of alot of personal satisfaction that I've finally have my licenses.

And guess who else was the ZES aka Zumba Education Specialist? International Fitness presenter, David Velez! And of course, we would know also him as one of my main dance instructors for coming to 3 years already... other than Rashidah.

We were so busy training up with the dance techniques and running group drills, experimenting with different variations, directions, styles and music.. we really didn't have much time to capture more pictures or videos.. and below is probably the only video captured where we were going through our reggaeton stomp.

Demonstration by Toby (Supa Street / Reggae Dance instructor @ Cali) and David. And that ladies and gentlemen.. is how you do your reggaeton stomp. (this VIDEO is strictly NOT available for copy or viewing anywhere else other than here on this blog, Dreaming Reality)

Oh and before I forget, turn your volume down so you won't get deaf from all our screaming... don't say I didn't warn you! :) and then we actually managed a picture, dripping waterfalls of sweat after our reggaeton set. Even my cap was soaking and dripping! Crazy! Picture with Toby and Esther!

And this deserves such a mention. I was pleased to be training side by side with a phenomenal legend... international presenter and group X superstar, Juan Carlos Ferron. You can check out his website HERE. His wealth of group dance instructing experience is impeccable and impressive. And I was completely in awe and humbled when he shared a personal method with me on really effective but simple music mapping to break down dance songs into aerobic sets to choreograph my future classes in just minutes!

Amazing! And he took the Zumba program WITH us.. with his years of experience.. being a master trainer of so many other programs, he could probably show us even more distinct and intricate dance technique than what we covered but it really shows that theres really no end in a persons learning journey... but that being said.. I felt so honoured to be training with some of the best.

Up next for me in April 2010 is FitBall Instructorship training & Core Stabilisation! So... look out for that new class up on my schedule from June onwards...

Speaking of the best... we also had a lady, Angeline Tion who was one of Singapore's Aerobic Champion (International Level!) who took the program too! Okay, so it was many years back but it is still an amazing achievement in itself! Who can say that they have that kind of achievement? Plus she was an aerobic instructor for over 15 years too. She was in such a peak during the Jane Fonda era and she was the main face for ... guess what?!

THE GREAT SINGAPORE WORKOUT!!! You can check that out HERE.

Oh Gawd! I burst out laughing (not at her though) when she told me that because it was such a memory! Can you remember it from the early 90s?!?! And the scary thing was.. I can so remember the lyrics and even the tune.. whaahahahahaahaha!!!

Did you know that the outfit "leotard" plus white shoes were COMPULSORY for aerobic instructors back then? She told me! and I was like... "are you freaking serious?!" Damn Oh biang can?!

Singapore should have another "Great Singapore Workout" Zumba style!!! Right? How fun would that be?!

BUT was great having them in the program and you can see how humble, without ego each of them were... *hand to heart touched*

We even had 2 ladies who flew in specially for the training from Brunei! Susan and Claire! Whoa! Those two were such sweeties!! and you could tell that they really enjoyed themselves. I'm hoping to stay in touch with them too!

And I met Valerie, whos also a spin instructor at California Fitness. (*sidetrack: I look so crazy exhausted here!) She is one uber friendly chick.. it was such a pleasure getting to know her and chatting with her in between sets and after training... and finally... a picture on the 3rd day of training.. everyone severely fatigued, managed to take a picture with Ayesha who also instructs Body Combat & Zumba at Cali...Esther and Zuri! Too bad we didn't get a group shot for the whole group of level 2 participants but everything was memorable nonetheless. Thank you everyone! It was such a pleasure training with you and it was indeed filled with a little blood, a hell of alot of sweat and tears.

Seriously.. some parts were damn bloody painful... *flicks tears aside & continues a body cramping cumbia hip rotation while being pressed down on the shoulders* "I don't care! I can do it! I can do iiiiit!!" *grits teeth*

So thats it for now! *Cheers*... Yes... I am officially a licensed ZUMBA instructor... Olé! *Swishes arm ala Matador style* ZUMBA!!!