Back from Convention!

Good morning!
I am back from convention! before I dive into my Zumba convention experience let me post 8/8/16 week schedule: 

Do you see something different? YES! this month I will be offering free 25min demos on Tuesday, what format? each Tuesday it will be a surprise! so come out a bit earlier and get your sweat going before Zumba! just make sure you bring your mats in case its needed.  You will also noticed there are no more Sunday classes for the time being.  As our group grows, if the demand is there I can put it back in.  I was also asked about adding a 9am Saturday class, so hopefully in the fall I will be able to offer more classes to you!

**Drum Roll** Zumba Convention was an amazing experience! this is my 2nd year going so I think I am more "seasoned" and was able to retain more information.   

We flew from Oakland and my travel buddies were Roseann and Maria Charito

In our flight we bumped into other instructors from the East Bay :) 

We arrived almost at midnight on Tuesday.  The next day we went to register and we also did some grocery shopping to prep our breakfast and snacks for the next 4 days :)

 And then we decided to get our tan going and relax in the pool, because the next 4 days was going to be a bit crazy!

The kick off session was very inspiring, the message was of love and tolerance.  Accepting others cultural differences and celebrating each other.  When we dance, especially in that 1 hour we are together, all that craziness in the world is left behind and we get lost in the music.  When we dance there is only Joy and there is no prejudice.  I found that the kick off session was very inspiring.  #wemovetheworld

My first session was Fighting Elements with Ai Lee Syarief...herself and her team were AMAZING! seriously! She did demonstrations of the different types of fighting styles, we learned 3 choreographies, then we had a class with some really fun drills! One of my top 3 sessions! and just so you get an idea, have you seen Ai Lee's promo video of Strong by Zumba? 

Then what seem like a small break in between (but it was actually 2 hours) I went to my next session of Latin Urban with the one and only Zumba Jammer Jhon Gonzales (a favorite) this session I am familiar as we use this kind of music a lot in our zumba class.  Latin Urban is the evolution of adding Regetton beats with eletronica and merengue/cumbia/salsa (something like that I forgot how Jhon explained it ;) Again it was amazing, I love it as it something I was already familiar with, I got 2 choreos maybe 3 :) 

And I finished day 1 with a Master Class with Donna Giffen! I think she might be my favorite Zes (Zumba Education Specialist) I love her energy, I follow her on FB.  When I

first saw her on one of the ealier ZIN Dvd's (Instrcutors get DVD's with choreography) I could feel her energy through the TV screen, so dancing with her and taking her class on Thursday evening was another of my highlights!  I was tired from my 2 earlier session, but I wasn't going to skip! and OMG! HER ENERGY! I forgot I was tired when I walked into that room.  She is from Scotland so the opportunity of dancing with her doesn't come very often. 

Friday was another great day of sessions! When I first signed up for the convention, I wanted to take sessions that I had not taken the year before (and actually other than the Punk Rock Rebellion all my sessions were new to me) so in honor of Margaret I decided to take Slavic Passion! I was like the only Mexican in there! LOL but I was introduced to  different rhythms and most of the instructors there were from Europe.  The basic moves were different and very

challenging, especially the ones with Russian origins.   The whole class was very energetic and dynamic and the music was a combination of traditional and eclectic...one of the choreos we got was actually in English and the sound was very hip hop. Don't worry the choreo has nothing to do with the music video :)  another song that I got was Russian, and I can't wait to bring that one to you guys, it's very fun, however I need to wait to get that song, it's not in English so I need helping finding the song on Itunes :) Some fun facts of the Slavic People (straight from the handouts) 

Last session was with a very COOL CAT, I love her energy...she feels to me like that cool girl from school that everybody wants to be around with and is actually very nice.    So this was her promo video for her session called FLY GIRL 101 

Her session was all about being "flawless" being Yourself and empowerment not only to others but yourself too (stop listening to that negative voice in your head) It's a Fly Girl session, so all the music was from 90's! (SAY WHAT?!) and she didn't give specific choreo,

what she gave us was a combination of moves that covered all of her 6 Fly Girl Rules (which touched  the Single Single Double and so forth) so with those rules and dance combination I could create LOTS of choreos of my own.  So I really liked that, she gave us the foundation, and that (to me) was a very innovating idea.

NOW, that night there was the fitness concert.  I had a long day with LOTS of people.  If you have not figure out this about me, I am actually an introvert.  In order for me to recharge, I need quite, I don't necessarily need to be alone but I enjoy being around a small group of people and having a quite conversation (so not being loud, and screaming, but more within)

so instead I went off with a couple of very good zumba friends and we went shopping to the outlets and had a nice Italian dinner.  Then we met up with our other group (that did go to the fitness concert)  for drinks and desserts.

Saturday!  Saturday had 1 miss....I will get into that later.  So because I had a quite evening on Friday I was able to make my 9am Master Class with the ELECTRIFYING Betsy Dopico from Cuba! she in Florida (maybe Miami? or Orlando?) so anyway if you are ever in Florida find her and go take her class at B2 Studio!

And here comes the miss, I took 80's flashback.  The music was great, the choreo was awesome too, but there seemed to be a disconnect.  The presenters did not do an introduction, they started right away, so that was off putting, but also the whole warm up was off....there was something..and off beat? they didn't seem sync with each other.  2nd half of the session was better. 

BUT THEN! Here comes Tamara Pitts with

her Punk Rock Rebellion! AMAZING! she gave us cha cha with The Clash music (say what?!)  

That night we had the Theme Party (Zumba Prom Night) Look at that sea of people...I did not go down there....

So if you are ever in Covention and expect me to be in a Zumba gone wild mode...I am sorry! LOL but convention to me is about the education part and just hanging with a very close selection of AWESOME people!

Sunday I closed off with Mandarin Mayhem. Although it had Kung Fu and Tai Chi elements, it was very different from Fighting Elements.  To me Fighting Elements was more..."OUT" and Mandarin Mayhem was "IN" if that makes sense.  We really got into the Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu basics.  One of the presenters was none other than Cheryl Hall (an ex Zumba Jammer now a Zes!) I just lover her :) 

Then after that I skipped part of the of the closing session to go and try out Cryo Therapy  being in an very freezing chamber for 3 minutes...is AMAZING! I did the therapy 2x (1 on Saturday and then Sunday) I felt so...recovered! last year I was totally drained, but this year because of this CryoTherapy I felt good flying back home.  

After my "Icing" I went to the closing session just in time to See Yulissa (a Zumba instructor from THE BAY AREA up on the stage with Beto, leading a song and we all danced!) and what's heart warming and inspiring about this is that Yulissa has down syndrome.  

Then it was time to come home! I am feeling re-energized, and I have all this data and music in my head that I will roll out slowly; probably through out the rest of the year :)