Our instructor informed us, that today was "Day of the Dance." A day to honor Jean-Georges Noverre. This knowledge is from Wikipidia, so I'm sorry for any mistakes.
Copied from Wikipidia:
Jean-Georges Noverre (29 April 1727 – 19 October 1810) was a French dancer and balletmaster, and is generally considered the creator of ballet d'action, a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed as International Dance Day.
His first professional appearances occurred as a youth in Paris at the Opéra-Comique, at Fontainebleau, in Berlin before Frederick II and his brother Prince Henry of Prussia, in Dresden and Strasburg. He moved to Strasbourg where he remained until 1750 before moving to Lyon. In 1751, he composed his first great work, Les Fêtes Chinoises for Marseilles. The work was revived in Paris in 1754 to great acclaim. In 1755, he was invited by Garrick to London, where he remained for two years.
Between 1758 and 1760 he produced several ballets at Lyon, and published his Lettres sur la danse et les ballets. It is from this period that the revolution in the art of the ballet for which Noverre was responsible can be dated. He was next engaged by Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg, and later Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, until 1774. In 1775, he was appointed maître des ballets of the Paris Opera at the request of Queen Marie Antoinette. He returned to Vienna in Spring of 1776 to stage ballets there but in June 1776 he returned again to Paris. He regained this post until the French Revolution reduced him to poverty. He died on October 19, 1810, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Here is a video showing a break group doing robot dance for day of the dance last year. They song is in Danish and about using your body as a machine. Song and dance goes well together:
Here's just a random zumba video that I found.. I love when kids spontaniously starts to dance along
That reminds me about last Wednesday when me and my friend went to listen to some music in the park. She had her 1-year-old daught with. Her daughter loves to dance, but she also has a passion for music. Every time I go to visit them, she wants me to play music on my phone. I keep my phone in a wallet case, which she was very amused by. Thinking, howcome music comes out of this thing? I therefore call it my "music machine" when I'm with her. In the park, we were sitting on a blanket and she came over to sit with me so we could just sit there and enjoy the music together, dancing while sitting. If I star to sing, she will start singing, too. She hasn't started talking yet, but she loves to sing by humming. She's so cute. When she stands up to dance, I try to teach her things like, single, single, double. Of course she can't take commands yet, but if I shake her gently to the side, I think she will get it one day. A funny thing that I taught her in the park was, shaking her arm like they do at hip hop shows. You know, if you're at a show, the music is great, you will take your arms up and start to shake them as if your hands are pushing something down to the ground. If I do that, the little 1-year-old will take her arm up and do the same. She's so clever.
Because I have such a passion for music and dancing, I just love to see how people of all ages enjoy music and dance, too, the way I always have! I remember when my brother FINALY started to listen to much when he was a kid. It made me proud, as if he had reached a new level in his life.
So people, do a little dance today in honor of Jean-Georges Noverre!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Skipping zumba, the Royal wedding and a Family affair
Last Friday, zumba was off due to the holidays. Saturday they put two substitue instructors on the job, as our instructor would be away on holiday. I was planning on going to zumba Saturday morning. I woke up and got ready, but wanted to check the meet-up at the gym's website before leaving. To my surprise, I saw that 17 people would not be coming, which would leave me alone with just 10 other women. So I decided to stay home. After all, I was on my holidays, too. So I didn't go.
Monday I was at my usual latin mix and dance fit class. The instructor has come up with some hard steps for dance fit. They're not realy hard, it's just that I have this problem with my ancles, making it impossible for me to do those steps properly, as it was suppose to be small, but super fast, stepping back and forward on the heels.. And well, I couldn't do it, so I just did something to make it look like I was doing the right thing. Well, my calfs were aching so much afterwards, and the next day. I guess I didn't stretch out enough.
Tuesday I went to the other gym for a class of latin mix and dance fit. Luckily the dance fit routines seem better for my foot work, at the Tuesday classes. Sadly this was the last time that this gym would be offering latin mix and dance fit classes on a Tuesday. The instructor wanted to finish her classes here, with waacking. Waacking is basicaly dance routines with your arms. I've actualy become so good at whacking, that I was able to put some attitude into what I was doing. But then again, the whacking that we've been working with in these classes has been realy simple. I wish I knew how to waack this way:
It was sad to end the dance fit class that day, knowing that I lost one of my work out days. It seems that lately I have to make a new schedule all the time. In order to replace my Tuesday work out, I saw, that the same gym is offering samba classes all May. Every year, by the end of May, my city has a big carnval, where everyone can join. Our carnival is open for everyone who wants to join. Everyone can join the parade. I have no intention of joining the parade, but thought it would be fun to join in on the samba classes.
My work out schedule for the month of May will look like this:
Monday: Latin Mix, Dance fit
Wednesday: Samba
Friday: 2 x Zumba
Saturday: Zumba
If I feel that I need to work out more, I can always decide to go to the two other gyms in town. But for now, I'm satisfied. However, knowing that the gym where I go to for my zumba classes, will be closed for 3 weeks in June and July, makes me a bit worried. But I will find a way.
I'm not going to Zumba tomorrow. The instructor is going to another zumba marathon down in the country. They did put a substitut instructor on the job, but since there is a big flea market that I would like to go to with my family, I decided to cancel.
Today was the big day of the royal wedding in Great Britain. Being a true Dane, I'm also a big royalist. Althoufh I must say, the royal family in GB hasn't been on my mind since Diana died. Hopefuly, the newly weds, will be able to change the boring way the royals seem to be ruling in Great Britain. I think they're in need of some young spirits.
Anyway, to honor the newly weds, T-mobile made this comercial using royal lookalikes. I think it's awesome! Actualy the zumba group on facebook, was the one who introduced me to this video, as they mentioned it could be zumba... Hmmmmmm it has a variety of funny dance moves in it. Check for yourself
I saw the wedding cermony before I went to zumba, but I had to take a shower and get ready, just as they were leaving the church.
Wednesday I went to the German border with my parents, brother and his girlfriend. I was determined on buying some cute tops for the summer and ended up buying... 18!! I had the money and feel like showing myself in cute, printed tops this summer. Just as we were leaving a mini mall, my mom said she saw some shoes that I should go see. She wasn't sure if they were Skechers' Shape Ups, which are currently my no. 1 shoe. I went to the shop and couldn't believe my owns eyes. It was indeed the Shape Ups. Now I already promised myself to buy the new Spring collection Shape Ups, as I allow myself to buy a new pair every day. Well, in the German shop, they were 80 $ off the price they have here in Denmark. It would be silly not to buy them, so I did.
I love them, but as I looked at them when I got home, I realised that they were not the regular shape up shoes, that I was going to buy in a shop here... But Shape Up "toners" - which means, they have a different sole. However, They're still so comfortable to wear. Very soft. And they have such a sparkle. When the sun hits them, they light up and sparkle as if they were made of diamonds:
The instuctor brought some new music today along with some old. He also said that his doctor had warned him to take it easy, as he had a minor damage. Well, if you love zumba, there's just no doctor that can keep you away.. Here I'm thinking back on the time that my doctor told me the same thing, and I went against his wishes. Well, it didn't harm me. Anyway, he said he might be taking it slow, but of course that was not what happened. He came up with new funny, but hard to figure out, steps. But as always, we just goof around and have fun trying to do what he wants us to do.
In the break between the two classes, my cousin showed up. She had asked me before where my regular zumba classes were and how she signed up etc. I think it was easy for her to tell the difference between the other zumba that we both used to go to, and this. I think the zumba I do Friday and Saturday is much more efficient than what I do to work out the other days. Why do I think that? Well, I sweat more and I have a hard time catching my breath cause there is so much cardio involved in the dance routines our instructor comes up with. He might be doing a special zumba program, to test if zumba is working.. Some people say they're not losing weight. But I think I'm living proof, that zumba does work. I lost weight. But not only did I lose weight, I lost sizes in clothes! I can now fit some of the clothes I bought way too small. My main problem has always been my arms. I always had to cover my arms, which meant I had to wear the same "see through" mesh shirt over my top, every time I went out.. But I found new things to wear, to cover my arms, and it actualy tucks them in so that they don't look fat at all. In fact, I lost so much fat on my arms, that the little "bingo arms" I have left now, is lose skin with a minor fat cover on them. The same goes for my stomach. Lose skin with a small fat cover.. My legs are giant because I've been building up a lot of muscle carrying around the weight that I used to.. But a big part of my thigs and butt was fat. I don't think I'll ever get so skinny legs, that the skin will be lose, so instead, I try to keep them firm, by working out. I feel much better about my body now.. Not because I lost a lot of weight, but because I gained a much better figure.. This has made me think, that this summer, I want to start wearing dresses!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
My dance movie collection
These are the dance movies that I currently own. I always loved music and dancing.
I remember going to the movies as a 12-year-old watching "Dirty Dancing" 4 times. It was not so much because of the dancing, but more likely because my friend had a crush on Patrick Swayze (R.I.P.). Of course it rubbed off on me, so much, that I memmorized his licence plate in the movie "SP2201" - ha ha.. I don't think I'll ever forget. Useless knowledge, but oh well.
Later on, "Save the Last Dance" became my favorite movie, and it still is. Funny thing is. They made a "Dirty Dancing 2" and a "Save the Last Dance 2." I prefer the first "Save the Last Dance," but when it comes to "Dirty Dancing," I actualy think the second movie is the best... But that's because of the music. I think I mentioned it before. I'm not that big a fan of old music, and since I've now become aware of salsa and latin music in general, I actualy love "Dirty Dancing 2."
I bought the movie "King of Salsa" thinking it would be a dance movie, but instead it turned out to be about a salsa singer and his wife. Marc Anthony and Jeniffer Lopez are the couple in the movie, as in real life. I like them both as singers.. Especialy this cute song, which is one of my favorite Spanish songs:
I'm missing a couple of movies in my collection, I know.. But eventualy I'm sure I will get them. The Bollywood movie is one that I got from my brother. I love Bollywood music. I love how they use loads of bright colors in the movies, and a lot of singing and dancing. I do have a favorite Bollywood movie, too. "Devdas" - a long and romantic movie.
I remember one summer when my brother would drive around playing Bollywood music in his car, which is sooooo unusual here in denmark. But we had fun with it.
Later on, "Save the Last Dance" became my favorite movie, and it still is. Funny thing is. They made a "Dirty Dancing 2" and a "Save the Last Dance 2." I prefer the first "Save the Last Dance," but when it comes to "Dirty Dancing," I actualy think the second movie is the best... But that's because of the music. I think I mentioned it before. I'm not that big a fan of old music, and since I've now become aware of salsa and latin music in general, I actualy love "Dirty Dancing 2."
I bought the movie "King of Salsa" thinking it would be a dance movie, but instead it turned out to be about a salsa singer and his wife. Marc Anthony and Jeniffer Lopez are the couple in the movie, as in real life. I like them both as singers.. Especialy this cute song, which is one of my favorite Spanish songs:
I'm missing a couple of movies in my collection, I know.. But eventualy I'm sure I will get them. The Bollywood movie is one that I got from my brother. I love Bollywood music. I love how they use loads of bright colors in the movies, and a lot of singing and dancing. I do have a favorite Bollywood movie, too. "Devdas" - a long and romantic movie.
I remember one summer when my brother would drive around playing Bollywood music in his car, which is sooooo unusual here in denmark. But we had fun with it.
Spring break!
Spring break has realy hit me and every gym in town.. Normaly when I took some days off work, I've been able to attend some morning dance classes at the gyms, but this time, it's hard to find any, because of the Easter holidays. But I must admit, with the weather being super warm, I could see myself living on the balcony and forgetting all about the gym for a while. But, but, but.. That can be very dangerous, so I will try to work out a schedule that is not gonna do too much damage on my weight. I think I might bring back an old work out, that I used to do years ago. It's called WALKING!!! There is a great pond near by, that I love coming to.. So a walk to the pond every day, should fix the lack of work out.
However, today I have a latin mix and a dance fit class to attend. Last night I was at a 2 hour Easter Event in the gym I normaly go to for my zumba classes. It was a mix of feminess, salsa and zumba. The instructors were my zumba instructor and a female instructor.
We started off with feminess. Feminess being strp fitness. The instructor showed us some simple routines. They really were simple, but because I have so much energy in me, it has always been hard for me to dance to slow music. I didn't see it turning out to be a dance at all.. It was more like a catwalk with a few sexified expressions. After feminess, my instructor took over and started teaching us a few simple salsa steps, but of course he turned it into a show by making us say things like "ay ay ay" - "arrrrrrrrrrrrrriba" and "caramba!" while dancing. I brought my friend, so we were joking a lot with it. After salsa, zumba took over.. Finaly something familiar. After zumba, the strip fitness was back. This time with some weird expressions on the floor. Now putting my legs up in the air is just not something I'm used to doing with that big of a company, so I couldn't help but giggling. It was realy odd being giving a routine to do while being on the floor, which involved "stripper legs" and body rolls. Funny, though. The funny thing is, I had been watching "Flashdance" the night before, and I'm sure the female instructor has found some of her inspiration in that movie. She finished off the event by showing us her own routine, that she will be using for a Danish national strip dance contest. It was ok, but I do think she could have come up with something better... But that is just the dancer in me trying to say, it was not showbizz enough, or something.. Hmmmm She used this song, which is one of my favorites these days, though.
All in all, the event was a success.. We all had soooooo much fun.. We usualy do in zumba class, and most of the people at this event, was the same people, so we were able to laugh some more. And I was introduced to the Feminess class, which I don't see myself attending again, as it was too slow for me.
However, today I have a latin mix and a dance fit class to attend. Last night I was at a 2 hour Easter Event in the gym I normaly go to for my zumba classes. It was a mix of feminess, salsa and zumba. The instructors were my zumba instructor and a female instructor.
We started off with feminess. Feminess being strp fitness. The instructor showed us some simple routines. They really were simple, but because I have so much energy in me, it has always been hard for me to dance to slow music. I didn't see it turning out to be a dance at all.. It was more like a catwalk with a few sexified expressions. After feminess, my instructor took over and started teaching us a few simple salsa steps, but of course he turned it into a show by making us say things like "ay ay ay" - "arrrrrrrrrrrrrriba" and "caramba!" while dancing. I brought my friend, so we were joking a lot with it. After salsa, zumba took over.. Finaly something familiar. After zumba, the strip fitness was back. This time with some weird expressions on the floor. Now putting my legs up in the air is just not something I'm used to doing with that big of a company, so I couldn't help but giggling. It was realy odd being giving a routine to do while being on the floor, which involved "stripper legs" and body rolls. Funny, though. The funny thing is, I had been watching "Flashdance" the night before, and I'm sure the female instructor has found some of her inspiration in that movie. She finished off the event by showing us her own routine, that she will be using for a Danish national strip dance contest. It was ok, but I do think she could have come up with something better... But that is just the dancer in me trying to say, it was not showbizz enough, or something.. Hmmmm She used this song, which is one of my favorites these days, though.
All in all, the event was a success.. We all had soooooo much fun.. We usualy do in zumba class, and most of the people at this event, was the same people, so we were able to laugh some more. And I was introduced to the Feminess class, which I don't see myself attending again, as it was too slow for me.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
2 busy weeks, but slowing down.
It has been 2 busy weeks for me once again. However, Easter i fast approaching and the gyms are closed on holidays, which means a crazy messed up zumba/ dance schedule, that I will try to make work anyway. I'm officialy on my long Spring break as of today, so I'm able to change my schedule for my benefit.
Last Saturday, zumba was cancelled due to a swim contest at the gym, but in the afternoon, I attended an Easter Zumba marathon.. They combined the event with a fashion show of zumba clothes and other dance wear being sold during the event. The professional dancer from the previous zumba event, kicked off the marathon and it was crazy like the last week-end. After her came the fashion show, which basicaly was a bunch of different Instructors, doing each their routine to one song, wearing the various clothes being sold.. Personaly I think it sucked big time.. It was not because of the clothes being displayed this wau, but simply because the instructors were not good enough. It was a mess to see the many different instructors in so short time.. I personaly like to keep an eye out for the good instructors in town, and one song gave me nothing to work with for my research. The stage was just 3 feet tall, which made it impossible to see the instructors feet.. After the fashion show, a couple of the local instructors finished off with an hour of their routines.. By the end of the event, me and one if the girls I was tgere with, were so annoyed and disapointed if the event, that we decided to do our own routines to the songs that we had also been usin in zumba class. The thing is, our Brazilian instructor is so popular, that the other instructors find the music he uses for his routines, but as they can't come up with their own routines like he is, they copy the routines they see on youtube and well.. Go figure, there's how you spot a professional dancer from a regular zumba instructor. All in all, it was an ok event, but at the same time, it was a boring disapointment.. To me, it seemed like a ZIN conference cause I saw sooooo many instructors havung fun.
Wednesday was the last zumba class at the sports arena near my home. I find it strange that a local sports club would close down a huge success till September.. Oh well, atleast I know what to do the rest of the week. We ended the class with another USA tribute battle with me and my cousin in the lead.
Yesterday was two great zumba classes and I'm on my way to two more now. However, it might turn out just to be one, as the instructor mentioned something about the gym only offering one Satyrday class in the future.. But I looked at the online schedule this morning and the second class was still on.. But a lot of people cancelled, so it might just be 10 of us, unless we cancel after the first class.
The instructor asked if we were going out last night, as he would be at the new salsa bar in town.. Well, I'm going out tonight instead, as there is a reggae/ dancehall night in one of the clubs.. It'll be fun and I can't wait to get my groove on! :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Last Saturday, zumba was cancelled due to a swim contest at the gym, but in the afternoon, I attended an Easter Zumba marathon.. They combined the event with a fashion show of zumba clothes and other dance wear being sold during the event. The professional dancer from the previous zumba event, kicked off the marathon and it was crazy like the last week-end. After her came the fashion show, which basicaly was a bunch of different Instructors, doing each their routine to one song, wearing the various clothes being sold.. Personaly I think it sucked big time.. It was not because of the clothes being displayed this wau, but simply because the instructors were not good enough. It was a mess to see the many different instructors in so short time.. I personaly like to keep an eye out for the good instructors in town, and one song gave me nothing to work with for my research. The stage was just 3 feet tall, which made it impossible to see the instructors feet.. After the fashion show, a couple of the local instructors finished off with an hour of their routines.. By the end of the event, me and one if the girls I was tgere with, were so annoyed and disapointed if the event, that we decided to do our own routines to the songs that we had also been usin in zumba class. The thing is, our Brazilian instructor is so popular, that the other instructors find the music he uses for his routines, but as they can't come up with their own routines like he is, they copy the routines they see on youtube and well.. Go figure, there's how you spot a professional dancer from a regular zumba instructor. All in all, it was an ok event, but at the same time, it was a boring disapointment.. To me, it seemed like a ZIN conference cause I saw sooooo many instructors havung fun.
Wednesday was the last zumba class at the sports arena near my home. I find it strange that a local sports club would close down a huge success till September.. Oh well, atleast I know what to do the rest of the week. We ended the class with another USA tribute battle with me and my cousin in the lead.
Yesterday was two great zumba classes and I'm on my way to two more now. However, it might turn out just to be one, as the instructor mentioned something about the gym only offering one Satyrday class in the future.. But I looked at the online schedule this morning and the second class was still on.. But a lot of people cancelled, so it might just be 10 of us, unless we cancel after the first class.
The instructor asked if we were going out last night, as he would be at the new salsa bar in town.. Well, I'm going out tonight instead, as there is a reggae/ dancehall night in one of the clubs.. It'll be fun and I can't wait to get my groove on! :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, April 4, 2011
Zumba week-end recap.. Finaly
I had been looking so forward to Saturday, as it was the big day.. First a zumba class and then off to the big Zumba Event.
Although Saturday morning zumba is early in the day (11am), and it's still early in the Spring, the heat is already starting to show it's signs in the zumba class.. We always get heated up within 10 minutes in the zumba class, even during winter... Imagine 30 sweaty women cramped togethed in a small room that will barely fit more than that. With Spring and plus degrees celcius, it gets so hot that sweat is now dripping, which I find disgusting. The gym has some new outdoor facilities that we will begin to use eventualy, but I'm not sure when exactly it will be.. But I can already imagine how pleasent it will be to work out outdoor.. Only downside I see, is my Spring fever.. So far I haven't had a problem with it... But I'm pretty sure that once the Birch trees realy starts to drop it's pollen, you will find me sneezing with runny eyes. I do have tablets that I will take once needed as it varies a lot from year to year how much it will effect me. Worst case, I will be doing zumba wearing sunglasses. I'm game cause I'm getting tired of being in that sweaty room.
After the morning zumba class, we rushed to change into some dry gym clothes. I took down my sweaty hair hoping it would dry as much as possible on the way to the other gym. The other gym was a 20 minute drive away, but of course we ended up taking a wrong turn on the highway which let us to do a detour. Of well, we made it till 1 PM which was when we planned to be there. We brought our tickets to the entrance and we got a sandwhich, an apple, a snackbar and a bottle of water. As we were quite hungry after zumba class and it being lunch time, we sat down to relax for 5 minutes, eating a bit and building up energy to join in the zumba that had already started. I like that it's ok to walk in and out from a zumba class during the events like these.. We got up from the floor and joined in the others that were already at it. It's so easy to spot when some of the other zumbanistas know the instructors teaching class, cause they seem to know the moves better than others. I like to be a bit prepared, but it's ok. I do my best and laugh if I'm doing something totaly wrong. That's what zumba is all about. Having fun even if you mess up. Noone will judge you, but yourself, and you realy shouldn't, cause by doing zumba you're doing something good for yourself!
We were the last ones to get there, so we had to stand far back... It was ok, if it hadn't been for the chairs and the wall being so close. So we changed spots quite a few times, but it was never a problem. It was in a sports arena that is used for handball, which was easy to see as the floor had grease spots... I even saw full hand prints on the floor.. So disgusting. And from previous zumba events that I have been to, I know that grease can cause you to twist your ancles as it will stop you right away if you step on it during a step.. So I always tried to avoid those spots.
While we were at it, our zumba instructor from the mornig class, arived. He was there to teach a master class. I think 5 or 6 from our local zumba class were attending and then a couple of the other staff members of our local gym. During break, as we were eating and just relaxing, he came over to chat for a bit. It was funny. He never tells us which routines we'll be doing at Events, cause it's suppose to be for the fun of it he says.. So on the way up there, we were talking about which routines we would probably be doing.. And the 4 we talked about was also in his masterclass.. One of the girls asked med how I knew he would pick those 4... And I said... Easy. They were routines that had show potential. And a couple of the routines he changed some of the steps this morning, so yeah, there had to be a reason behind that, as he seemed to be making the routines easier that morning. Most of the girls/women in his class has been there since the beginning, so we're ready for advanced zumba.. However some of the advanced things he comes up with, is too tricky for my brain to figure out. Like how to spin during 2 salsa steps.. Seems so easy, yet I need to see it a couple more times. Lately we also had some new people join our zumba class, and they came to me asking howcome we all knew his steps.. I told them, not to worry. Give zumba a chance and once you have seen the routines for 5 times, you will also be able to do those tricky steps, so I guess I will take my own advise and see if I can do those weird salsa spins after a couple of more times. In our normal zumba classes, we have been doing a routine quite a few times. It's a fun dance that involves dancing in line. We had to do the same at the Event, only instead of making people dance in line, they just had to turn to the side.. But the 5 of use were already standing in line, so we decided to do the dance like we're used to.
This is the song that we use for that routine, of course he changed the steps, but it's still a lot like in the video
It was so much fun to hear the women standing near by, as they commented on what our instructor was doing. "Yeah, that's easy for him to say we should do like that... But how do we do it" - and there I was, doing what he was doing and smiling to myself. It's the small victorys that count!
After the zumba master class with our instructor, there was a break again. A local bank had sponsored bottled water, which I was pleased to find out as I was very thursty from all the working out. I can't do one routine (song) in zumba class without whiping my head and neck with my towel quite a lot and drinking water. I don't know where the sweat goes on the other women, cause I never see their head being as sweaty as mine. Oh well.. I'm used to it, which is why I always like to stand in the back where I can grab my towel and water easily without interfering anything.
The last instructor on stage to do a master class, was a dancer who's famous for being in our "Dancing with the stars" (Ball room dancing). She's now a zumba instructor. It was easy to see, that she was a good dancer cause her routines were more advanced than normal ones.. But since our instructor is also a good dancer, I think I did ok. They have different ways of teaching and I think her way reminded me of the clowns in circus., saying "HEP".. That frustrated me a bit. Her master class was 1,5 hour long so it was a tough one. As the last routine, before stretching out, she used "Proud Mary" and jumped down from the stage to turn it into a battle.
When everything was done, I went to change into some dry clothes again. I squeezed my hair bun and sweat was coming out of it. So disgusting.
We left the sports areana and were able to find our way home without using the GPS. I returned home as a proud woman after 5 hours of zumba.
The following day (yesterday), I got up early cause I wanted to take my bike to a shop near by, to buy a new stereo. The cd player in my old one no longer worked and as I saw a small and cheap one in a catalogue, I decided to get it right away. Let's face it. I love music, so I need a stereo that works. And the cool thing about my new stereo is.. I can also attach my Ipod.. My Iphone would fit in there, too, if it wasn't because of the cover I have on it. But hey, I have the same music on my Ipod as on my Iphone anyway, and the Ipod is just more simple to attach.
Speaking of my Iphone... I discovered this cool program that recognises music. If you hear a song in the radio, you just tap the phone, and the program will tell you which song you're listening to. It's perfect if you hear great music that you would like to get from Itunes. Yesterday I was at a Spring fair with my friend. I wanted her to see zumba cause I knew that there would be a small zumba show on stage. Before that, I talked with the 2 instructors as they're going to be at the Easter Zumba Event that I'm going to Saturday.. Along with the dancer from "Dancing with the stars." I told them, that my waist was hurting a bit from the 5 hours of zumba and they said not to worry, cause their routines would not be as hard as the professional dancer's. Later there would be a dance show from a latin dance school, that I also wanted to check out, as my instructor has been talking about it a lot. They were dancing salsa, zouk and lambada. My friend brought her 1-year-old daughter who wanted to get up and dance.. She was so cute that people stopped up to see her dancing. Personaly I always hated the idea of dance schools.. and I'm still not convinced. I'm just not a "couple dancing" person. I prefer dancing alone and freestyling. People always ask me where I was taught to dance anyway and well.. Apart from the new zumba steps, everything I dance is whatever comes into mind.. Probably because I always loved music, rhytm just comes natural to me. Anyway, the last song they were dancing to on stage, sounded pretty cool, so I remembered about the program and tapped it, and it came up with this one:
Although Saturday morning zumba is early in the day (11am), and it's still early in the Spring, the heat is already starting to show it's signs in the zumba class.. We always get heated up within 10 minutes in the zumba class, even during winter... Imagine 30 sweaty women cramped togethed in a small room that will barely fit more than that. With Spring and plus degrees celcius, it gets so hot that sweat is now dripping, which I find disgusting. The gym has some new outdoor facilities that we will begin to use eventualy, but I'm not sure when exactly it will be.. But I can already imagine how pleasent it will be to work out outdoor.. Only downside I see, is my Spring fever.. So far I haven't had a problem with it... But I'm pretty sure that once the Birch trees realy starts to drop it's pollen, you will find me sneezing with runny eyes. I do have tablets that I will take once needed as it varies a lot from year to year how much it will effect me. Worst case, I will be doing zumba wearing sunglasses. I'm game cause I'm getting tired of being in that sweaty room.
After the morning zumba class, we rushed to change into some dry gym clothes. I took down my sweaty hair hoping it would dry as much as possible on the way to the other gym. The other gym was a 20 minute drive away, but of course we ended up taking a wrong turn on the highway which let us to do a detour. Of well, we made it till 1 PM which was when we planned to be there. We brought our tickets to the entrance and we got a sandwhich, an apple, a snackbar and a bottle of water. As we were quite hungry after zumba class and it being lunch time, we sat down to relax for 5 minutes, eating a bit and building up energy to join in the zumba that had already started. I like that it's ok to walk in and out from a zumba class during the events like these.. We got up from the floor and joined in the others that were already at it. It's so easy to spot when some of the other zumbanistas know the instructors teaching class, cause they seem to know the moves better than others. I like to be a bit prepared, but it's ok. I do my best and laugh if I'm doing something totaly wrong. That's what zumba is all about. Having fun even if you mess up. Noone will judge you, but yourself, and you realy shouldn't, cause by doing zumba you're doing something good for yourself!
We were the last ones to get there, so we had to stand far back... It was ok, if it hadn't been for the chairs and the wall being so close. So we changed spots quite a few times, but it was never a problem. It was in a sports arena that is used for handball, which was easy to see as the floor had grease spots... I even saw full hand prints on the floor.. So disgusting. And from previous zumba events that I have been to, I know that grease can cause you to twist your ancles as it will stop you right away if you step on it during a step.. So I always tried to avoid those spots.
While we were at it, our zumba instructor from the mornig class, arived. He was there to teach a master class. I think 5 or 6 from our local zumba class were attending and then a couple of the other staff members of our local gym. During break, as we were eating and just relaxing, he came over to chat for a bit. It was funny. He never tells us which routines we'll be doing at Events, cause it's suppose to be for the fun of it he says.. So on the way up there, we were talking about which routines we would probably be doing.. And the 4 we talked about was also in his masterclass.. One of the girls asked med how I knew he would pick those 4... And I said... Easy. They were routines that had show potential. And a couple of the routines he changed some of the steps this morning, so yeah, there had to be a reason behind that, as he seemed to be making the routines easier that morning. Most of the girls/women in his class has been there since the beginning, so we're ready for advanced zumba.. However some of the advanced things he comes up with, is too tricky for my brain to figure out. Like how to spin during 2 salsa steps.. Seems so easy, yet I need to see it a couple more times. Lately we also had some new people join our zumba class, and they came to me asking howcome we all knew his steps.. I told them, not to worry. Give zumba a chance and once you have seen the routines for 5 times, you will also be able to do those tricky steps, so I guess I will take my own advise and see if I can do those weird salsa spins after a couple of more times. In our normal zumba classes, we have been doing a routine quite a few times. It's a fun dance that involves dancing in line. We had to do the same at the Event, only instead of making people dance in line, they just had to turn to the side.. But the 5 of use were already standing in line, so we decided to do the dance like we're used to.
This is the song that we use for that routine, of course he changed the steps, but it's still a lot like in the video
It was so much fun to hear the women standing near by, as they commented on what our instructor was doing. "Yeah, that's easy for him to say we should do like that... But how do we do it" - and there I was, doing what he was doing and smiling to myself. It's the small victorys that count!
After the zumba master class with our instructor, there was a break again. A local bank had sponsored bottled water, which I was pleased to find out as I was very thursty from all the working out. I can't do one routine (song) in zumba class without whiping my head and neck with my towel quite a lot and drinking water. I don't know where the sweat goes on the other women, cause I never see their head being as sweaty as mine. Oh well.. I'm used to it, which is why I always like to stand in the back where I can grab my towel and water easily without interfering anything.
The last instructor on stage to do a master class, was a dancer who's famous for being in our "Dancing with the stars" (Ball room dancing). She's now a zumba instructor. It was easy to see, that she was a good dancer cause her routines were more advanced than normal ones.. But since our instructor is also a good dancer, I think I did ok. They have different ways of teaching and I think her way reminded me of the clowns in circus., saying "HEP".. That frustrated me a bit. Her master class was 1,5 hour long so it was a tough one. As the last routine, before stretching out, she used "Proud Mary" and jumped down from the stage to turn it into a battle.
When everything was done, I went to change into some dry clothes again. I squeezed my hair bun and sweat was coming out of it. So disgusting.
We left the sports areana and were able to find our way home without using the GPS. I returned home as a proud woman after 5 hours of zumba.
The following day (yesterday), I got up early cause I wanted to take my bike to a shop near by, to buy a new stereo. The cd player in my old one no longer worked and as I saw a small and cheap one in a catalogue, I decided to get it right away. Let's face it. I love music, so I need a stereo that works. And the cool thing about my new stereo is.. I can also attach my Ipod.. My Iphone would fit in there, too, if it wasn't because of the cover I have on it. But hey, I have the same music on my Ipod as on my Iphone anyway, and the Ipod is just more simple to attach.
As I saw the result it came up with, I thought... what I surprise. That movie had been on tv this morning as I went to buy the stereo. I love the movie, so while I was shopping, I actualy bought the movie. I'm a dance freak and I now have most of the dance movies that you can get, apart from a couple. Maybe I'll do a dance movie post in a couple of dayse.. I won't do it now, as I have one more movie coming in the mail this week. The iphone App that I use for finding songs, is this one.
I'm guessing it can be used anywhere... From radio, concerts or even zumba classes. It's just a realy cool App, that I will probably be using at the zumba event on Saturday, now that I know how easy it is to use. In 30 seconds, it will tell you which song your're listening to, and it will save the song it's history so you can use it several time without the first song disapearing. It's so cool. You should check it out. I think it's also available for androids.
Today is Monday and I have today and tomorrow off from work. However, I have a latin mix and dance fit class on both days. Yep, it's going to be a fantastic Spring cause I feel so energized :)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Zumba Event to be continued
What a day. It's now 7:40PM and I came home about 2 hours ago, just in time to enjoy the last sun on the balcony. It has been 20 degrees Celcius today, which is the warmest it has been this Spring. I had my dinner on the balcony before having a nice and much needed shower. 5 hours of zumba make you sweat a lot. At one point, I could aqtualy squeeze the sweat out of my hair. Yuck. I was realy pleased to find out that a local bank had donated free water for all of us, cause I ended up drinking 2 liters of water. No wonder I got thursty from sweating so much.
As you might be able to tell, I put on my PJs after a nice hot shower, jumped on the sofa where you can find me resting my zumba feet and body. I'm realy proud of what I have acomplished today and this past week.
8 hours of zumba, 2 hours of dance fit and 1 hour of latin mix. I did it!!! This has got to be my bussiest week ever.
Wednesday at zumba in the local sport arena, the instructor wanted to introduce us to a zumba battle. She then pointed out me and my cousin to be in front of one of the groups, not knowing that we were related. That was funny. Her excuse was "I've noticed that you two know the moves," We did it, not knowing which song she wanted to use. And of course it turned out to be the one song I hate the most
I'm just no cowboy... But of course I pretended to like the song and dance ;) NOTE: This is just a random zumba video that I found on youtube, so it's not from any of my zumba classes.
I will write another post about the Zumba Event later.. Cause I can tell it's time for a nap.
Zumba event and busy week
Ugh.. I just deleted an extremely long post that I was writing on the bus on my way to zumba.
I have 1 zumba class from 11-12am.. Then we drive up to the zumba event from 1-5pm.
It truly has been a busy week, so I will make sure to write a long recap when I get home tonight.
I have 1 zumba class from 11-12am.. Then we drive up to the zumba event from 1-5pm.
It truly has been a busy week, so I will make sure to write a long recap when I get home tonight.
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