What's better than going to a Zumba® class? Going to a Halloween-themed Zumba class and dancing alongside your favorite TV, movie, and fantasy characters!
Watch as this group – consisting of a Minion, Harley Quinn, Princess Leia, a couple of undead, and a few surprise guests – rock their moves and do their best monster mash in this Halloween dance off! Who is your favorite character? #GetYourFreakOn
The Unsung Hero program recognizes ZIN™ Members around the world for their outstanding contributions to their communities, and for their ability to inspire others. This month, September 2016, we celebrate ZIN™ Member, Iris Yolanda Martinez-Cintron (Yolie), in Florida, USA, for her determined passion to support the victims and their families following the tragedy that took place at Pulse nightclub.
For many years, Yolie has been a champion for the LGBT community. In the early hours of June 12, 2016, a shooter entered Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, taking the lives of 49 people and wounding 53 others. This devastating act of violence immediately changed the Orlando Community, and people around the world grieved with them.
Just a few weeks later, at the 2016 ZIN Convention in Orlando, Yolie connected with Community Advisor, David Topel, and Community Development Manager, Gina Graziani. Yolie shared with them that since the tragedy at Pulse, she had been working tirelessly with victims and their families. From a mother who lost her son that night, to a beautiful young woman who was shot 9 times and survived, and countless others, Yolie was there for them 24/7, a hand to hold, an ear to listen and a heart full of love.
Yolie said she knew if some of these victims and families could feel the power of the Zumba® Community, it would surely help them heal. Together, the Zumba Home Office team and Yolie went into action in that moment. Yolie invited these incredible people to meet by the We Move the World stage, if nothing else, just to meet ZIN Members and listen to the music…but what happened next was much, much more. Yolie and local Orlando community members joined together on the stage, along with several of the amazing people affected by the tragedy, and ZIN Members from around the world…dancing, singing, and celebrating life together. The founders of Zumba Fitness, CEO, Alberto Perlman, COO, Alberto Aghion, and CCO, Beto Perez, even joined them on stage to humbly offer their support. This is what we do as Zumba Instructors; come together in unity through dance and music. Yolie knew this, and wanted this for her Community. It was a precious and special moment for everyone there.
Yolie, thank you for your unwaivering support for others. Your fierce dedication and gentle spirit inspire us to be there for others in times of need.
This song has been climbing the charts for weeks and weeks, and there's a good reason why! The beat in the background lures you in until you want to just break loose and dance the night away. If the dance moves in the music video for 'Don't LetMe Down' aren't inspiration enough, check out this choreography that will have you working your arms and legs in no time. Ask your Zumba® Instructor to play this song in your next class and show off your most rockin' moves! Don't let us down, now.
Wouldn't it be grand if you woke up and somebody said, “you ain't gotta go to work!” (unless you're a Zumba® Instructor, because you have the best. job. ever.). The girls are shouting just that to their fellas in their sexy new single, “Work From Home”. Like other Fifth Harmony jams, this song makes us want to shake our hips, drop low, shimmy a few times, and work our buns! You ready to do that? Turn on this choreo and then take it to a class near you!
Meet Joy Prouty. Perhaps the spunkiest woman at the Zumba Home Office, you can't help but feel great when she passes you in the hallway. Always impeccably dressed with a gorgeous smile, she's everything you want to be when you grow up (a feeling that gets stronger when you learn her interesting past).
Joy is the Director of Education for Programs and Trainings at Zumba – which means that she writes awesome new programs like Zumba Step. It's fitting for her, as her life has been filled with dance and fitness.
Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Joy was enrolled in dance school at the age of 6 because her mom had hopes that it would shake her tomboy ways. For Joy, that was the start of a life-long passion. By age 10, she knew she wanted to teach dance and did just that as a way to earn money throughout high school.
Then, one Friday the 13th in March, right before high school graduation, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself: Joy's dance teacher took her on an audition at Radio City Hall for the chance to become a world-famous Rockette.
“The director called me the day after I graduated and asked 'Can you be here in one day?'”, recalls Joy. “I packed my bags, got a plane ticket, landed in New York, found a dancer who needed a roommate, and moved into my first apartment on 49th street between 6th and 7th avenues.”
For 3 years, from 1959-1961, Joy danced for the Rockettes, performing 365 days a year with up to 6 shows a day. It's a time period that she describes as very happy and a great experience, a time when she met and performed for a lot of Hollywood stars, including Lassie the dog!
Eventually, Joy got married and settled into family life in Palm Beach, Florida. 3 months after her first son was born, she felt an urge to dance and began teaching a ballet-barre exercise class (yes, the same barre class you know of today is the one she taught over 50 years ago!). Thus began her amazing career in fitness.
“The thing that hooked me about fitness, even though I'm a dancer at heart and soul, is the emotional and physical impact it has on people's lives,” says Joy. “People would tell me they felt empowered, good about themselves, and stronger. I was hooked.”
Before discovering Zumba Fitness in 2006, Joy taught full-time as a private fitness instructor, opening her own studio that focused on aerobics, stretching, and even high-intensity-interval-training. She also traveled the world as a Step Reebok ambassador, training people internationally.
But in 2006, while at a fitness-industry conference in Orlando with fitness associate Josie Gardiner, Joy stumbled upon a booth that would define the next chapter in their career. Petra Robinson, a friend from the industry who was running the Zumba booth, encouraged them to try a master class that was about to begin, taught by Zumba creator Beto Perez.
“I had so much fun. I came out of the class and said to Petra, 'Hire us to write a program for older adults'”, says Joy. “We shook hands and that was it. Zumba Gold came to life less than a year later.”
Joy has since co-authored several books and choreographed and starred in over 25 videos and DVDs for Zumba.
And she's not just a preacher for fitness. Joy actually puts what she says into practice. To this day, she still exercises 5 days a week. She's at the gym every morning at 6:00am. Her advice? Find something that works for you, but keep in mind that strength training is hugely important for everybody.
So, at a time when most people Joy's age are considering retirement, she's eager to keep on going.
“I love, love, love my job,” says Joy. “I feel so blessed. At this stage in my life, to be working and feel so passionate is wonderful. It's been a crazy adventure.”
And at the Zumba Home Office, we thank our lucky stars to be part of her wild ride.
We love songs that take us straight to the beats instead of making us wait for it. Enter 'Lush Life', a fun, breezy song by Swedish pop-dance singer and songwriter Zara Larsson. This song is the perfect complement to the long days of summer and the perfect reminder of beachy-weather during the cold winter months! To get you in the sunshine state of mind, head to a Zumba class near you and rock this choreo!
