Zumba By the Park!!

My girlfriend, Charlotte organised an awesome Zumba Fitness event on the 14th of May 2011 at the Hort Park, Alexandra in Singapore. The 2.5hr event comprised of a full team of 9 Zumba instructors, 100 people, 30 dance tracks including an introductory Samba performance by Gali, a combined group dance battle and a final surprise birthday song with cake for some very special birthday celebrants. There was catered food, professional photography, a fashion contest, a lucky draw and sale of Zumbawear at the event too!  The event was a complete success!!! Great job Charlotte! 

My team consisted of Angela Grosse and Manthony Gerald and I think we rocked the stage that night too! It was extremely sweaty and everyone was coordinated with their deconstructed Zumbawear for each set. I presented 2 tracks of my own, was in action for a total of 11 tracks that evening either shadowing my team when I wasn't instructing or pushing the dance battle on the dance floor. The 9 instructors for the night were made up of Shannon, Zuri, Rhomeiny, Siew Siew, Angela G, Manthony Gerald, Vanessa, Gali and myself.

One of my favourite tracks "Baby come Back"... done for the evening...

Part of the dance battle below where we have as much crowd interaction with each side dance battling and grooving to the beat. Plus the final part where Charlotte & friends made a surprise entrance with a huge chocolate banana cake for birthday celebrants Shannon (pink pants), Gali (dark orange pants) and Siew Siew (light orange pants, 2nd from the right) for the evening.

One of my best Zumba instructors in training, Pek Gan also came to give her support. Pek's style is extremely high impact and is something truely to look out for if you need that cardio kick. :) If you ever see her name on a Zumba class schedule, do check her out!! You'll really love it. 

Group picture with some of the instructors that we managed to grab before everyone left to mingle and eat for the night. It was awesome!! More Zumba Fitness events to come!!

ZES Masterclasses - May/Jun/Jul 11

Zumba Fitness ZES (Zumba Education Specialist) Masterclasses over the past 3 months! Marta Formoso (ZES Spain) on the 31st of May. David Velez (ZES Singapore/China) on the 14th of June. Michael Thomas (ZES Australia/S.E.A) on the 17th of July. I've been busy busy busy with my classes and these 3 classes have been a wonderful highlight for inspiration over the past 3 months... 

Marta Formoso is an absolute firecracker! Her classes always shockingly high energy and there are always so much style techniques to learn from her each time we meet. Love it!!!  Marta gave 2 back to back masterclasses in May and I attended both. :)

Picture of Marta and me... and another picture together with the sexy ladies from the American club (love u chicas!!)

As always when we get together, its picture taking time and we tried some dark shadowy profile pictures by the glass window by the studio for fun... and a picture of Angela Aiken and me all hot & sweaty after 2 hours of Zumba...

Then there was Davids' Masterclass. He came back to Singapore again for a few days from China and held another masterclass on the 14th of June... theres another one coming up in September 2011 where he'll be back for a very short trip again... If you haven't already registered for it, its probably already fully booked by now. Alas, its good to catch up with him from time to time since he was the one who trained me from knowing absolutely ZILCH in dance to training me in my certifications for Zumba till who I progressed to be today...

With years of all his group X experience under his belt, his classes are always energy packed and the sense of familiarity is welcoming to me whenever he returns for a masterclass in Singapore... his style is so definitive so its hard to achieve that kind of style essence with any other instructor here in Singapore... who else can teach a cumbia and a bachata with such style like Senor Velez? I haven't seen one yet. Have you?

As you can tell, its always a sold out event. 

And my Zumba chicas, Angela (orange), Hang (blue) and Alida (Pink) will never miss a masterclass if we could help it... Viva La Zumba! Picture below of my friend & "mummy", Jenny who also has a daughter named Pamela so I'm now her adopted "Zumba baby", Grace who helps to organise events and coordinates classes at Zumba Scape, David just fresh off the airplane and another instructor girlfriend, Airin who also teaches freelance in Singapore. 

And then there was Michael Thomas's Xtravaganza Masterclass and Zumba ZIN 32/33 training on the 17th of July. Unfortunately we all realised too late that we didn't take a group shot for this training so we only have action shots for this day. It was still amazing as usual. All Zumba ZES are of the highest quality so any class with them are always an awesome experience.

I found this picture amusing because the perspective made it seem like I was a toy that Mike was carrying around the studio but we were in the midst of a dance move here. Grace caught me skipping into the studio with my "I'm so happy to be here pose" as we entered before class started.

And again, it was packed from wall to wall! Picture below of my fellow instructor girlfriends - Pek Gan, Charlotte and Yvonne while we rested outside in between ZIN training and the Xtravaganza class to begin... Taking the time to breathe... breathe... breathe...

And a final shot from ZIN training earlier that day with my girlfriend and fellow Zumba instructor, Angela Grosse... her style is very high energy,  tribal + hiphop and her smile is always on her face just like mine simply because we love what we do... :) You'll find classes with any one of the instructors you have seen here in this post all over Singapore and with each instructor, you'll find a different style but in the midst of it all, you'll find that we all have a passion for Zumba... we all love what we do and thats all that matters...

PEACE LOVE ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA!!

Hossan can Zumba!

Yes, Hossan Leong.  He surely can and really, really well too! He's an pretty good dancer! And comes by at my classes from time to time when his busy acting, hosting and DJ-ing schedule permits him.. and the ladies in the class love him to bits! Uber friendly and actually really shy n bashful in person! Oh and his birthday on the 6th of July just passed too! He's a cancerian like me... Confirm!! Double Confirm!! 

Bollywood Vs Danza!

When I finally get the chance to, you'll get very entertaining updates soon from the past couple of very very very busy months. I have over 12 image intensive posts that are lining up to be posted here so check back in constantly to see if there are updates! But for now, back over on the 6th of April... my gosh.. that was over 4 months ago since I've last updated my blog.. *whoa!!* I had the honor and experience to be part of my very own dance competition! 

One of my corporates who I teach dance to had decided to make good their lessons by culminating their efforts with a dance-off in a internally viewed audience judged performance show called "So you think you can't dance?!". 

It was a very entertaining duel between the Bollywood team and the Danza team which I was so very proud of being given the honor and opportunity to choreograph and instruct. 

A total of 4 dance sets, 2 Bollywood tracks by the other team and 2 tracks by the Danza team. We chose  the "Waka Waka" and "The Time" to present in the short segment. And Boy! Was I proud as hell when my teams hit the stage... full of smiling faces, fully rehearsed confident moves that were filled with energy.. I was one beaming proud "mama" indeed.... I could not stop smiling...  my heart was bursting with pride...

My "The Time" team above with their cool black n gold costume backstage and my "Waka Waka" team below with their colourful whimsical costumes as they get all dolled up and psyched for the stage performance... I thought they looked great! Each & every one of them... thank you for the effort!!

And a team of 3 judges, including myself to comment on the performances as they were rolled out made the afternoon even more exciting as we attempted to be our homegrown Simon, Randy & J-Lo judges and all I took the opportunity to root & rally the ladies as they listened & paced about nervously behind stage...

Somewhere towards the end of all the performances, the organiser gathered the audience up to stand and join in a dance number with the dance students and we all did some simple dance moves on stage for some crowd interaction and that was fun indeed... I was impressed at how elaborate they had made their contest, even if it was an internal challenge within their organization itself.. and I was so pleased to be part of it... and what was even more impressive was the table of trophies that everyone left with... everyone who participated was a winner and there were 2 special prizes too! 

Trophies for all the participants that day, Bollywood and Danza and 2 special trophies. One for Best Dressed and One for Best dancer from each class... when these prizes were given out, the cheers and hoots for the winners were priceless... 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your instructor... keep happy, keep fit and stay healthy. Dance on!!! 

Zumba Fitness Launch at the AC!

Finally after close to a year instructing various classes at the American Club Singapore. We finally get licensed for ZUMBA FITNESS! and officially I get to start donning my Zumbawear with much pride n happiness.

We had an awesome launch party on the 6th of May and 40 other ladies *some not present in this group shot* rocked the Dance floor as Rhomeiny in Orange (my team teach partner for the morning & other Zumba Fitness instructor teaching at the AC). It was a crazy high energy rockin' booty shakin' morning with everyone who attended complete with discoball n spotlight that was specially installed for the launch party.

Rhomeiny is a pretty fantastic Zumba instructor! And it was an honour launching the program at the club together with him. We sizzled the dance floor with the crowd and everyone later adjourned for some complimentary protein juice shakes, cakes, strawberries with cream, viet rolls and vegetables n dips as we mingled in the aftermath of a great class..

So much was the energy output that morning that it had me flat out for the rest of the day! My legs were jelly and I had to reschedule classes and personal training clients while I took the time to rest and get my legs rubbed back to life at the foot reflexologist.... Hahahah!! BUT... it was all worth it as the launch went fantastic! More Zumba to come people!! Check out the Lifestyles schedule at that club if you are a member there for class timings with either Rhomeiny who is taking over my Friday morning slot or with me on Sunday or Monday afternoons. :) Unfortunately however, you can only attend if you are an AC member or if a member signs you in and helps you pay for your class. 

If you're keen on taking Zumba with me, click on that link you see on the left column here on my blog for more details on my publicly available class at the Raffles Town Club. Yep, that big Zumba circle thing on the top left... yep! That one.. click on it.. :) ZUMBA! ZUMBA!! ZUMBA!!!

Zumba Fever Party @ TAB

With reference to this preview video of the Zumba Fever party, here are the pictures from that amazing evening... my gorgeous Zumba lover girlfriend, Lisa Kong organised this event and I helped to get a sponsor for some NOMU black pepper grinders for the goodybag which everyone loved!! Lisa invited David back to Singapore for this event and the logistics of this practically drove her crazy. Kudos to her to have pulled off such a successful event and everyone is looking forward to the video that she and Melvyn are creating right as we speak.... *excited!*

Check out the video if you haven't already done so and preview the crazy antics and floor burning moves we did on the dancefloor at TAB @ Orchard Hotel.

TAB @ Orchard Hotel was a great club location for the event and it was indeed a party to remember. The lighting was great, it was sufficiently ventilated, finger snacks and a complimentary gingerale or soft drink was provided, along with phenomenal company of my closest instructor friends, dance students and of course, who could forget the man who taught me how to shimmy shake the way I do, David Velez. Who now lives in China btw.. if you were wondering where he disappeared to... 

The outfit for the evening? Outrageous Red! Black lace top with my coral Zumba pants and a short red wig... bling bling crystals and crazy long long dramatic lashes... no one recognised me till I greeted them in the face only to be received with a scream or a hug. The exhibitionist in me totally LOVED it! And I had to put this picture in here simply because it was too "act cutesy" for a middle aged woman like me with 2 pre-teens to be... *slaps self*

I had to pull off the wig right into the first set of the dance for the evening as it was slipping off and did the rest of the dance segment without it. Hard to miss my coral pants though.. and I loved that I was right smack in between the powerhouses of Shannon Lupian and Angela Grosse... we three totally rocked the dancefloor!!! If you want to know how a bootyshake is done, put us 3 together and it'll be a nosebleed.... wahhaahahaha!!

The dance floor was packed at the sold out event all the way to the bar and even up to the second level of the club as all that attended grind and bumped the clubs walls down... the atmosphere?! crazy crazy crazy... but then again.. its Zumba after all... its supposed to be crazy fun..

   

 

Ahh..and trust that David would give us that monkey monster face before we jabbed him into submission for a nice shot together... and finally he succumbed and said "okay.. here's a pose"... tada!! Zumba burning the dancefloor!! Zumba Heey!! Zumba Haa!!

Tonnes of pictures taken that day and I've only put some favourites up here for keeps. Group shot with organiser, Lisa Kong (front kneeling in green & green/orange top & a shot glass). A large majority, perhaps even more than 60% of the participants are licensed Zumba instructors... and that always makes for a great event..

Picture with my hot colombian chicka, Alida... love this shot! The blue lights make it so psychedelic!! *loves!*

Groupshot with my girlfriends - Sharon, Tosca, Charlotte with "Rasta-man" Terence and "Super Zumba Ella!" to the rescue!!... 

Another group shot with Emily and Azmy added in too!! Zumba!! 

One of my favourite persons, Sharon.... love that she came! She's new to Zumba and slowly.. I will convert her.. slowly... *evil snigger*.... ~hiak...hiak... hiak...~

I'm not sure about Azmy (in yellow) but the 3 of us here - Charlotte, Terence and I came from very fatty backgrounds. My 34kg weightloss story has always been a feature on my blog, Terence who was one of the successful winning contestants in our local TV weightloss programme, Lose to Win lost BIG!! He used to be really huge!!! and look at him now... exercise fanatic and yes yes yes!! newly licensed Zumba instructor too!! Charlotte - one of my dearest blog readers, dance student and friend also lost a great amount of weight to look as hot as she does now... she recently took the Zumba instructor course wih Terence too and she's also the founder and advocate of the Singapore Weight Watchers group.

Go check out her website HERE!! And register today.... Free regular membership for a limited period only so go check that out! 

More group shots with even more instuctors (Shannon L. to my left in gray) & Zumba Fitness fans....  and below Angela G. to the right most with her uber toned abs.. *whoots!*

And somemore as the evening goes by... can we ever get enough of posing in our Zumba gear?! NEVERRRRR... Wahahahhaaha! People say... "you Zumba people must be rich huh? everything on your body is Zumba this n Zumba that..." and Zumbawear doesn't come cheap.... so understand this.. we're NOT rich.. we're just passionately frugal... Wahahahhaha!!! (Now you know what to get me for my upcoming birthday people.. ZUMBAWEAR!! I wear a size M for tops, a size L for bottoms (equi. to a size 12) and a size 8.5/9 for shoes. Thank you.. *cough.grins.cough*

And again.. can we EVER get enough of Zumba events?! NEEEEVERRR also... so the next one coming up on the calendar is ZUMBA by the Park organised by Charlotte. (My girlfriend in pink hair in the first picture of this post). Details can be found HERE and Registration too. Space is limited but the Fun will be unlimited!!

And good news is that apart from Shannon (on the poster below), I will also be team teaching with her on stage so come burn the sexy dancefloor with me on the 14th of May 2011 at the Hort Park... we'll be there with a group of other fabulous instructors to buzz the bees right out of the park. Avoid disappointment by registering NOW & pay to secure your place... NOW!... yes.. now.. go.. now... what are you waiting for?!

Thank you!... Zumba Zumba Zumba!!! Olé! See you in the Park!!

Zumba Fever Party!!! Video Trailer...

Oh My Gosh... I have 9 long, picture intensive posts coming up so please look out for them. I've been SO busy these past couple of weeks, the posts just keep stacking up... so if I don't get to them soon, they'll pile up so much - fall over and flatten me.. *pooof*.. meanwhile, while I work some adobe magic on my picture albums.. enjoy the Zumba Fever Party trailer from the Zumba event I attended last week!!

Rockin' Phenomenal Event I tell ya! Can you spot me in the video? *Hint - Flaming Red head*... Enjoy!!! It was an evening of wild moving with a whole clubful of people I love, friends and students and it was all Zumba Zumba Zumba!!!

And guess what!? From May 2011 onwards, I have converted several of my dance classes to ZUMBA FITNESS!! More details for that to come in the following posts...  clear your days and nights on Tues 630pm, Thurs 1030am, Thurs 730pm and Sat 230pm!! Its time to Zumba!!

Zumba Instructor ZIN31 Training!

Once again the Zumba Fitness family gathers! Zumba Instructor training for ZIN 31 was up today at O School @ Scape, Orchard. We had a powerhouse packed training session with the regular group of instructors together with the newly initiated ones from the latest training. Lead by one of the most amazing ZES you could ever have for instructor training, Michael Thomas.

For those who have been to my classes, if you think some of my moves are eye opening.. gosh.. you haven't seen Mike T's axé moves yet. I'll explore some of them soon for you to check it out but whoaaa!!! Its brings sexy to a whole new level.

We also encountered some new powerhouse instructors who were incredibly amazing!! If anyone who has been to a Zumba class thinks a Zumba Fitness class is fun. Imagine what its like when the WHOLE ROOM IS FILLED with ONLY instructors rocking the room down. Insanity I tell you. The atmosphere always electric and everythings turbo charged...

For me, the past couple of trainings have seen me either injured *last training for ZIN29 and ZIN30 (didn't post the group picture for that one because it was really blurry) which was held at True Fitness on the 13th of February - I ran through that training with a hamstring tear on both legs*or sick and this time round, the latest bout of bug which brought me down the whole of last week is still with me and it was a complete challenge getting past the mental & physical state to keep on going.

30 minutes into the first part of the training saw me incredibly winded, tingling and I contemplated sitting out this time. But I persisted and completed the full training with as much enthusiasm as my spinning head could bear.

Other than the fact that I was dancing on clouds in my mind & that the music just seemed a little warped in my brain today, the beats not quite in sync with my rhythms and I'm moving 1/2 a beat slower than usual... I'm praying that in June for ZIN 32/33 that I will be in tip top shape to smash it out with the best of them... ZUMBAA!!!!!! *roars!!*

David's Farewell Class... Again.

Yeah again... I guess everyone just can't bear to let him leave. From the last class at Cali that saw most of these people crying to having yet another "Farewell" dance session with the señor before he really leaves Singapore for good. My dance instructor, the one who inspired my foray into Zumba Fitness and who has pushed me to excel to prove myself that I can give my best in this industry to those who are willing to join me.

Apparently, he's leaving with Wai Han (his girlfriend) to Taiwan where he will be more involved with Zumba and will be back in Singapore *schedule permitting* to train the instructors from time to time.

Group shot after all that crazy shaking. The mood was excellent, atmosphere was electric and there were many who finally experienced what a true quality Zumba Fitness class is like. My girlfriend Zuri organised the session together with some light food & beverages at the Hollandse club on the 10th of February 2011. Will miss these kind of gatherings and hope we all meet up again soon!

For now.. its onwards to more weightloss! I gained 4kg over the CNY weekend!! Imagine that!! I started Day 1 at 67kg. Day 3 saw me at 71kg?! but.. I'm pleased to report that 1 week post that freakish weighing, I'm back to my previous 67kg and have only 7kg left to go! Cheer me on! I can do it!! :)

CNY Huat! Huat! Danza Class

Before the CNY break, I organised yet another themed class for my Saturday afternoon dance class. All other students from my other classes at other locations & timeslots were also invited and those who could make it, did for the Chinese New Year session. We were missing quite a number of people that day!!

Everyone was told to come in red or oriental in theme outfits and everyone was sporting to ensure they did so for the day! I've never seen SO MUCH BRIGHT RED in my class before, it was quite blinding during the class as all we could see were flashes of red from everyone there... Thank you for being so enthusiastic everyone!!

Everyone also brought a dish for the potluck that we held after class and I look forward to every potluck as each of these women, those who cooked are crazy fabulous chefs and bakers! And those who brought food always brought something that everybody loved to have. Sinful food included!

Everyone also brought a brand new pack of Ang Pow for an Ang Pow exchange and I swapped the whole lot around and redistributed them to everyone with a fortune cookie.. Huat! Huat! Huat!! Good Luck for everyone!!

The class was crazily energetic that day and everyone participated to their fullest.. I could see seriously hard hip swaying going on in there and the atmosphere was hot hot hot!!! The class culminated with Theresa Tengs "The moon represents my heart" *who doesn't know this song?!* which everyone who could speak mandarin belted out with all their hearts... and those who didn't speak mandarin, hummed along and smiled throughout the cool down, me included! It was like a major major karaoke session! Everyone was fantastic! Thank you for singing so loud and with such passion!

After all that heart pumping and hip shaking action, everyone flowed out of the studio to prepare all the dishes and desserts. There was serious excitement and mayhem going on as it took me a long time to get everyone calm and their attention to gather for the tossing of the lucky Yu Sheng. "Ladies!! May I have your attention please!?! Do not touch the Yu Sheng till we have taken our group picture... Ladies?...Helloooo Ladies!?!" ....

Aha!! and finally... everyone had calmed down and we get a group shot in before we start on all the food... *Say Danza!!*

Tossing the Yu Sheng!! Huat ah! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Da Ji Da Li! Nian Nian You Yu!! Man Di Huang Jin! Huat! Huat! Huat ah!!

Emily made and brought the Yu Sheng for the day, very thoughtful of her to have thought of bringing it for everyone!! It was great!!! Who would have thought that shredding green papaya and green mango into the dish would make such a refreshing difference to your standard Yu Sheng! Yum! Yum!

And my twin buns were a hit at the class... too bad I didn't do a kick boxing track during that class so I could do a street fighter impersonation of Chun Li! *Haaaaiiiyah!*

Taking pictures with Judy, Pek Gan and Angie... this was a gorgeously structured shot that came out of us just running together and doing a quick pose by the little plant... very nice! Can anyone see my rainbow colored toe socks?

And when all the food and festive greetings were over... and most of everyone had left.. Pek Gan, Serene and I had a roaring laugh of a time playing with my camera with all sorts of strange poses... the 3 instructors and their chinky pony tails/buns...

And this is our, "oh I'm so tired, help me" wailing damsel in distress...

"Taxi!! Taxi!!".....

No taxi? *pouts* okay then.. one last pose... HUAT AH!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!