Beto Perez Talks how He Accidentally Created Zumba
Zumba is now increasing in popularity. Beto Perez, the founder of this dance-exercise, says that the reason why people embraced it is because it's "different, effective, infectious and easy-to-follow."
The widespread interest caused the 45-year-old Perez to develop the fun workout into a full-fledge health fitness franchise and program that opened more doors of opportunities for him. Even celebrities like Jackie Chan, Shakira and Emma Watson are already signed up to take his lessons.
According to Business Standard, The success of the dance craze started around 1986 when Perez was teaching his aerobics classes in Colombia. "One day I forgot my music for the class and the only music I had with me was a tape of Latin music that I had recorded from the radio. I said to my students: 'I've prepared this class for a long time,' but it wasn't true. If I'd told them I'd forgotten my music, my boss would have killed me. I improvised for one hour and what I remember is the people's smiles and their sweat. For me, the most important thing was that it felt like the class lasted 20 minutes. In that moment, I said, 'Wow, I want to do this for the rest of my life'. This was the beginning of Zumba."
Perez told The National that many people thought that achieving ones dreams is hard. But in his case, it's the other way around. According to him, "If you don't smile, you don't gain. If you're not happy, you don't gain." In order to be fruitful in life, a person must never forget how to enjoy and dance with it.
He also added that smiling is really a good thing as it activates endorphins which helps the heart pumps and the body to burn more calories. "I never created Zumba to lose weight, but for people to have fun. It just happens that it's also effective for your mind and your health."
In 2014, an estimated of about 561,000 classes were conducted every week, an almost 25 percent increase compare to that in 2012. In the same year, he also launched his first fitness program in a TV show with Bollywood channel Zoom that attracts the viewers to do their steps in both Latin American and Hindi tunes.
Now, Zumba has already expanded to 180 nations with around 200,000 units of franchise sold. His team will also be working with producers and musicians in India to create more music for the routines.
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