Juanes rocks the PV beach

Juanes on a video display to face the beach  

Latin superstar Juanes performed last night at the Hard Rock Hotel in Nuevo Vallarta and some of us from the Beach Zumba class moseyed on down the beach for the cheap seats.

Like in, free!

Those of us sitting (or dancing) on the beach could hear everything, we were really lucky to have a Jumbotron display facing the beach so we could see the whole concert.

Fantastic!

I use La Camisa Negra and La Paga in Zumba class already. Now I'm eager to check out his new MTV Unplugged album, an acoustic album nominated for a Grammy Latin Album of the Year.

If you haven't listened to him, you must. It's guaranteed to make you move.

Here's Michael's video from last night.

Fellow Juanes groupies on the beach in Nuevo Vallarta for his concert

Zumba helps protect the turtles

Beach Zumba is still going strong on the beach in Nuevo Vallarta. A feisty core group shows up just as the sun is cresting the hills and shining on beautiful Banderas Bay.

Dancing with my Zumba buddies

I've had many newcomers to Zumba showing up the past few weeks, people who have heard about Zumba but have never tried it. It's the best sells pitch that can be made for what we do ---- an amazing view of boats, birds, whales, swimmers, morning sun as they simply move to great music. Make new friends. Smile. And get fit.

What's not to love?

This weekend is a big holiday weekend in Mexico, Dia de la Candelaria or Candlemas, and we have young campers on the beach. Although I had warned them about our early morning Zumba class, it still seemed wildly ironic that a group of us mostly grandmother-aged women were waking up these college-aged campers with a boom box blasting out Juanes and other great Latin songs at o'dark early.

Good morning, Banderas Bay!

One young man ran from the tent into the water, swimming out to catch some body surfing. Between waves we could see him dancing to the music. Aha. Gotcha! Everybody's happy.

This season I've been offering the class for free but collecting donations for the turtle game preserve just down the beach from us. We've seen the baby turtles in the surf after the release from this excellent program, once even in the morning while we were dancing away.

The class is free only advertised by word of mouth and the local Mexican women have been attending and telling their friends, as have local condo owners and some of the cruisers from Paradise Village. So I've been rapidly expanding my vocabulary of commands in Spanish to this lovely bilingual group. My mistakes are pretty hilarious.

Juanes plays at Hard Rock!

Tomorrow night many of us from the class plan to mosey on down the beach to hear the Latin music superstar Juanes play his 'Loud and Unplugged' concert as part of his international tour. Born in Columbia, he's won 19 Latin Grammy awards and has been nominated for this year's Latin Album of the Year at the Grammy's.

About 5,000 people are expected at the beach concert at the new Hard Rock Hotel in Nuevo Vallarta and tickets are about $300 per person if you actually want to sit to hear it.

But we'll be ones on the beach, dancing to La Camisa Negra.....

Beach Zumba: Monday/Wednesday/Fridays at 8 a.m. in front of Bahia del Sol, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico continues for the month of February. 

Sun, surf, sand, Zumba!

School fundraiser in La Manzanilla, Mexico

A Zumba fundraiser in the Ejido office with June Nery

On Thursday a gaggle of women got together for an hour and a half Zumba with June Nery and myself (as a guest instructor) to raise money for school supplies for the local elementary school in La Manzanilla, Mexico, about three hours south of Puerto Vallarta. June says they need everything --- not just pens and notebooks but tissues and toilet paper. Everything.

People were generous plus worked it out on the day after Christmas.

June holds weekly classes in the Ejido office in La Manzanilla, a little ex-pat community in a small fishing village in Tenacatita Bay, in the state of Jalisco. The Ejido office is like the community building in the states. Concrete floors, ceiling fans, one bathroom. Sufficient.

June Nery leads weekly classes in La Manz

June is a former dance teacher from the U.S. and it shows up in her form. Perfect. And she can always face the class, turn away, then turn back, which is one of my dyslexic challenges. Working out with her reminds me to get my arms up higher, my movements large and identifiable. Always good reminders.

The greatest morning challenge at that location is the smell of pork carnitas being cooked in the big metal basin in the street, with the carnitas fumes wafting in toward the end of the class. Could be a good thing for some. Probably not much of a good thing for a vegetarian. But interesting.

June raised another $1,000 pesos for school supplies, about $76 U.S. dollars. That can go a long way down here.

Off the beach for a fundraiser in La Manzanilla

A month of Beach Zumba

The early morning Zumba class in Nuevo Vallarta is growing!

It's been a month since I dragged my PylePro PA system down to the beach in Mexico and started an impromptu Zumba class. And what a fiesta this past month has been.

It's so different than teaching Zumba in the states. It's kind of a pulsing, changing crowd, like the waves we're watching. I might start out with 20 people when the class begins at 8 and by 8:30 it could be up to 30 or more. And back to about 25 as we're stretching.

I'm out in front on the hardpack sand where there is a corridor of walkers and runners between me and the waves, who also getting their morning exercise. Everyone reacts differently to the class --- but there's definitely no sneaking by. A few avert their eyes, hoping not to make eye contact. But the majority are dancing their way by us, or a quick thumbs up, often even dropping in for a routine or two. And then they are back the following class for the whole 60 minutes.

I find I have to really focus on the music and the routines rather than what's going on out in front of me or I lose it. Last week I spotted some baby tortugas trying to swim out through the surf. On Friday a friend's husband was paddleboarding in front of us and between routines we stopped to yell a hearty "Hola, Jay!"

I have a small cadre of regulars, mostly Mexican women, who live year round in the nearby condos. And they are the ones who really bring the fiesta to the class. The rest of the crowd is here for a couple of days on vacation, maybe up to two weeks, delighted to find a Zumba class on the beach. Sometimes I have a handful of men participating. Sometimes none.

What it means, as a teacher, is that I have to continue to keep the routines simple but fun, and assume that there will always be a majority of newcomers.

But the bigger challenge has been coping with the tides. We haven't had many low tides in the early morning and the softer sand is a challenge. But what a workout. Wow! My homework for tonight is to put the tide chart into my calendar. That's a first in my teaching career. But I can live with it. It's a blast to be teaching in such an incredible setting.

All my Zumba friends and instructors, come join us if you're on vacation in the Puerto Vallarta area. We're in Nuevo Vallarta and hopefully will be out there through March on Monday/Wednesdays/Fridays at 8 a.m. I'd love to have some guest instructors stop on by and lead a routine or two.

For those of you in the La Manzanilla, Barre de Navidad/Melaque area over Christmas, I'll be in La Manzanilla on Thursday morning (Dec. 27) for a Zumba fundraiser for school supplies for the local school, with June Nery. C'mon over to the Ejido office in La Manzanilla at 9 and join the hour and a half long party and help the school children!

Have Sound System - will beach Zumba

Two weeks after arriving in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I couldn't stand it. No exercise? No dancing? No laughing?

No way.

I explored some of the local gyms and resorts and teaching anywhere was going to be too complicated, for a variety of reasons. So with the management support at Bahia del Sol in Nuevo Vallarta, I hung out my Zumba shingle on the beach and cranked up the music.

Second day of Beach Zumba at Bahia del Sol, Nuevo Vallarta

Wow, did it work!

Vacationers from the condo, people taking morning walks, random exercisers. No matter. Some weird version of a flash mob? Who knows. I just hope it keeps up. I've added Saturday, so now we'll be out there shaking it up on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays at 8 a.m --- and hoping for a low tide. More flat, more hard pack.

I ordered a Pyle Pro PA system and brought it down in the shipping carton, no problema. It's the same system I used in the States.  I brought the receipt for customs, which they actually asked for --- probably assuming it cost way more than the $180 I paid for it. I knew from experience that electronics are very pricey or unavailable in Mexico.

So I wheel it down to the beach, hang out the Zumba poster, crank up the sound, like the Pied Piper.

Pure fun in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

I'm doing an active version of Zumba Gold --- or a low impact version of Zumba. I have all ages but more of retirement age than youthful, at least so far. My simplest explanation is that this is Zumba and I don't jump. I illustrate how to bring up the cardio or lower the impact. But basically we just wing it, keep moving and have fun.

The other challenge, I would anticipate, is having many short-timers joining us for a week or two,  with only a small core group of hard-core, die-hard participants. So I'll plan to keep the routines simple and fun and keep the more complicated, 'dancey' ones to a minimum.

But this is a dream come true --- seriously --- to head down to a warm Mexican beach for an hour of Zumba.  Get my exercise, get my laughs, get my morning chats. Followed by a morning soak in the pool.

Now, on to the rest of the day, feelin' grand!

Have sound system, will Beach Zumba!

Two weeks after arriving in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I couldn't stand it. No exercise? No dancing? No laughing?

No way.

I explored some of the local gyms and resorts and teaching anywhere was going to be too complicated, for a variety of reasons. So with the management support at Bahia del Sol in Nuevo Vallarta, I hung out my Zumba shingle on the beach and cranked up the music.

Second day of Beach Zumba at Bahia del Sol, Nuevo Vallarta

Wow, did it work!

Vacationers from the condo, people taking morning walks, random exercisers. No matter. Some weird version of a flash mob? Who knows. I just hope it keeps up. I've added Saturday, so now we'll be out there shaking it up on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays at 8 a.m --- and hoping for a low tide. More flat, more hard pack.

I ordered a Pyle Pro PA system and brought it down in the shipping carton, no problema. It's the same system I used in the States.  I brought the receipt for customs, which they actually asked for --- probably assuming it cost way more than the $180 I paid for it. I knew from experience that electronics are very pricey or unavailable in Mexico.

So I wheel it down to the beach, hang out the Zumba poster, crank up the sound, like the Pied Piper.

Pure fun in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

I'm doing an active version of Zumba Gold --- or a low impact version of Zumba. I have all ages but more of retirement age than youthful, at least so far. My simplest explanation is that this is Zumba and I don't jump. I illustrate how to bring up the cardio or lower the impact. But basically we just wing it, keep moving and have fun.

The other challenge, I would anticipate, is having many short-timers joining us for a week or two,  with only a small core group of hard-core, die-hard participants. So I'll plan to keep the routines simple and fun and keep the more complicated, 'dancey' ones to a minimum.

But this is a dream come true --- seriously --- to head down to a warm Mexican beach for an hour of Zumba.  Get my exercise, get my laughs, get my morning chats. Followed by a morning soak in the pool.

Now, on to the rest of the day, feelin' grand!

Zin 41 tackles cueing

First, a disclaimer. I'm a Zumba critic. But as an advocate. Not as a snob.

I attend classes wherever, whenever, whomever, just to see what's happening out there, who has the best routines, flavor, style, enthusiasm. I attend because I appreciate a great class and a great workout. And I especially attend so I can be a better Zumba teacher.

Coming into this fitness training thing late in life, I have a lot to learn and I'm never going to be the best. But I'm going to be enthusiastic, bring the party to it, and try to be as good as I can. There is only so much I can do about my 'limited memory banks' when it comes to remembering 100 percent of any routine. But the rest of the success of my class is up to me.

So it was interesting to really hear a firm message from Beto and the Zumba  message on this latest Zin 41 DVD. No quibbling here.

• Don't introduce new moves between songs. Just start the dang song.
• Shut up and non-verbally cue.

Sounds simple. But it takes a fair amount of practice.

The voice-over on the one-on-one portion of the DVD was the best I've heard.  It reminds us to start slow, set the step and style, get the class comfortable, then build on it.

It shows --- and tells us --- how to preview the next movement a beat before we start into it. No nuance. Real direction.

And it reminds us to watch the class, to keep each part of the routine simple until they become comfortable. Then go for it.

And it also reminds us that these routines aren't static. They are suggestions, not mandates and we're to use our own style and flavor as we teach. In fact, it's what will make us each personally successful.

And as a self-proclaimed Zumba critic, that's what I'm looking for. I want you to have your own style and flavor. But I don't want to be frustrated trying to figure out what the heck the routine is, which direction to go, what my arms and hips are supposed to be doing. Keep it simple, cue me clearly, and bring on your party. Then I'm sure to be back, no matter where your class is held.

Postcript:  Having just returned from teaching a Zumba Gold class, watch for an upcoming post on the dilemma of cueing in Gold. It's not the same beast. Or is it?