Thursday, April 28, 2011

Let's do this!

It's Thursday!! I am completely exhausted and have a million things to do, but I can't wait for class tonight! When I feel like I am too tired to teach or that I haven't prepared a new song for tonight you guys still make me feel so good at class. I love when we have an awesome time rocking out to new stuff or just oldy-but-goodies. You guys keep me going and I love it! If you have a request for tonight or a song you would like me to choreograph, let me know. See you tonight!!

Let's ZUMBA!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Great, the Good, and the Bad

First of all-the great:
I have my first paying gig!! I'm subbing for two classes next Saturday and the week after. I am really excited! I can't wait to see how I do in a foreign environment with new people and actually getting paid for it. I feel like I'm a good instructor and that I make it fun, but I'm still really nervous. I hope this leads to something more regular. I'm looking forward to actually finally making some money on this. I've been teaching for free for five months and I love it, but a little $ will be nice.

The Good-well it's still Great, I just wanted a clever title:
Class was really fun tonight! I wasn't feeling well tonight and took a 2 1/2 hour nap after I got home from work. I ended up not having time for dinner so I chugged a breakfast drink and then my stomach was upset. This ended up with me at class, groggy and with a stomach ache, but excited for class. You guys totally came through for me! I love seeing every smile and feeling your energy. It makes me so happy to know people are enjoying my class. It's also amazing to hear the feedback that people give me. Our record so far for the number of people in one class is 54! That is beyond my wildest dreams!

The Bad:
A while ago I was told that someone in my stake viewed some of class as inappropriate. I have worked really hard to keep my class true to Zumba, but appropriate for the setting. There are a lot of songs I have skipped and moves I have tweaked, but Zumba is still Zumba. There are shimmys, booty shaking, and some crunches (that are pretty much like a hip trust.) These moves are very useful in toning specific parts of the body and I try to explain why we do certain moves. Apparently someone still was upset with my class and went to their high counselman. There was a meeting in my stake to see if I'm doing inappropriate things. A woman from my stake came to class tonight and thought my class was fine, which made me feel better. The main thing that bothers me is that I don't know what they were bothered by and they didn't come to me. If there is a particular song or move that bothers you, PLEASE send me an email or leave an anonymous comment and I am more than happy to tweak things to make them better. Having someone complain about me where I can't help resolve the issue or defend myself makes me feel blindsided. I feel like I put a lot of work into this class and when there are problems like this it makes me feel like throwing my hands in the air and just saying "forget it." But don't worry, for now I'm still here. :) I've gone through my stages of dealing with stuff. I 1. brush it off, 2. cry, 3. get mad, 4. move on. I'm in the move on stage and I'll be there next week with some new songs!

Thanks for letting me rant. I love you guys to pieces and thank you so much for supporting me and giving me all your feedback. You make me so happy!!


PS-there is an AWESOME event at the Orem Fitness Center on April 30th. It is Ladies Night! It is free for ladies 16 and up and no guys are allowed. There will be Zumba for 1 1/2 hours with three instructors, free food, massages, and lots of other stuff. I goes from 7-10pm, and Zumba is from 8-9:30 pm. It's going to be amazing!

PPS-The playlist from tonight was as follows:
Abusadora - Zumba
New Low - Middle Class Rut
Cumbia Arabe - Zumba
Jai Ho! - A.R. Rahman
La Vida Es Un Carnaval - Zumba
Evacuate the Dancefloor - Cascada
Na Pona do Pe - Zumba
Waka Waka - Shakira
Zeina - Zumba
Forget You - Glee Cast
Pegate - Grupo Treo
La Tortura - Shakira
Hokey Pokey - The Puppies
A La Nena Le Gusta - Zumba
Telephone - Lady Gaga
Say Hey - Michael Franti & Spearhead
Firework - Katy Perry

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Shuffle night was sa-weet!!

We had 48 people tonight! I am so enthralled with the growth of this class. When I first started teaching around Thanksgiving I had two people in my class, and it was a disaster. hahaha!! I hope I've improved as an instructor but I am so lucky to have such a great class. I love seeing how people want to share my class with their friends and they have such a good time together.
I am toying with the idea of changing the class time depending on what people prefer. I kind of like 9 pm because I can get my son fed and in bed without feeling rushed (especially since the days are getting longer and it's hard to get him to bed when it's light outside) but if the majority of people like an earlier class I'd be fine with that. I'm wondering if you guys would prefer 8, 8:30, or 9 pm. (I'm also toying with the idea of adding a 6 am class but that would be in a martial arts studio and it would have a small fee with it.) Will you take a second and put your preference in the poll? Thank you!!
Have a fabulous weekend! Spread the Zumbalove!!