April 2012

On Saturday, my friend Shamecia (an instructor-in-training) and I headed north of the city to attend one of the other training sessions that Zumba offers – Zumbatomic Instructor Training. The name is not exactly intuitive, but Zumbatomic is basically Zumba for kids.

I already teach Zumba three times a week, work full-time, and blog, too. But, while I didn’t think I have the time to take on a new class, I did think it would be interesting to learn how to modify moves to make them kid-friendly, especially since I’ve had parents bring their children to class in the past.

{Me & Shamecia}

You won’t see a brighter (or should I say “more colorful”) group than at a Zumba training.

Oh wait…actually, you will see a MUCH brighter group here (and please check out the video on that post!).

Anywho, the training went from 8:30-5:30 with only about an hour’s worth of breaks spread out through the day. We had a jam-packed day, people!

We started with an intro and a one hour master class (adult-style). After a quick break to change, we had lectures and learned kid-friendly choreography for the Lil Starz (ages 4-7). Then we had a short lunch break, followed by more lectures, choreography for Big Starz (ages 8-12), networking (where we broke into groups to tackle different topics and then shared our results with the whole group), modifications (how to make regular Zumba moves kid-friendly), and finally legal-type stuff (parental and legal considerations).

One of the most interesting things I learned is that Zumbatomic is becoming approved for use in schools (and for home schoolers) around the country. Your kids could be doing Zumbatomic for PE one day!

I also really loved how Zumbatomic teaches more than just dancing – it teaches confidence, respect, responsibility, team work, and much more! It seems like Zumbatomic has the potential to have such a positive impact on a child’s life in so many ways.

Before we knew it, the day was over, and Shamecia and I were licensed Zumbatomic instructors! {Here I am getting my certificate.}

Here we are with our ZES (Zumba Education Specialist) Loretta Bates. I first met Loretta at a master class my company sponsored for her, and I also was at her Reggaeton Rebellion session at Zumba Convention last year when Wyclef popped in and did an impromptu performance.

I loved Loretta as our ZES! She was engaging, fun, and really enthusiastic about Zumbatomic. I thought she was really in control of the training and very knowledgeable. She was wonderful!

Before training, I wasn’t really interesting in teaching a Zumbatomic class. Like I mentioned before, I just wanted to have the knowledge of what to do for kids in my existing Zumba classes. But, now that I’ve completed the training, I kind of wish I had more time so I could teach a Zumbatomic class. Who knows where things will go in the next couple years, but for now, there’s the opportunity for me to do Zumbatomic classes at special events, like birthdays. I think that could be really fun, too!

I found a video on YouTube of a real Zumbatomic class. Aren’t they cute?

Reader question: What do you think about the Zumbatomic concept? Would you want your kids to do Zumbatomic? Why or why not?

Zumba Instructor question: If you’re not Zumbatomic certified – are you thinking about it? Do you have any questions about the training? If you are Zumbatomic certified, what do you think about teaching Zumba for kids? Any tips or suggestions?

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