Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Thanks to a relaxing day off enjoying the Orlando sun on Wednesday, I started Day 1 of ZinCon feeling really refreshed and ready to take on the day. Here’s Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)!

My schedule for Thursday, July 28:

  • Kickoff Session – 09:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Latin Pop (Lindsey Taylor) – 12:00 pm – 02:00 pm
  • Mexican Fiesta (Maria Teresa Stone and Eliza Stone) – 04:00 pm – 06:00 pm
  • Master Class (Kass Martin) – 08:00 pm – 09:30 pm

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

The only downside to Day 1 was…no breakfast bar. This was the first year I wasn’t able to purchase or get upgraded to a premium room, which comes with access to the hotel breakfast bar. For the convenience and value, I think the upgrade is worth it. It’s even better when you get upgraded for free if you have enough Hilton Honors points, which I didn’t this year.

The cafe downstairs had Starbucks coffee and their own food. I got a grande latte and bacon egg and cheese on an English muffin. This ran me about $12. The coffee was around $5 and the sandwich was $7. Pretty pricey, but I didn’t want to venture out of the hotel too early.

Latin Pop

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

This was my fifth consecutive year attending Latin Pop with Lindsey Taylor, Diego, and Ro. It’s one of my all time favorite sessions. I love the sassy-fierce feeling of this session.

Lindsey kicked us off by teaching us some dance moves. This section of class served as our warm up and also our foundation for moves that would be used in the master class. I had seen almost all of the moves over the last five years, but I was really glad to see them again. Despite my best efforts to remember them, I seem to only catch one or two every year. I loved the refresher.

My favorite part of the session was where we did a fierce runway-esque walk across the floor. Lindsey asked the whole room to form rows and then each row took a turn with each person having creative freedom to walk how they wanted. People were picked out of each row to perform a final runway walk for the entire room. We sat on the carpet and formed a human runway, leaving space down the middle of the room. Everyone cheered so loudly as our select walkers took their turn strutting their stuff. It was so fun!

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

{Ro, Lindsey, me, Diego}

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

The picture line was like whoa, but I was lucky and managed to be near the front. And by lucky, I mean I strategically placed myself near where I hoped the line would form just after the cool down ended. It worked, and I was about 7th in line. Woop!

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Here’s my outfit for Latin Pop: Tank and sports bra from last year’s Zumba Convention. Pants by Koral, purchased at Bandier in NYC. Shoes by Nike.

Hotel Room Lunch

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Thanks to our grocery trip the day before, I was able to make lunch in the room. I made a mesquite-smoked turkey sandwich with havarti cheese. I also snacked on tortilla chips with salsa (individually wrapped!), tomatoes, and Biscoff cookies from my Delta flight.

Mexican Fiesta

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

I did my first ever session at the Rosen this year. This hotel was added to the ZinCon venue list a couple years ago. Many Zumba-ers like to stay here for convention.

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

My second session was Mexican Fiesta.

We kicked off the session by learning four new styes of dance (Mexican Cumbia, Quebradita, Tribal, and one I’d never heard named Duranguense).

After the dance breakdowns, we went into the master class. “Fiesta” was a great word to describe this session because it was such a party. The moves were really high energy and very bouncy. If you love intense cardio classes, this session is for you!

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

And we had a really special treat! Edward Sanchez DRD did a LIVE performance of his song “Pasito Machete”, which was part of the master class.

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Here’s the master class playlist.

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Me with Maria Teresa Stone, Eliza Stone, and the rest of the Mexican Fiesta team!

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

{Orlando Convention Center}

Snack Time

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Since I didn’t want to eat a full dinner before my 8pm master class with Kass, I opted for snacks now and dinner later. I had some pita chips with lemon hummus.

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

And after a long day of working up a sweat, not once but twice, this watermelon was totally giving me life.

Kass Martin’s Master Class

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

This was my third year in a row doing Kass Martin’s master class. I also did her master class in 2014 and 2015.

I love how Kass puts 110% of her energy into her master class. You can tell she’s really passionate about teaching and she uses that passion to give us everything she has for that hour and a half. I took home several of her songs from last year’s convention, and my classes loved them! We were still doing Bambalam like crazy (before I left for NYC)!

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

This year, she did something new. An intimate Q&A with the group. It was really cool hearing about how she got started with Zumba.

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

My outfit for Kass’s Master Class: Tank gifted by my friend Sara of Just Dance Roanoke, pants by Athleta, and shoes by Nike.

Dinner at David’s (Hilton Orlando)

Zumba Convention 2016 Day 1 (Latin Pop, Mexican Fiesta, and Kass Martin’s Master Class)

Since we enjoyed ourselves so much the day before, Annette and I went back to David’s for dinner after our last sessions. I liked that chicken dish so much, I got it again. This time I had it with some prosecco and a cookie. Yum!

Click here to check out Zumba Convention 2016 Day 0 (Travel, Pool Day, and Dinner at David’s)

Next up – Zumba Convention Day 2 (Hip Hop Turn-Up, Asian Invasion, and Fitness Concert)

And click here to check out my main Zumba Convention page with photos and blog posts for ZinCons since 2011!

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