Thread: Weight Watchers Belly Dance Story

I was logging into Weight Watchers today and saw this story. Thought I'd post it here.

Weight Watchers Belly Dance Story

Saw they also have a Belly Dance message board over there too.

The article isn't bad other than the mistake about the costume, which most people wouldn't catch. (A two-piece costume isn't a "bedlam"!) The message boards, on the other hand, could do with a major intervention from a more knowledgeable person. Apparently, there's a lot of confusion about what the dance actually is, since the conversation makes multiple references to learning belly dance in Zumba class.

Some Zumba teachers do say they are teaching you "belly dance moves" as part of the routine, so I'm sure innumerable people think they have "learned belly dance" there.

but don't get me going on Zumba

And incidentally, they don't have a bellydance message board; just threads people have put up.

"Bedlam," ha ha ha ha!

"Near, Middle, and Far East"???

I thought Zumba was based on Latin dance, not anything from the Middle East.

Originally Posted by indigostars

"Near, Middle, and Far East"???

I thought Zumba was based on Latin dance, not anything from the Middle East.

That quote refers to bellydance, not Zumba.

Zumba is the craze now. I actually looked into what it takes to get certified to teach it. It's only a one day workshop for $250 bucks. I have not yet red the above article. I will in a minute.

What I found they teach you in the first workshop, which is like what you need to know to get started is four rhythms. I think Merengue, Cha Cha, Salsa, something else. There- now you can go teach Zumba.

If you'd like to learn more and keep your classes fresh I guess is go back to a second workshop and get your Basic level 2 or something to that effect. THIS is the workshop where they teach you the Flamenco rhythm, the African rhythm, the bellydance rhythm, and something else. I laughed because even though I don't know Flamenco and not too much in the way of African dance, I'm sure there's got to be more than one rhythm. And we KNOW there are so many rhythms to dance to in our dance form.

So, YES Zumba incorporates not only latin rhythms (main componant), but other world movements and rhythms into their program.

I've only taken one Zumba class so far, but all we did was latin stuff.

Originally Posted by tigerb

That quote refers to bellydance, not Zumba.

I should've broken that up better. I was confused that bellydance is based on anything from the Far East. AFAIK, the "Far East" encompasses Japan, Korea, China.

Originally Posted by alyssaraks

If you'd like to learn more and keep your classes fresh I guess is go back to a second workshop and get your Basic level 2 or something to that effect. THIS is the workshop where they teach you the Flamenco rhythm, the African rhythm, the bellydance rhythm, and something else. I laughed because even though I don't know Flamenco and not too much in the way of African dance, I'm sure there's got to be more than one rhythm. And we KNOW there are so many rhythms to dance to in our dance form.

I'm really curious to know what the belly dance rhythm is. ,r:;

Originally Posted by JeanneLF

"Bedlam," ha ha ha ha!

Bedlam might be a good term for our costumes, because we go so cuckoo over sparkly things!

Originally Posted by alyssaraks

Zumba is the craze now. I actually looked into what it takes to get certified to teach it. It's only a one day workshop for $250 bucks. I have not yet red the above article. I will in a minute.

This is why I said "don't get me started" about Zumba.

I took one session of Zumba from a very charming woman... who didn't know what a warm up was. Who didn't lead a cool down or stretch. Who offered few low-impact alternatives in the routines. Whose only real safety speech was to not bounce on the balls of the feet, but to plant the full foot on the ground to prevent shin splints and achilles pain -- that was it.

Zumba is high-impact exercise with lots of twisting and turning -- killer on the knees if you are at all susceptible to problems. People teaching Zumba should at least be ACE certified -- and it would be better if they had a few years teaching aerobics under their belt! But no. One workshop and they can TEACH.

GAAAH!

Tiger,

I was very surprised that you could get certified in a one day workshop. It seemed very cheap and easy.

aazura, I'm also very curious as to which particular one is the rep for bellydance :) I might ask the local Zumba teacher (if she even took the level 2 cert. I don't know) if she could play me the song she uses for that one. I'll go on Thursday and ask :)

Originally Posted by tigerb

One workshop and they can TEACH.

Jeez. Are you serious?

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Jeez. Are you serious?

From the Zumba.com website:
How do I become a Zumba Instructor?

The first step in becoming a Zumba Instructor is to attend one of the Zumba Basic or Zumba Gold Instructor Training Workshops. To view the dates and locations of upcoming Zumba Instructor Training Workshops, visit our Instructor Training page. There are no prerequisites to become a Zumba Instructor, although a fitness or dance background is always a plus. Anyone 18 years or older may attend a Zumba Instructor Training Workshop. Certain allowances are made for younger participants.

Once you have taken a Zumba Basic or Zumba Gold Instructor Training Workshop, you are allowed to teach Zumba classes, use the "Zumba" name in your class title, and advertise yourself as a Zumba Instructor.

Now, later they say Some fitness facilities require their instructors to have a general group exercise certification. But that is up to the FACILITY. So if your local community recreation group has a lot of people begging for Zumba, and they don't have any requirements, well, then anybody who has spent the $250 is "qualified" to teach Zumba.

And we think six week wonders are bad! Try one day wonders!

I think I did "the bellydance rhythm" at a zumba class. It was a fast Greek Chifti and the song was called "'Zorba,' "whatever that means!" said the instructor, who is a delightful woman who does a good warmup and warm down and stretches. She said afterwards, "there, now you're all bellydancers!"

Originally Posted by tigerb

This is why I said "don't get me started" about Zumba.

I took one session of Zumba from a very charming woman... who didn't know what a warm up was. Who didn't lead a cool down or stretch. Who offered few low-impact alternatives in the routines. Whose only real safety speech was to not bounce on the balls of the feet, but to plant the full foot on the ground to prevent shin splints and achilles pain -- that was it.

Zumba is high-impact exercise with lots of twisting and turning -- killer on the knees if you are at all susceptible to problems. People teaching Zumba should at least be ACE certified -- and it would be better if they had a few years teaching aerobics under their belt! But no. One workshop and they can TEACH.

GAAAH!

I went to some Zumba classes when one of the park districts I teach at was trying to convince me to be their new Zumba instuctor too. They thought that since I taught bellydance, it would be easiest for me to learn, since it's
"dance based". I took a friend and fellow instructor, and we hated it!!

Not much warm-up or cool downs or stretches. Very little instruction or
explaination of the moves/steps. The whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen. They "threw in" a few bellydance moves---and I use that term loosely! Their version of bellydance anyways.

Needless to say, I turned down the opportunity to be certified as the
new Zumba instructor.

i remember i went to one zumba class and was talking with the instructor. she said she shouldn't call her class zumba because she doesn't follow the format like zumba'ers are supposed to. apparently she was a ballroom dancer, which was noticeable as her salsa, chachacha, tango, etc were all in good form. we chatted and i slipped in my hatred of the "zumba belly dance" because it's so dangerous looking and hardly resembles belly dance in the first place. she half-heartedly agreed with me and in the middle of the class, a "belly dance" song came on and she ran and changed it, probably because she thought i'd have a hissy fit. which i might have, bahaha! i teach a class similar to zumba, but much safer, easier to follow, with better technique, and no "format". AND...i don't use belly dance in it either. i just don't...like mixing them haha. i stick mainly with latin, brazilian, caribbean, and jazz when teaching that class.

as for the workshop thing, it's despicable. one workshop and they can teach. they learn the basic moves but don't focus on the NECESSITIES for TEACHING A GROUP FITNESS CLASS! like, oh gee, idk, CPR/First Aid?? IMO safety and physiology is more important in regards to such a high impact cardiovascular exercise. ugh this subject gets me so fired up (if you can't tell). i just had the great opportunity to have a dancery zumba instructor. i do remember watching my first "bellydance zumba" video on youtube and wanting to vomit and blast the video with angry comments, but i knew that would be childish. just, there are so many zumba moves that are dangerous for the ankles and knees, which considering those being pretty vital parts to a human's motory skills, you'd think instructors would modify it. but no. grr. ok, rant over, this post was long :P

I wonder if it would be a feasible avenue to pursue if you added in the normal fitness training, mindfulness, etc. kind of stuff? I mean, since it's all the rage, you could slip in some real safe fitness under the 'guise' of zumba? LOL

I must say the zumba teachers here do give you a cooldown and an aerobic warmup. And there is not a huge amount of kneetacular turning *and* they let people opt out of turning steps sometimes.

It's hilarious and there are quite a lot of squats, and some lower body work that could be a worry and little safety breakdown, but there is *some*. The lady teaching today was going "knees over the toes" for the squats at least.

But as for the BD components, yeah. BWHAHAHAHAHA.

I went to Zumba class tonight. The instructor is good. She also teaches other stuff- BodyPump and BodyCombat. She does a warm-up and cool down too and stressed knees over toes as well.

So, after class, I told her I was dieing to know what THE bellydance rhythm was. She said she doesn't do the bellydance stuff because she's terrified of it. She found a salsa/bellydance song on her IPOD, but it ddn't sound like bellydance so she found another that was all bellydance. She said it was called "Kiss Kiss" haha. It wasn't Tarkan singing it though. Anyway, I'm guessing there has to be more than one rhythm and they probably just teach movements to go along to basic 4/4's. Other than that, I still don't know.