How To Choose Your Music For Your Zumba Classes
Posted January 17th, 2010 by adminWe have such a fun but hard job of creating choreography that is exciting, challenging and functional for our Zumba classes. I encourage you as an instructor to find time to “create”. I find this time in my car and when I am working out.
When choosing your music, make sure that it represents you and your personality. When putting moves to the music, pick moves that go with that music. You don’t put cumbia moves in a merengue song or vice versa.
I have always told my colleagues that there are fundamental steps and all we are doing is taking those steps and making them our own. Be creative and try not to take the same moves and place them in every song that is similar. This is where it becomes hard and challenging but possible.
When listening to your music listen to the parts that are the same. Use the same move for that part. I always try to come up with that “ONE” move…the move that “stamps” that song. Once I come up with that the rest usually falls into place.
Listen to the beats. Try to categorize each phrase of the song. I am a 32-count person so I am always trying to make sure that everything fits into that but I know not all songs do. BUT there is a way to make it work. Knowing the counts to each phrase helps in putting your choreography together. It makes it easy for you and for the students following you in your classes because more than likely they can “hear” it in the music.
If you have questions about this please do not hesitate to email me and I will explain in more depth. You can also watch my Zumba videos or soon to come Zumba dvd for examples of how I match music with my choreography.
The bottom line is to have fun and always challenge yourself to go to the next level. You will grow as an instructor and your classes will reap the benefits.
DAR