More about Beto Perez and the History of Zumba
Here are some of the earliest articles!
Miami Sun Post (dated 2002/11/01)
Fitness Instructor’s “Zumba” Technique in High Demand in Aventura
“In this class I introduce them to sensual moves that they wouldn’t normally use. All they have
to do is let go.”—Alberto “Beto” Perez, creator of Zumba
By Elisa Llebry
Contributing Writer
An Aventura fitness instructor seeks to revolutionize the exercise industry with his uplifting
Latin sounds and provocative moves while getting local residents in shape.
Alberto “Beto” Perez, 32, a Colombian choreographer, is the creator of Zumba, a new workout video
production that promises to clear the mind and boost energy levels.
“Zumba is a middle-to-low impact cardiovascular workout that combines dance moves from all over
the world,” said Perez, who has orchestrated some of Shakira´s tantalizing moves.
In a one-hour class, the former dancer takes his students from one end of the musical spectrum to
the other. He combines a myriad of popular Latin dances such as Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Tango,
Bachata, Quebradita and Samba with Greek, Middle Eastern and Caribbean steps as well as Hip Hop
and Flamenco.
Perez said this new exercise program emerged from the fusion of multicultural rhythms and dance
moves that shaped his life and his career as a choreographer.
“I grew up in Cali, in the Pacific coast of Colombia, were Salsa and Cumbia are an integral part
of your life,” said Perez, who explained that Zumba derives from the word Rumba. In Colombia, and
some parts of Latin-America, this word also means party.
“Not everyone could pronounce it, so I decided to call it ‘Zumba,’” Perez said. “It sounds more
exotic.”
Karel Rolli, director of Fitness Quest, Inc., said that Zumba is available in DVD and video in the
United States and Canada. The executive refused to reveal the amount of copies sold during Zumba’s
presentation on QVC, but Perez said he was more than satisfied with the resulting sales.
Doctor David S. Muransky, an Aventura chiropractic physician, said that the carefree nature of
this new exercise combination of dance and aerobics contributes to both the physical and
psychological well being of those who practice it.
“Exercise produces endorphins, but good exercise allows you to enjoy the benefits of those
endorphins that make you feel good,” said Muransky, who has been practicing for 24 years. “From
the psychological aspect, it is also good because you are socializing with other people.”
Perez, on the other hand, summarized the therapeutic effects of Zumba in one sentence: “Dancing
liberates the mind and the body.”
Carol Bibliowicz, 39, a regular in Perez’s class, agrees with Muransky in that dancing makes
people forget about their worries and elevates their mood.
“I love it, it’s like coming to party,” Bibliowicz said. “It is a wonderful great therapy and it
keeps you in shape.”
Perhaps this is why students of all ages and nationalities stand in line at Olympia Gym in
Aventura, sometimes even 20 minutes before the hour, to secure a spot in Perez’s Zumba class.
“When a product, whether it is a song or an exercise video, evokes a feeling, people respond to
it,” Perez said. “In this class I introduce them to sensual moves that they wouldn’t normally use.
All they have to do is let go.”
Being a fan of music history, Perez’s favorite part about this new venture is that it has allowed
him to explain the history behind some of his favorite steps.
“Most people don’t know that Cumbia (one of Colombia’s national dances) originated in the African
slave quarters. Despite being chained, slaves loved to dance, and so they would drag the foot that
was chained to the wall,” Perez said. “That’s why today Cumbia dancers drag one foot.”
Some say Zumba may not exercise a complete range of muscles or develop the necessary elasticity to
avoid injuries. The choreographer disagrees. “Salsa works the legs, Merengue the oblique muscles.
Egyptian and flamenco steps work the biceps, triceps and shoulders,” said Perez, who explained
that the program intertwines fast and slow routines that improve heart rate. “It works out the
most important muscle – the heart.”
Muransky said that with the proper warm up and cool down after exercising, dancing also conditions
the spine.
“If the muscle is elongated through dance, it is more pliable and the spine has less tension,”
said the chiropractic physician. “Looser muscles produce more flexibility for the spine and the
supporting ligaments and tendons.”
But Perez said that a robust skeletal frame and a healthy heart are not the only the benefits of
being a good dancer.
“When I was young, I had no money and I was not attractive, but girls loved to go out with me
because I could dance,” said Perez, joking about his popularity with the opposite sex.
At the age of fifteen, Perez’s mother migrated to the U.S. Perez wanted to follow his dream of
being a dancer so he stayed in Colombia. Without the support of his only family member, he could
not afford to attend an accredited dance academy, nor let his mother know that he needed money.
Yet he refused to give up. Working as a courier in the morning and giving private dance lessons in
the afternoon, Perez saved some money to pay for his education.
In 1990, Perez graduated from Maria Sanford Brazilian Dance Academy with a degree in choreography.
By then he had acquired experience as an instructor at the same academy, a dancer and a
choreographer for some of Colombia’s famous artists. Later, he obtained his I.S.A.T. certification.
Having reached a certain plateau in his career, Perez decided to sell all of his possessions and
move to Miami – a place he had become infatuated with while touring with his dance company.
“I love Miami, and I knew this is where I wanted to live,” Perez said. “At first it was not easy.
No one knew who I was, I did not speak English and I ran out money. I even slept on the street one
time.”
But in 2000, his career as an instructor took off when Williams Island fitness director gave him a
chance as a part-time instructor.
“I was 15 minutes late to the audition because I got lost. But I knew that if they let me dance,
the job would be mine” Perez said.
Regina Serrelis, a co-worker at Olympia Gym, said that despite his modest beginnings Perez has
managed to succeed while remaining humble in many ways.
“I remember when he first came to the gym. He had nothing. He used to take the bus to get to
Williams Island, but he had talent,” Serrelis said. “He expresses himself though his work and he
likes to touch people’s hearts with what he does.”
From that point on, Perez became a hot commodity in Miami’s upscale gyms, among them Porto Vita,
Crunch, Fitness Company, Body and Soul, US 1 Fitness, Olympia Gym and The Jewish Community Center
until one day he received an offer to commercialize his trademark moves.
But once again, money was an issue. And so Perez and two of his close friends set out to raise
funds for Zumba, the video. They organized an introductory session at Ocean Point. Charging $10
per person, they collected $2,000, which they used to film and edit the video that is now sold on
television.
On Thanksgiving weekend, Perez will put his entrepreneurial skills to the test. The choreographer
will host a live Zumba session at 10:30 a.m. at the Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel in Miami Beach.
“The video does not capture the essence of what we do in a Zumba class,” Perez said. “I want to
give people the opportunity to enjoy it live.”
Times Online (2003/10/18)
Let’s get ready to Zumba
A boy from the barrio shows America how to put fun into fitness
by David Adams
It’s still 20 minutes before the next exercise class is due to begin at Body & Soul, one of
Miami’s top fitness clubs.
But a line of dozens of eager-looking women in body-hugging gym gear has already formed outside.
Through an open door they watch the end of a Tae-Bo class, a martial arts routine that was once
all the rage. The look on their faces says it all: “Haven’t you heard? Tae-Bo is no longer cool.
Beto is coming tonight.”
“Beto” is Alberto Perez, a 32-year-old fitness phenomenon from Colombia whose new Latin-dance
aerobics workout, known as “Zumba”, is the latest craze at Miami gyms.
The former street performer who grew up in a poor barrio in the Colombian city of Cali, is poised
to become the next fitness superstar after his exercise video sold $20 million worth of copies in
its first year. There are already 200 Zumba teachers worldwide.
“He’s a rags-to-riches American dream,” said Alberto Perlman, a fellow Colombian and president of
Zumba Productions, which sells the videos. “I think there’s still much of the road he hasn’t
travelled, but he’s well on the way.”
Beto’s recipe for success is a simple combination of popular Latin pop music with his own original
dance steps, with names such as the “Beto Shuffle” and the “Machete”. For added attraction there
is Beto’s smooth, olive-brown, sweat-glistening torso, and his cheeky Michael Keaton-like
features.
The high-energy result has gym-goers raving about how Beto has discovered the magic formula for
making exercise fun. He puts it down to the mesmerising mix of music and dance, lifting the body
to the physical point at which pleasure-giving hormones, known as endorphins, are released,
similar to the “natural high” experienced during sexual intercourse.
In Colombian slang, zumba means “fastmoving”. It also serves as a fusion of the word “samba”, the
lively Brazilian danceform, with “rumba”, meaning party.
The 60-minute dance programme features a host of Latin rhythms, from Colombian cumbia and
vallenato, to merengue, salsa, samba, calypso and the latest belly-dancing fad.
Since arriving in Miami three years ago, Beto has become one of the hottest attractions at top
local gyms looking to stay ahead of the exercise curve. His busy weekly schedule involves hour-
long engagements at 12 fitness clubs, varying from the cavernous Olympia Fitness Centre in
Aventura, which can pack in 120 bodies, to small private condo clubs, an elderly Jewish community
centre and classes of children.
It took him a while to break in. When he first did the rounds he was shown the door at most
places, including Body & Soul. Now his classes are the highlight of the week. Women waiting for
the 7.30pm class extoll the virtues of Zumba.
“I wasn’t a gym bunny, but now I am,” says Sonia Sheron, 20, an early arrival who takes six to
eight Zumba classes a week at several gyms.
Sheron, who is part Scot, part Dominican, said she never used to enjoy Latin music until her
mother dragged her to one of Beto’s classes. “Now I listen to it all the time on the radio. Beto
made Latin music cool.” She normally attends the class with a couple of friends who are no-shows
on this night. “They couldn’t get babysitters,” she explains.
Angela Stafford, 30, a mortgage company employee from Missisippi, is trying to lose weight. She
lost 65lb (29.5kg) on a diet but then hit a brick wall. She bought Beto’s Zumba tape and another
10lb (4.5kg) came off exercising at home. Then she found out that Beto was holding a class at Body
& Soul, right around the corner from her office. “There’s no comparison between the tape and the
class,” she says. “Beto’s so much better live. This class got me to exercise. Before I couldn’t
face the idea. It’s fun, you don’t even think you are exercising.” When Beto arrives there’s a
dash for a spot on the gym floor. The $10 class is packed with about 90 people, all women save for
one man and a six-year-old boy dancing along in his pyjamas next to his mother.
Beto is no-nonsense, warming up for a few minutes before breaking into a popular hit, A Dios le
Pido, by the Colombian singer Juanes. Then he begins to demonstrate why he’s better in real life
than on video. Up comes his top over his head, revealing his finely chiselled torso.
“How many of you here are single ladies?” Beto shouts, echoing the words of a seductive song.
Everyone shoots up their hands. Beto repeats with a grin, “I said solteras! (single women).” All
the hands go up again.
In another song he playfully slaps the buttocks of one woman, and then spins around and invites
her to do the same to him, all in rhythm to the music. Unlike other aerobics instructors who stand
in front of the class shouting out instructions, Beto lets his arms and legs do the talking. He
also likes to get in among the class, dancing one-on-one with those struggling to follow his
steps. He often picks out the oldest, most over-weight or uncoordinated in the class to encourage
them. “I’m good at managing the masses,” he says afterwards. “I do the opposite of what people
expect. I dance with the most introverted, most timid and least confident.”
While Beto is very clear-sighted about his future, it’s been a long road to get this far. He was
raised in a working class barrio in Cali, the only son of a single mother who was a restaurant
worker. Aged six he saw the film Grease, and began to dance. Soon he was dancing on street corners
for spare change. One evening a local gym owner telephoned him. One of her regular instructors was
injured. Could he substitute? Beto said he had never done aerobics, but needing the money, he
accepted.
The next day he went to a local book store and bought a copy of Jane Fonda’s Workout Book — and
Zumba was born. Beto struggled at first to imitate the positions in the exercise photos, adding
his own modern Colombian steps. The class liked it.
Soon Beto was so much in demand that he was hired by Sony Music to work with some of its singers
on their dance moves, artistic expression and stage presence. He also helped with choreography on
the 1996 breakthrough album, Pies Descalzos by Shakira, the top Colombian singer-songwriter. But
Beto says his dream was always to come to the US. He struggled at first in Miami. He spent his
first two nights sleeping in a park. Speaking no English, he was turned away at several of the
gyms where he is now a top attraction.
But then his luck changed. Friends got him an introduction at one gym and soon he was being signed
up everywhere. The lack of English didn’t bother Peter Cicale, owner of the Olympia gym in north
Miami, where Beto does two weekly classes with a regular attendance of some 160 per class. “It’s
all body language,” said Cicale. “He speaks through his body.”
Live...laugh...love...ZUMBA!
Vivez...Riez...Aimez...ZUMBA!
For all you Zumba Fitness lovers out there, please check out our Blog:
Zumba With Heather.
If you want to know what Zumba Fitness is, it is a latin dance-based fitness class that's guaranteed to be fun!
This site was designed by Heather Diodati
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