Video of Poker Face Zumba with Oscar

Zumba is about fitness and also about party and fun.  One of the aspects of Zumba I love is the chance to express and help a group to experience what I feel during a song.  This is almost true for every song I come across.  One of those songs in Poker Face.  I must admit that I've not been a fan of Lady Gaga from the start but now that I'm on the dance floor, almost daily, I can appreciate the appeal to her songs.  Poker Face had been in my mind since I began hearing it.  Thus began the quest to find the set of physical exercises that could compliment the beats of the song and also keep it simple and fun enough for my students.

So, when I hear the start of it, what comes to mind is a set of repetitive hand motions that begin over the head and end on our hips. It's kind of an American Macarena, lol.  This move would be the basic move for the chorus.  For the verses, I use simple, but effective punching moves that make the body core sway from side to side.  The second verse move is kind of a semi-side squat that is accompanied by a rhythmic down and up arm moves.  The arm stretches down from the front of pelvic area and curls up to the face level while the head twists right to front and so forth.  The hand kind of spreads in front of the face as the verses sing "Woh-ho-ho-ho-ho" or "Po-po-po-poker Face".

But to me the most fun comes at the chorus when we all repeat the arm and cross extensions on 8 counts and then we roll our hips in a playful, sexy move--rolling left and then rolling right.  This gives the dancer a feel that Zumba doesn't have to feel 'restricted' or 'constrained' to just 'exercise' movements.  Being expressive with our bodies at times may give us a chance to take a little of a risk, of moving in ways that perhaps we wouldn't in daily life--- I mean, do you sway your hips that way when you are serving dinner or when mowing the lawn?

I know that there are several ways to dance to this song, but my approach has been simplicity, personality and a bit of risque.  And that is what I feel my students get with this song.  I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoy teaching it.  Weeepppaaa!!!

Zumba love

~Oscar

Zumba Video of Livin' La Vida Loca

Whenever I think of songs to bring to my Zumba class, I think of the fun they are capable to bring out of the dancers.  One of those is Ricky Martin's Livin La Vida Loca.  If you haven't listened to it, you probably missed out back in late XX century.  But it is back and with the upbeat tempo of a hot party song--perfect for Zumba.  

So, when I thought of the choreography, it transported me to the days when I used to dance to it onstage in San Francisco's Sound Factory (near Harrison and 1st. St).  Some of the moves are from that era and some are from dance workshops that I had previously taken.  Overall, it was a labor of love and I love bringing it to my students.  I hope you get to enjoy this video as much as I and my students enjoyed dancing to the song.

 

Attending Master Class with Gina Grant in San Francisco tonight!

A week ago, my jaw dropped when I got the note about Gina Grant teaching a Master Class at club Pura in San Francisco.  I quickly tried to sign in but I missed it by 5 minutes.  All spots had been taken.  I was sad because many of my Zumba peeps were able to sign in.  Many of them live out of town and we all talked about Zumba dancing together.  So..Christmas goes by and all I had was a Christmas wish - To be able to attend this Zumba Master Class.

 And some how, my wish came true this morning 5 minutes prior to my Zumba class....I was jumping a little higher during class...I was happy...Yay!!!  And what goes on during this Master Class, you ask?  Find out when I write about it this week...Stay tuned!!!

Zumba Love

 ~Oscar

1/05/11

The most amazing Zumba party thus far for me!!  It was unbelievable the amount of energy that was being poured for this event--despite the rain pounding the city hard.  But this party was not to be denied.  At 1015 Folsom, better known as club PURA, over 100 Zumba instructors and enthusiasts showed up w/ their best gear, bling and smiles.  Gina Grant blended right in amongst us before the taping for photo ops.  Everyone must have walked out of there w/ at least one photo with lovely Gina. I posed w/ fellow Zumba instructor Jos Kao.

Before we all went into the main hall for the taping, my dear Zumba mentor and friend Paula Edwards and I danced to a salsa tune just because we love Salsa dancing.  She is so amazing at following my lead and our dance sure turned heads and the camera man came over and focused on us for a few minutes on us..trying to catch the spirit of the dance....and we sure did that.  (Thank you Paula :-D).

And then, the taping began....8-10 great, zumbalicious new tunes...some Cumbia, some Samba, some Swing, some Salsa, some Raggaeton----it was ON!!!  Gina didn't seem to break a sweat at all while I was having my own weather forecast...on my shirt!!!  Gina taught us and led us on all of the songs...she seemed to have all of the energy in the world as she never quit rehearsing and rehearsing...while I made a V-line to the water stand and took a break......phew!!!...and she kept going....and going and going... One of the things that I love about Gina was her presence of mind to rotate the lines to different songs so that most, if not all of us, would have a chance to be close to the stage and be part of the video taping.  Paula, Jos and I more likely will be visible during the 5-7 songs.  :D

Besides Paula and Jos, I ran into many Zumba peeps such as Nannette Vides, Gina and her husband Carlos Lobo and met new ones such as Linda Taylor and Natalie Hernandez.  We could all feel the Zumba love.  And after 2 hours of taping, it was ON:  the battle of the Salsas!!!.  Where half of the Zumberos were on each side of the room and began battling it, salsa-style.  Lots of grinding, lots of hip shaking, lots of salsa shines and many more smiles to compliment.  I felt alive throughout this event and surely the Salsa Battle was the cherry on top of this delicious Zumba cake.  I loved every minute of it.

I would not hesitate to do it again if given another chance.  The lesson here is to wake up early in the morning and look for THAT email that says: "Coming to_____, So and So will be videotaping ZIN ___.  Sign up for it now"...I almost missed this chance but thank God that there was that Xmas miracle...and I was able to attend.... it made my holidays...and looking forward to share this passion and love with you all.  Please, stay tune for the upcoming Richmond Zumba classes.  I will make the announcement as soon as I hear word of its ok by the city officials.

Thank you , God bless and have a Happy 2011
Weeeeppppaaaa!!!

~Oscar

Upcoming Classes in Richmond, CA

2011 is becoming a breakthrough for Zumba and the Recreation Department has given me the opportunity to bring Zumba for the first time to Richmond, CA---10 min. north of Berkeley.

The classes are on Tuesdays (6p-7p) and on Thursdays (6p-7p) at the Richmond Rec Complex -  3230 MacDonald Ave (at Harry Ells Place) and Saturdays (9a-10a) at the Nevin Community Center -  598 Nevin St (at 6th St.)

Classes are ON GOING. Price will be $8/drop-in

For more information, contact me at this blog or at oscar.solano@yahoo.com

Enjoy Spring time.  Have a safe and healthy time. Weeepppaaa!!!! ~Oscar