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