Zumba creator Alberto Beto Pérez

Alberto Beto Pérez is the creator of Zumba. Beto, originally from Colombia (South America), is the founder of Zumba and director of the national team of Master trainers. Beto Pérez is also a famous choreographer and professional dancer. Having choreographed for Shakira and other celebrities. If you’re wondering what the word Zumba means, it means to move fast and have a lot of fun. His aerobic dance training style uses Latin-inspired dance steps such as salsa, merengue, flamenco, and samba. Recently, hip hop and other exciting dances have been added to the dance mix.

Beto Pérez created this Latin dance exercise by accident, as the story goes that one day, when he ran out of this house to give his aerobics class, he forgot his usual music tapes. As soon as he realized this, he took some tapes of Latin music that were in his car and began to teach this music to the class. The class exploded and became the most popular class in Colombia. He named this class “Rumbacize”.

Beto Pérez arrived in Miami, Florida in 1999. There he met two young Colombian entrepreneurs who convinced him to change his name and start marketing his fitness philosophy around the world. In 2008, the small aerobic fitness business had more than 20,000 certified trainers and DVD sales of more than 3 million.

(Recently, Beto has added different music to the fitness workout, introducing some country music, funk rock ‘n roll, and many other exciting beats.) However, he has also been adding additional products to the company’s fitness line. Recently, she launched a dance workout for people who are complete beginners, who have never done much exercise before; active older adults and people with physical limitations. He named this product Zumba Gold. Also, another recent release is a children’s product design. With most young children not getting enough physical exercise, this new product has received an overwhelming response. Zumba’s new kids program gives kids the ability to exercise and have fun at the same time.

The international market has not been neglected, the company recently opened China and has representatives in more than 40 different countries around the world. This Latin dance workout is taking over the world.

The company has aligned itself with the productions of Mark Burnett (of “Survivor” fame) and Emilio Estefan (Gloria Estefan’s husband) to begin marketing dance fitness products to the Hispanic market through television. But Mr. Burnett is not the only one in Hollywood who has noticed the incredible popularity of this Latin-inspired dance workout. Many famous Hollywood celebrities like Ricky Martin, Eva LaRue (“CSI Miami”), Vivica A. Fox (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Stacy Kiebler (“Dancing with the Stars”), Hunter Tylo (“The Bold”) & the Beautiful “), and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres” dropped out of training and joined the party “with ZUMBA. From a child in South America to an American success story, once again Alberto Beto Pérez has shown that the American dream is real, it’s a true “poverty to riches” success story!