Last night was the long-awaited Zumba master class with Beto (creator of Zumba) in Salt Lake City, UT. I went with two of my Zumba friends, Desree and Kate. Desree teaches Zumba regularly, and Kate is newly certified.

First, we waited in line outside Studio 600. We were there about an hour early. It was a good chance to chat with other Zumba students and instructors. We met two gals who flew in from Indiana.

After we found our spots we waited more for the big Beto reveal. When he came on stage we all went nuts, screaming and clapping. Beto is a big celebrity in the world of Zumba. Here he is on stage with our ZES (Zumba Education Specialist), Lindsey. She certifies instructors in Utah, Colorado, and Indiana.

Then class started. Warm up lasted about twenty minutes, and then they started filming. The main cardio portion of the class was taped to be included as the “live class” section of the next DVD release that goes out to all Zumba instructors across the world. That will come out in August. It was funny to have the cardio part filmed, because occasionally they had to stop in the middle of a song if the sound wasn’t right, or if Beto messed up bad (which, surprise!, he did several times), and we would restart the song.

Class was AWESOME. No exaggeration. It was awesome. The only tricky part was how mushed together we all were. It was hard to move freely for fear of whapping the person beside you.

Here I am during class with Beto on stage.

And me snuggling close to The Man himself.

It was a great night of fun, music, dancing, sweat, and yes–I am SORE today. Especially after teaching another Zumba class this morning at 6. I deserve a break today.