Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Zumba Orgies

I'm knackered, I tell you. Knackered. I have been doing so much zumba my backside is like a side of high end rump steak with skin. It's that muscley. My DB is well chuffed. I roped myself into participating in the year end gala for the village dance school which includes the zumba class. I actually do zumba in the village next door but answered a cry for help because only 5 of the class were brave enough to volunteer for the gala. It's their first year so they had yet to experience the joys of preparing for a show in front of a couple of hundred partisan family and friends, and were frankly too terrified to think about it. (It's my first year too, but I'm British and made of sterner stuff obviously... ).

Hence yours truly, a trooper to her boots, found herself putting up her hand and saying Yep, OK to the call of my local zumba group. We were doing two routines which amounted to two medleys in two different costumes. I am not a fan of costumes. I avoid costume parties and hence have very little that can be rustled up in an emergency. I hate having to think of costumes, I don't like making stuff, and I can never be bothered to drag myself into town to the hire shop.

So when I was told I had to provide a cartoon character and a disco queen my heart sank. It was only when the zumba teacher suggested Lucky Luke that I remembered my cowboy hat bought in Dallas back in 1999 and not lost or even much damaged... Easy! All I had to do was find a yellow shirt, waistcoat, bandanna, jeans and guns! Jeans - check, waistcoat - check, bandanna - check, things were looking up! I went to Carrouf in search of yellow dye and found they only had jeans colours - blue, brown, black, so went to the haberdasher's and found yellow dye, lovely yellow dye, enough for 1.2kg of material, for €16! Aargh!

I could have bought a shirt for that but you know what it's like, when you're in search of something of a particular colour, that is the year it will be nowhere in sight. Besides, I really didn't have time to go running round Montpellier in search of a sodding yellow shirt. So I coughed up the dosh and slung the white shirt I never wear (one of many) into the washing machine with a sneaky pair of knickers that got in on a weekend break.

Bright is how I'd describe them when they came out. All that dye, for 1.2kg concentrated into a couple of hundred grams. I was impressed. The knickers looked pretty good too, much better than the dingy grey they had been (I should have chucked the rest in too!). I went back to Carrouf and found guns with holsters, and I was all set.
Lucky Lucretia 
Yeah, okay, you can't see much, but I forgot to get a full one of me in my kit. That's a witch's hat in front, complete with spider. This zumba lot have a merry sense of humour. I can't show you the group because I didn't ask them, and there's a kid in the front (can't show kids on the net). We also had cat woman, a pirate or two, Red Riding Hood, Cleopatra, Pocahontas, a bee, etc. I got my sparkly disco outfit from the dance school, and raked around in my wardrobe for one of my mistake purchases, a pair of stretch satin jeans that I've never worn. Good thing I rarely throw clothes out, you never know when they'll come in handy!

We looked silly and managed not to cock up the routine on the day, of course (bloody miracle). I have to admit I didn't spend much time at the front even though I knew the routine. I had videoed the teacher doing it and put it up on YouTube so we could all practice. Still, despite watching it and dancing along a lot, I had no confidence in my memory so preferred to do my thing under-exposed at the back and in the middle... We were with the adolescent zumba girls so there were a lot of us on stage, and frankly the audience came to see their kids, not next door's back-up...

The ado girls looked brilliant for their other routine. They were dressed as Lara Croft with nifty black shorts, black vest top and a gun tucked into black elastic at the top of each thigh, plus they'd bought a long plait that hung down their backs. I was so jealous!

The disco routine was hilarious. There were just 10 (horribly exposed) adults, and we came in from the back of the theatre waving and blowing kisses to the music, then got up on stage and boogied until the routine started.
Over the top? Moi?
I must admit, I wasn't terribly at ease on stage, well it's been nearly 20yrs since the last time, and I've got out of the habit.... (dahhhling). We finished up with an after show supper where everyone was delighted that everything had gone so well as it had looked somewhat dodgy just that morning! We ate the left-overs from lunch time's communal buffet from the fête du village where we had given a zumba demonstration to a bemused bunch of locals (especially men), and quaffed down the rest of the bubbly.

Ever the glutton for punishment, I've signed up to do the gala with my normal class. The costumes this time? An overall decorated with plastic flowers (!), and a sexy honeymoon night garment of some sort, in white. At my age, I'm going to look ridiculous in some sort of fluffy teddy, but don't want to turn up in ankle-length Winceyette either. Dilemme...

I'm a bit afraid I'll look a total twat in the overalls too, but maybe I won't... Bring it on! This month then, lots of zumba for the gala, a zumba flash mob in Montpellier Saturday week and then in July I'm going to a mega zumba orgy at the Zenith with some bloke who's well known in the world of zumba for two hours of zumba fun (apparently). Just call me B-abs of Steel...

25 comments:

  1. Good for you! I'd never have had the gumption to volunteer for that but didn't it go well!

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    1. It did, and I remembered why I like joining in even though it was pretty nerve-wracking. This group are much friendlier than the other lot for some reason with one or two exceptions so I enjoyed it much more. Even made a buddy!

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  2. wow - have you err considered zumba?

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  3. OK, what's your advice here? I really want to do zumba. I can see it's fun. But... I'm just too shy and inhibited to take that first step. I'll be at the back of the class not knowing what to do and hoping my extra flab isn't wobbling too much, while everyone else dances around having a good time with their perfect bodies.

    My sister-in-law says to practise a few shimmies and shakes at home with a dvd to give me confidence, but I think that'll just make it worse.

    What to do?

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    1. From what I've seen from the classes I've attended in both villages you really have nothing to fear. All body shapes come along, and some take a rest when it gets a bit sporty, and others are not terribly coordinated and get the steps wrong.

      If you have a pair of sports trousers and a baggy tee-shirt no one will see the wobble, and don't worry, just about everyone else is worrying about the same stuff. The ones who go a lot are in shape because of the zumba, so a bit of perseverance and the wobble will wobble off anyway. :)

      Don't deprive yourself of the fun. The music is great, the movements are sporty dancey and the teachers are enthusiastic. You can ignore the rest. If you start at the start of the year you'll also be one of several newbies who won't know what to do, but you'll soon pick it up. There are basic steps which reappear all the time too which make it easier.

      Go for it, you'll enjoy it. :)

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  4. I loooooove your Abba, look; exquisite, daaaaaaahling. My pelvic floor subsides just hearing the word "zumba". High five for being so brave!

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    1. PS. Good on your for the muscles- the hardest thing I've got below the waist are my knee caps.

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    2. Agnetha (is that what she's called?) eat yer heart out! :)

      I'm glad your knee caps are hard, man... (peace 'n' lurve). :)

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  5. Chapeau! Just reading about all that activity makes me want to lie down for a nice rest. :-) Actually it sounds like enormous fun and if I were 10 years younger, I'd be tempted to join in....

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    1. I wish I were 10 years younger, frankly, I might not look quite such a prat. :)

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  6. Zumba, eh? Gosh you're a brave lady. You look good in your Dallas , TX hat! Yellow is your color.

    Several months back, I had a go at Zumba. Not exactly my cup of tea, and soon abandoned it.

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    1. You're a brave one. Not a single man does it in either group here! One of the teachers is a man though and he's an absolute scream (and very camp).

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  7. Bloody hell, you'll be like muscle (wo)man at this rate any day now!

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    1. Don't worry, I'm keeping up my intake of crisps, nuts and wine so I won't get to the scraggy all-muscle Madonna look, ever. :)

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  8. YEAH!!! You did it. Photos to prove it. Very proud of you. It takes a special kind of person to make an arse of themselves in public and you, my friend, have joined the club.
    Now couldn't you have nabbed the Lara Croft outfit??

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    1. Maybe there should be The Arse in Public awards... lol

      I could nab a Lara Croft outfit, but it looks so much better on a nubile teen than middle-aged me I'll leave them to it. :)

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  9. Great pix that second one! A good friend of mine goes Zumba dancing every Tuesday with her daughter and she loves it. But I'll stick to my bike thanks, it's easier by all accounts.... :)

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    1. Easier to pedal perhaps, but going up those hills... give me zumba any day! :)

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  10. What fun! I remember being terribly embarrassed when I participated in a fashion show, when I had never done such a thing before and was in my 50's.
    Now at my senior center I see tiny local Japanese women doing zumba and am in awe of them. I'll stick to water aerobics, about my speed these days. ( I live in Hawaii.)

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    1. Water aerobics in Hawaii sounds pretty cool and gentle on the joints. Nice one. :)

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  11. I could never ever have done this! Well done you! As for me, I will stick to Bikram yoga. I am becoming less and less social these days. Go figure!

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    1. I have a feeling it comes and goes, being social. I go through phases when I am and then I'm less so. Thing is I do like being sociable but I forget that I do sometimes and want to be in hermit mode. Variety is good too. :)

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  12. Brilliant! So glad you enjoyed it. I keep thinking about Zumba since you fist suggested it but am really wary of twisting my knee since the op. Perhaps I'll be lazy a bit longer while my backside goes in the opposite direction of yours :)

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    1. You're right, zumba would put a strain on your knee. Swimming is more the thing for you now isn't it?

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