Beto Perez grew up watching John Travolta-starrer Grease. And soon enough he was improvising regular aerobics using Latino music like salsa and Merengue. But little did he know that he was creating a form of dancercise that was soon to have a global following.

“The entire class was smiling ear-to-ear and dancing and the class kept growing. That’s how Zumba was born,” recalls Perez, the 45-year-old Colombian creator of this dance-party workout that is winning fans across Indian cities and age-groups.

Perez is in Mumbai on his first visit to India, and on Sunday he will personally train and certify 500 participants as Zumba instructors in just one day.

Having popularised Zumba globally, Perez is excited about expanding the dancercise form to the next level. “The Indian market is starting to realise the importance and benefits of exercise for health and fitness reasons, and is therefore making changes within the industry so that fitness is more accessible,” he told BusinessLine .

Fitness & dance Besides, it is also a great opportunity for those with a passion for fitness and dance, to make a career out of teaching it as a Zumba instructor, he added.

In 2001, Zumba was registered as a brand and company — Zumba Fitness in Miami, Florida. And since then, there has been no looking back for Perez, who fuses fitness, entertainment and culture into an exhilarating workout with an easy-to-follow choreography – all aimed at an effective, total-body workout. Zumba has over 15 million weekly participants in over 200,000 locations across more than 180 countries, according to Perez.

Rags to riches Raised by a single mother Perez worked three jobs at 14 years to support his family. But his passion for dance led him to win a national ‘lambada’ contest in Colombia, and he was accepted at one of Cali's best academies to study dance and teach aerobics in return.

With Florida giving him the platform he needed, Perez’ organisation also sells Zumba videos and products and charges licensing fees $220 (₹13,200) to its network of instructors (ZIN–Zumba Instructors' Network) for a basic level and the rates increase as one crosses those levels. The organisation at present has more than 200 employees.

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