Alberto Beto Perez is the creator of Zumba. Beto a native of Colombia (South America) is the founder of Zumba and director of the national Master trainers team. Beto Perez is also a celebrity choreographer and a Pro dancer. Having choreographed for Shakira and other celebrities.If you wondered what the word Zumba means, it means to move fast and have a lot of fun. His style of aerobics dance workout 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 Perez created this Latin-based dance workout quite by accident, as the story goes one day as he rushed out of this house to teach his aerobics class he forgot his regular music tapes. As soon as he realized this, he grabbed some Latin music tapes that were in his car and began teaching the class to this music. The class exploded and became the most popular class in Colombia. He named this class “Rumbacize.”

Beto Perez arrived in Miami, Florida in 1999. There he met two young Colombian entrepreneurs who convinced him to change the name and to begin marketing his fitness philosophy throughout the world. By 2008 the small aerobic fitness company had well over 20,000 certified instructors and DVD sales in excess of 3 million.

(Recently Beto has added different music to the fitness workout, introducing a little bit of country music, funk rock ‘n roll and many other exciting beats.) However, he has also been adding additional products to the companies fitness line. Recently he launched a dance workout for individuals who are complete beginners, never having exercised much before; active older adults and individuals who are physically limited. He called this product Zumba Gold. In addition, another recent release is a product design for kids. With most young children not getting enough physical exercise this new product has received an overwhelming response. The new Zumba kids program is providing children with the ability to exercise and at the same time have fun.

The international market has not been neglected the company just recently opened up China and has representatives in over 40 different countries throughout the world. This Latin dance workout is taking over the world.

The company has aligned itself with Mark Burnett productions (of “Survivor” fame) and Emilio Estefan (husband of Gloria Estefan) to begin marketing the fitness dance products in the Hispanic market through television. But Mr. Burnett is not the only one in Hollywood to have noticed the incredible popularity of this Latin inspireddance workout. Many famous A-list Hollywood celebrities such as Ricky Martin, Eva LaRue (“C.S.I. 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 have “ditched the workout and joined the party” with ZUMBA. from a small boy in South America to an American success story once again Alberto Beto Perez has proven that the American dream is real. He is a true “rags to riches” success story!