The Zumba and fitness craze has been taking over the world slowly but steadily. It’s easy to understand why once you realise that people are becoming more aware of the importance of staying fit and healthy. However, the reality is that not everyone enjoys going to the gym and running on a treadmill for hours on end to lose weight. Similarly, weightlifting can be boring, particularly if you don’t enjoy it. It can also get repetitive, meaning you’re more likely to slack off and skip going to the gym altogether.
Such instances require some ingenious thinking to get your workouts in correctly, and that’s where Zumba proves beneficial. For instance, some people will join their Sunday league football team to stay in shape. But if you’re not a football fan, you might want to consider Zumba. Zumba takes heavy inspiration from Latin dancing. Hence, you’re bound to have a ton of fun while dancing away. Moreover, studies show that a mid-to-high-intensity Zumba workout session allows people to burn around 300 to 900 calories in an hour. Thus, it’s an excellent way to get in shape.
Finding the right Zumba instructor to guide you through workouts is also important if you’re serious about getting fit. London has few Zumba instructors as qualified and capable as Nina Darmeci, the founder of Nina Choreography Dance and Zumba Fitness Company. In addition, the 42-year-old mother of two is also an award-winning choreographer. The fitness expert’s business has skyrocketed in the past few years, cementing her as one of London’s leading Zumba instructors. However, most people aren’t aware of her interesting life story.
She is of Indian origin and comes from a small island called Mayotte near Madagascar. She moved to India shortly after with her family and received most of her education there, studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Mumbai’s Elphinstone College. Unfortunately, severe health complications forced her to leave during her second year of college. Shortly after, she got married when she was only 22. Health problems and marriage prompted her to put her dreams on the back burner and enter the travel and tourism industry. She got qualified and certified to work for travel agencies. Her time in that sector would culminate with her working for a major airline – South African Airways.
However, dancing was always her passion. It never left her soul. Thus, she decided to venture back into the world where she belonged, the world where she found herself. She racked up certifications in hip-hop dancing and Bharatanatyam classical dancing and also got certified in Zumba Basic in 2016. Moreover, she’s also certified in teaching Zumba to kids.
Nina Darmeci became interested in choreography when she was five. It was something she wanted to pursue personally, if not professionally. As a result, she taught herself as much as she could. While she found decent success as a travel consultant, she didn’t find much joy in her work. Instead, her heart always yearned to return to her dancing and choreography roots. She wanted to reach a large crowd by teaching them simple moves to build their confidence. It’s a philosophy that the renowned choreographer has upheld since then. She believes choreographed dances should be suitable for everyone, not only professional dancers who already know how to bust a move or two.
Today, Nina Darmeci runs a successful Zumba practice in London. She was the first one to introduce a fully Bollywood-inspired Zumba class and is affectionately known as the Duracell Bunny. She has also choreographed Diwali traditional folk dance for three consecutive years at Trafalgar Square. She’s delighted to be part of the community and believes Zumba can be life-changing for people because it can affect their mental and physical outlook.
