It is THE thing to be doing right now so of course I wanted to teach it.  When I  got licensed to teach Zumba I didn’t plan on teaching 15 classes a week…I planned on maybe having one class; which is how it all started.  Then I started to get the “Zumba High” after teaching class  (By the way if you don’t know what that is; it’s the euphoric happy feeling you have after leaving class AKA the Zumba High).  I don’t know why but there is something so special about Zumba compared to teaching other styles of dance.  I think it’s because it’s open to everyone no matter what experience you have with dance.  I 100% believe that dance can change lives.  You will leave feeling sweaty and happy for sure.   I get to make people fall in love with what I love every day….seriously there is nothing better than that.

Now once I felt a sense of accomplishment with teaching Zumba Fitness classes all I wanted to do was progress so what did I do?  I got licensed in the specialties, Zumba Toning, ZumbAtomic, and Zumba Gold.

Zumba for kids is genius.  Seriously you get to teach them about different cultures,  dance rhythms and on top of that they are exercising and moving.  Most kids these days stare at a TV after school or play video games.  Kids need to be up and moving and focused on something!  If they aren’t focused on an activity that interests them, they will look to other things to occupy their time…

Zumba Gold…not Zumba Old p.s.  I have all ages that take my class because it really is designed for active older adults but also Beginners!   It is my absolute favorite class to teach.  They love the music they love to interact with each other and they love to move it!   It is also the most rewarding because I can see people getting progressively better every day.  Their arms start to reach higher…their steps become more on beat, their over all mobility increases by the end of class.  And how can you not love people over the age of 65 dancing, smiling and over all enjoying themselves.

Now moving on to an exciting event that happened last month in my Z Club NY class.  I was teaching my class Saturday morning at 11 A.M. like always then all of sudden a video camera walks into the room.  I almost stopped the girl and said, “uhhh excuse me” but I didn’t want to stop class.  Then a few seconds later Beto Perez walks into my class shimmying.  WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!  After I stopped my music he came over to me and said he saw I posted my classes online and asked me how many classes I taught a week…I responded by saying, “UHHHH I do not know” (seriously biggest brain fart moment of my life).  Beto replies laughing, “You teach 15 Casie.”  Then he tells me he is giving me the “Golden Ticket” to the next 2012 convention in Orlando, Fl all travel expenses paid…..WHAT….I cried.  haha YUP.  I wasn’t able to afford to go to the last one so it was a HUGE financial weight lifted from my shoulders.   If you want to see the video of Beto coming to class click this link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHCXKIQ-vgs

Now to something a little more serious…the Zumba Burnout…

It’s happening to me right now…I teach so much that I am running myself and my body into the ground.  Don’t forget that on top of the Zumba classes I teach I am also a choreographer, a professional dancer still actively auditioning,  a private instructor and a bgirl.  YUP.  That’s a lot of moving…A LOT.  I am starting to feel it in my knees, back, feet, every where.  I need to pull back and re-think my plan of attack.  I am working so hard and honestly not make that much money….because I am working for gym’s….I am not working for myself…but that is about to change.  I am taking things into my own hands, getting rid of gym classes and renting the space and doing it myself.  I am done killing myself and enough is enough.  I am a good instructor and I know I can do this On My Own.  If you are reading this and you are feeling the same way, you can do it too!

Okay I am done with my Zumba rant.  Just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences over the past couple of months.   Zumba Love <3  Keep pushing, never give up…Dance, Dream, Believe.

???

There have been times when I thought to myself, “wow that would be amazing, I would never have to worry about money again!”  But is that really all there is to life??? Money?  What about being in true love? 

What if you found the person of your dreams, but you knew money would always be a struggle?  To me love is more important.  Being with someone who truly loves you for you, even when you are mad at each other.  Even when that person says that they would help clean, but didn’t or said they would save the last pieces of pizza for you, but didn’t ; p 

haha that’s Love.  Money can only buy so much.  Money doesn’t solve all problems…it may make things easier for a while, but who wants an easy life???  I want to be proud of my money that I make.  Even if it’s $1.  I made that dollar.  I don’t want someone to just hand it to me.  

What about being in love with your dream and sacrificing every cent you have just to see your dream come true?  Is it worth it?  I guess it is when it comes true~haha, but until then it really is like a relationship;  it’s a long process, you have to be in it every day, you have to work at it all the time and you have to believe that it is going to work.  I do love my dream, but my wallet is getting smaller and smaller by the day…is it going to be worth it in the end?  

stay tuned…until then how do you feel?  would you choose love or money? 

Colorado is absolutely beautiful.  For those of you who have never been there before, you def need to go check it out because it is amazing.  I also made a lot of great friends out there and had a lot of fun nights out in Breckenridge.  Def check out this place called Cecilia’s if you are ever there! : )

I am finally back in NYC.  It is weird I have to say.  I don’t miss this dirty air…eww.  Subways in the summer are horrible because not only is seriously hot in the station, but it smells like pee!!! ughhh.

I have not had the chance to take class at BDC yet, but I will get around to it soon.  I am trying to gear up for this MSA audition on Wednesday.  I am worried…I haven’t been in class for a while and I also haven’t been to an audition in a while either.  I am just going to do my best and hope for the best like always.  Pray for me!

The other night I went to gymnastics at Chealsea Piers…It was going great until right at the end when I am going to do my last tumbling pass of the night.  I cut my back handspring short and didn’t want to throw my layout, so I thought I would just rebound out of it…Wrong.  I ended up flying ten feet in the air heading backward and landed smack on my upper back and then my head hit the floor.  The lights went out for a second, but I was more sacred of the fall than anything.  I felt so nauseous afterwards and my head was pounding.  I went home and put ice on my neck.  Waking up this morning was swell…I seriously never felt so stiff in my life.  My neck n back are so tight.  I feel like total crap today.  Blah.

Well I have to close the YMCA then I am going home to rest.

Thanks for reading~God Bless!

P.S.  Look what I just found on-line!!!  It’s about ADTC at copper mt!

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100702/AE/100709986

<3 tynee

This week had it’s up’s and down’s for sure….the girls were a little on the rebellious side and didn’t really want to listen to us which is frustrating as a choreographer because I hate answering the same question 6 times in a row…Another thing is that I can’t help kids that don’t want to be helped.  I love dance so much and I try to inspire these kids to make dance a part of their lives, but not all of these kids want to dance.  Some of them are just sent here because they live near the camp and their parents want them to go to camp for a week haha.  But of the girls that are here to dance, there is some seriously potential and talent.

One girl really inspired me this week.  She is only 15 years old and she is going to be a talented choreographer some day.  Her musicality is on point and she is a total sweetheart.  She made up a dance in 20 min and it was like a min and a half long…and it was good!!!  I hope so continues to dance and grow as a dancer after camp ends.

I love the staff here.  We all get along and have a good time so at least I have them.  If I didn’t have them I would lose my mind.  I love you Joanna!

The cool thing about this camp is that it is not in the middle of no where so we can actually go out at night! haha

Colorado is pretty dope….if you have never been here, you def need to check it out for sure.

My birthday is coming up!!! I am so excited!  I get a flight home Saturday the 24th to Philly.  I don’t even get in till 10:30 p.m. but I do not care, I am seeing my friends and we r gonna have a great time!  I miss my girls soooo much!!!  I get to see my boyfriend on Sunday night….I miss him like crazy…speaking of him, yesterday was our year and 5 month anniversary and he made a vid for me.  He is so amazing.  It’s so sweet that he took the time to do something like that for me and it was the perfect gift for being so far apart….I love and miss u B!  Here is the video…

Anyways I miss you all, sorry for not writing too much-they got me working 24/7 here…

Until Later. Peace!

<3 Tynee

So camp in NC ended on Friday.  The show was great.  I was so proud of my girls.  They killed it!  These girls in CO better step it up because the NC girls were DOPE : )  Not to mention I got so close with them I am def gonna miss them.  It feels good to inspire others to dance but at the same time those girls inspire me to be a better teacher overall. 

So Saturday I flew into Denver, CO.  Of course as soon as I get on the plane guess who is sitting next to me for three and a half hours????….a 16 month old child…Awesomeeeee…It actually wasn’t too bad, but as I sat down the Dad says to me, "I hope you brought your headphones."  haha

When I got to Denver I took a shuttle bus to my hotel at the Hilton Garden Inn.  OMG….all I have to say is Jacuzzi, Pool, King Size Bed, Room Service, TV and relaxation.  Amazing.  The next morning after a wonderful night of sleep I headed to the Denver Airport (or DIR as everyone likes to call it) to pick up a camper from Cancun, Mexico. 

The airport was quite a fiasco.  I didn’t know Andrea (camper) was a unnaccompianed minor so I waited for her at baggage claim and there was no sign of her for like 30 min….I found her then I lost my phone…awesome then I had someone return it to lost and found sighhhhh

2 hours later Andrea and I arrive at Copper Mountain.  We are staying at a resort/dorm building.  My room has a 10” tv in it so I am happy I have something to entertain me.  The beds have sheets and pillows that they clean every week which is nice and towels are provided for us as well.  We are staying in the same building as Copper Mountain Woodward…how crazy is that?!  This location is MUCH smaller than the PA Woodward, but still it is pretty neat that we just so happen to end up in the same building! 

The dance screening was okay…Some of the girls here have really good technique…then you have the girls who have never even taken a dance class before.  I do have to say there is one girl who has never even taken one class before and she picked up choreo no problem.  It wasn’t perfect but she is a natural.  I am really excited to teach again this week.  Seriously it is my passion and I love it. 

Can’t wait to see what adventures this week holds for me…stay tuned…

After breakfast we all warmed up together in these gorgeous brand new studios.  OMG they are huge and the floors are flawless.  Wow…seriously every dancers dream studio space.  Good job Western Carolina University haha.  I got to teach two classes today and I was so excited!  My beg/int class I am doing the song, “Rock your Body” by the Black Eyed Peas and my int/adv class is doing “your love” by nikki manaj and “OMG” by Usher.  I really like both my dances and the girls seem to like it also so that makes me happy.  After class I had an hour break and talked to Brian, I am really missing him and I saw him a week ago….3 1/2 more weeks to go till we see each other again.  : (     (Miss you baby)

After classes we had lunch.  Then I was responsible for 10 girls going to the Fun Factory for 4 hours…yeah.  Hahaha I have to admit even though it was a little stressful it was a great time!  We went go-kart riding, played lazer tag, bowling, got snacks and played games!  Awesome afternoon!  After that I was DONE.  We all had dinner and thank goodness tonight is my night off!!!  Woot!  I have been catching up on episodes of Hell’s Kitchen.  I could be hanging out with the girls but I have to admit it is nice to have some alone time since I won’t have any the rest of the week. 

So far my team is ahead in overall points!  yay   Hopefully the can keep it up and win!  Tomorrow is a new day and I can’t wait to keep teaching these kids some hip hop! 

I hope to write again soon!

Just wanted to post the video from the other night when I landed my gainer for the first time on level floor! : )

I hope I have the courage to do it on a hard floor soon…yikes!  Check it out…

Justin n Focus outside McClanahanns at 2:30AM haha

Indigo was first on the list.  We met up with Daren there.  It was fun, and surprisingly Indigo was packed!  We had a few drinks and then headed over to The Mezz and it was already 1am by the time we go there.  I ran into Stella who bartends at the Mezz but she was off….Jaeger Bombs it is hahaha thanks Stella….

Indigo!

We had a blast though and of course the night would not be complete without at least 1 dance session! Haha We got down to the last song of the night.  Short but sweet.  Then we headed to…..yep Canyon Pizza.  Gotta have the $1 slices and ranch dressing at 3 AM hahaha.  Sooo good.  Then we headed back to Woodward and I crashed hard when we got back at around 4AM….yikes.  I was sad when my alarm went off at 8:30AM.  Eww.

Sunday is the day when all the new campers arrive.  Camp is PACKED this week I believe 800 campers!  Crazy.  All I did this morning was sit at the dance booth and told campers about dance classes and answered questions. It was easy, but sooo boring.

Performing in front of the gymnasts n cheerleaders : )

Later one of the directors RJ comes over to me to talk and somehow we got on the subject of bluegrass music.  Sure enough he goes and gets a banjo and a guitar.  He’s said, “I brought the guitar for you.”  Great.  I haven’t played In forever!  And I have fake nails which is so weird to play with while playing guitar.  We played some typical bluegrass songs, “East Bound and Down,” “Foggy Mt Breakdown,” “Salty Dog.”  It was crazy how fast the chords came back to me.  It was fun playing again I have to admit.  It also made me think of my grandfather a lot.  I miss playing music with him.

After a long afternoon of sitting in the barn talking to campers and parents I finally got food.  There was chewy flavorless turkey and half way decent mashed potatoes.  I ate mostly salad haha.  After I was re-energized I headed to the Barn Gym to stretch and warm up for the demo.  We had mad bboys today : )  Of course me, Ron, Focus, Focus’ daughter Moe (who is mad cool and adorable!), bboy agua (gym staff), and Andrew (cheer staff).  We all are pretty damn good so we knew we were gonna smash the demo : )

Me n MoeMoe

And we did!  There was over 250 people watching us!  It was pretty crazy.  And there was a lot of energy in that room haha.  It was nice to see old campers who I taught last year, there again this year.  I felt right at home.  Everyone calling me Tynee is so strange since mostly everyone in NYC calls me Casie.  I was drenched in sweat after the demo so Moe and I decided to go for a dip in the pool.  We were one of the only ones in the pool then all of a sudden the pool was packed with kids to the point where you could barely swim!  So I got out and headed back to the cabins to get a shower.  Which ended up being pointless because I met up with this girl Maggie in the Cheer Gym who is teaching dance to all of the cheerleaders.  I was helping her make up some of the routines for her classes.  She is such a sweet girl.  After that Ron came up and the other bboys were practicing so we ended up having a session haha.  Ron and me worked on Gainers and Websters.  Then I started working on elbow airflares since I almost had one last year.  I AM getting that stupid move!!!  After I got all sweaty again we then headed over to the ice cream social for all the staff members in the Canteen.  Cookies n’ cream yummmmmm.

I AM BEAT….time for sleep : )

Some of my girls from woodward last year....werd

I have updated my pictures, Busog site, and added a new page “teaching schedule” this way if any of you are interested in taking my classes you can see where I will be at!

I just ordered business cards tonight : )  I feel accomplished business wise today haha.  They are very simple and cheap, but it does the trick.  I will let you know how they turn out…

I am home in Harleysville, PA right now because I am heading to teach at Camp Woodward on Saturday.  I am excited about going back and teaching again.  I am also excited to train in Gymnastics!!!  I am getting my layout full….Another great part about being at Woodward is that it is next to State College (Penn State!!!) yay!!!  Of course I will be making a trip into town a few nights while I am there for sure.

I am missing Brian like crazy….We barely get to see each other since his show has started at the Showboat Casino.  P.S. if any of you go to AC make sure you stop by and see his show, it’s free!  I believe the times are 3 pm, 6:30pm and 8 pm….Def check him out!  I am so happy for him, but I miss him!  We only get to see each other for one day then I leave for a whole month ahhhh!!!  I guess it’s okay though because I know we are both doing what we love: Dancing.  You can’t ask for a better job than that.  And we are supportive of one another so I know we will be just fine, but I can’t help missing him!

Thanks to everyone for your continued support!  I will be back to write again soon! xo -Tynee

Miss U Boo!