Fans of choreography and Zumba style classes will love Afro-Robics, a workout that combines African dance with traditional aquatic fitness. Aqua presenter, Elson Dos Santos, a team member of Kataqua, a Netherlands aquatic fitness organization, heats up the pool with some tribal music and moves.
Zumba Fitness® reignited a trend for dance fitness programs in the last decade. Every year new programs emerge featuring a cultural mix of dance and music styles. African dance and tribal rhythms have proven to be quite popular in the fitness industry. African dance can be celebratory, ceremonial, ritualistic, story-telling and classical. The moves are typically big and dramatic.
Afro-Robics doesn’t disappoint with big and dramatic as it features 8 combinations of movement with names such as Attitude, Flavor, Power, Endurance and more. Elson conveys lots of attitude and power on the deck while demonstrating moves safely and with minimal impact. He utilizes both add-on and pyramid instruction to form the combinations of movement.
The music used in Afro-Robics was specifically approved for use in a video. However, the playlist used – Ethnic Rhythm Party (1st volume) - is available for sale at Yes! Fitness Music as both a CD and a digital download. Or you can email Fitmotivation and request that a link to the digital download be emailed to you. Personally, I have used this playlist in my classes for the past several years and I love the energy it creates in a class. I also like the fact that it is mostly instrumental which means I don’t have to yell over vocal tracks.
Fitmotivation extends a big thank you to Elson Dos Santos for his debut video. Elson joined the Kataqua Team in 2011 and serves as a program designer, presenter and master trainer. In 2017 he was selected as Best Presenter in the European Aquatic Fitness Conference (EAFC). He recently presented for the first time at the International Aquatic Fitness Conference (IAFC) in Florida and was a crowd favorite.
And thanks to Fleur Zonneveld as the student in this video; and to Jeroen Bockweg for videography. This video was filmed in the Netherlands at the Aqua Center Malkander. Stay tuned for more videos from the Kataqua team!