Zumba in blue and white: Tel Aviv enters global choreography contest

WATCH: Israeli Zumba instructor hopes to win international competition with her Tel Aviv beach-side moves to Shakira song.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
An Israeli Zumba instructor has entered a global choreography Instagram contest for the best dance routine to Shakira's unofficial World Cup theme song Dare (La La La). The contest was launched by the Zumba Fitness organization, via a YouTube clip uploaded by Zumba founder Alberto "Beto" Perez and  Zumba Education Specialist Loretta Bates; in the clip, the pair appeal to Zumba instructors around the world for help in coming up with the best moves to accompany the Colombian singer's hit song.
Tel Avivian fitness instructor Shiran  Azran tells The Jerusalem Post that she was at home a week-and-a-half-ago, coincidentally choreographing a routine to the Shakira song, when one of her students posted a link to the competition on her Facebook wall.
The winning 15-second clip will garner two tickets to Miami to shoot a full-length choreography video alongside Zumba king Beto, which will appear on Shakira’s website and social media platforms.
Eager not to miss the opportunity, 26-year-old Azran says she hurriedly rounded up a few of her Zumba girls and headed to the Tel Aviv beach to film her dance routine, donning patriotic blue and white outfits. She describes the full YouTube video as "very authentic", shot on the promenade with sounds of the lifeguard's warnings to bathers in the background. She tells the Post that  winning the contest would be "a dream come true" and has her fingers tightly crossed ahead of the results, which will be announced on July 6. Thus far, over 500 contestants have uploaded entries to the Instagram contest via the ZumbaDare hashtag.
Colombian-born Beto invented Zumba in the 1990s, when he forgot his music for an aerobics class he was teaching. He instead fetched a tape of Latin American music from his car and improvised, soon discovering that he had stumbled across a winning combination.