I have only been to two classes now, but I wish I had Saturdays off more often (well, obviously) so that I could go more often, but it's a nice treat to get my happy hips up to Canada (North Austin) every third Saturday for a spectacular dance party.
So, I first attended Monica's class when I was using my Synergy Fitness Groupon. At the time I hadn't been to many Zumba classes & the ones I had been to had had problems keeping up (see also: white girl problems). Well, not so much keeping up, but... moving that way. But the class is $5 & I think that is an awesome price for any hour long class. I will go try no-gravity weight lifting for only $5! (Dude! Why is that not a thing??)
First off, on my first visit Monica made such a great impression. She asked how I heard about her & what kind of exercises I liked & where I had done zumba & just seemed really approachable. That's a super great quality for a trainer or instructor to have because if I have any questions after class it makes me feel less awkward to go talk to someone who seems chilled (notice I said less awkward. I still pretty much always end up tripping over my shoelace or having a major booger I don't know about or something. I'm real good in social situations)

So, anyway, this last Saturday I made my way up North to shimmy with my $5 bill in hand (ok, in bra. My work out clothes don't have pockets so often there are keys, phone, money in bra. Shut up.)
But to my surprise, this class was free! Turns out that this was Monica's 1 year anniversary teaching her Saturday class at Synergy. I had really come on a fantastic day!
Monica informed me that there would be 6 teachers in all on this particular Saturday. Awesome!
Man, I wish I had gotten more of their names & gotten to talk to them about where they taught because each & every one of the guest teachers was a mother-fuckin'-blast. Each of them had a specific style which at first seemed a little daunting, but they were all super up beat & fun.
First off, Monica opened up with a warm up to Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us"
So, I was pumped. I got pumped pretty quickly is what I'm getting at.
Now, while I don't remember any of the other instructor's names or song choices (and if anyone who reads this knows, please let me know! I'd love to try any of them again), but they really put together one awesome class. I kept catching myself smiling. Like ear to ear goofy smile. I'm not sure if it was just the energy of the class, but just everyone there seemed to be having FUN- which you don't always see in fitness classes.
Yoga is more of a practice, which can be fun, but is often a quiet experience, running is my time to feel like Rocky, circuit training classes are brutal (in a good way), but Zumba is just fun, y'all. & this class was the prime example.
OH! From stalking er... I mean researching the Pink Mat Facebook page, I was able to look up one of my favorite guest instructors: Rita (I still don't know if it's cool to take pictures from instructor's sites to put on here? Is that... is that kosher? Even if I'm linking to them? Anyway- Click that link. Tell me Rita doesn't look like fun)
Y'all! At one part of her sequence, the class was split into to large groups & danced at each other. Yeah, that's right. We totally had a dance off. A dance off including planks & burpees! I was literally dripping sweat all down my face onto the floor. Killing. It. So. Hard.
So, the verdict is that I would suggest this to pretty much anyone that likes to have fun. There are all different age groups & fitness levels. You just need to bring lots of energy, a bottle of water & a good sports bra.
Oh, one more thing. In my first post about Zumba, I mentioned how there are not enough videos of white girls trying to Zumba & how I would volunteer to be candidly taped out of my love for comedy. Well, at some point I noticed that Monica was taping on her phone. And guess whose awkward ass was on the front row? So, with any luck my dreams of uncoordinated stardom will come true!