By Elysia Windrum

Music blasts in a room full of energetic bodies. People of different ethnicities, ages and sizes shake their hips and throw about their arms as they follow the instructor in the front of the room. This is the atmosphere of a Zumba class at The Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Zumba, a Latin-inspired dance that incorporates hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, Bollywood, belly dance, mambo and martial arts, is a growing trend in Qatar. Zumba classes can be found at The Ritz-Carlton hotel, the InterContinental hotel and the Sheraton hotel, among other venues.

Qatar Foundation is the newest addition to the trend. This month Qatar Foundation’s recreational center began to offer Zumba classes for QR30 in the Activity Room.

Imad Askar, a Lebanese-Californian who has been living in Qatar for four years, was one of the first instructors to bring Zumba to Qatar. At first, I taught turbo kick-boxing, but it wasn’t very popular because people found it difficult to follow the moves and coordinate with the music,