From a sold-out cruise to Times Square, the world’s largest dance-fitness brand proves the movement is just getting started
Twenty-five years ago, a single fitness class changed everything. Today, Zumba® is the world’s largest dance-fitness brand and it marked a quarter century with a celebration the world could feel.
In March, thousands of Zumba fans boarded a sold-out cruise to Mexico for days of nonstop music, movement, and community. On April 29th, Times Square stopped — or rather, started dancing — as Zumba took over New York City’s iconic TSQ LIVE stage for a free public class that brought together thousands of locals, tourists, and die-hard fans in the heart of Manhattan. Simultaneously, classes erupted in 185 countries, a single synchronized pulse of joy circling the globe.
This is what 25 years looks like:
- Over 465 million live classes have been taught, totaling more than 53,000 years of nonstop dance.
- 3 trillion+ calories burned together by the Zumba community.
- Classes held weekly in 200,000 locationsworldwide — more than five times the number of Starbucks globally.
But it’s a brand of more than just numbers. It’s the one instructor who started teaching in her living room. The participant who walked into a class after a divorce and hasn’t left for ten years. The college student who says Zumba is the only hour of the week that’s entirely hers.
“Zumba has always been about more than fitness,” said CEO Alberto Perlman, who co-founded the brand in 2001. “It’s about joy, community, and the freedom to move. This milestone belongs to every instructor and participant who has ever walked into a class and found their people. We didn’t build Zumba, they did.”
What started with an idea that exercise should feel like a party, became a cultural force that outlasted countless fitness trends, survived a global pandemic, and emerged stronger than ever. In an era defined by disconnection, Zumba remains stubbornly, defiantly communal.
Twenty-five years in, the brand isn’t slowing down. Expanded programming, new experiences, and global activations are planned throughout 2026.
Stay in the loop, find a Zumba class near you or become a Zumba instructor by visiting zumba.com.