Locals celebrate Zumba’s 25th Anniversary on the streets of Coronado
Two Coronado Zumba instructors recently celebrated the dance fitness brand’s 25th anniversary, dancing and mingling with its founder and 1,000 other instructors in Anaheim. There, Sue Allen Villalva and Marg Stark took Zumba creator Beto Perez’ masterclass—and brought home to their Coronado students a renewed fervor for teaching dance fitness.
“Zumba instructors are always learning so we can bring fresh music, Latin and world rhythms to our classes,” says Marg, who teaches lower-impact Zumba Gold Tuesdays and Saturdays at the Spreckels Center. “We also emulate the community Beto has built, because the relationships we form in our classes extend well beyond the dance floor,” says Sue Allen, whose Zumba classes are Tuesdays – Thursdays at Coronado Karate. The instructors cite examples of rallying around students amid illness, and dancing in costume at events such as the summer ABBA Fab concert. Zumba was born in the 90s in Cali, Colombia, when Beto Perez forgot his standard aerobics cassette tape and improvised by teaching his class with traditional Latin music he had on hand. Today, Zumba is taught in more than 200k places around the world, in five times as many locations as Starbucks’ physical locations.
Marg shares, “Zumba is a great fit for Coronado where people are often well-traveled. Our students love being exposed to salsa, flamenco, belly dance, Korean pop, remakes of classics, you name it.” No matter what, “the sweat, fun, and support are always there,” says Sue. “We make the choreography approachable and create a vibe where students can find their own rhythms.”Racking up their own Zumba tenure in this silver anniversary year, Sue has taught in Coronado for more than 12 years, and Marg for 5. They are best friends who combine forces to bring impromptu performances to town—be it on the Del beach at a Coronado Island Film Festival fundraiser or to brighten the holidays at Villa Coronado Skilled Nursing Facility.
“We always have surprises up our sleeves for our community, and this Halloween is no exception,” laughs Sue, who choreographs these special routines. Sue also recently began teaching Aqua Fitness at the Life Time athletic country club in Otay Ranch.
Sue’s class info can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at @danzewithsue. Marg’s class details are on the Coronado Recreation site: https://ca-coronado.civicrec.com or on Facebook via @margstark.
VOL. 116, NO. 37 – Sept. 16, 2026