Cooldown

Abstract

The conclusion, “Cooldown,” draws out the contradictions inherent to Zumba Fitness. In particular, it centers how Zumba Fitness promotes multicultural tolerance and acceptance on one hand, but traffics in problematic stereotypes of Latinx communities on the other. The chapter begins with an Afro-Puerto Rican bomba routine that was part of a Zumba Fitness Master Class. Analyzing the bomba routine shows how Zumba Fitness can be interpreted in multiple ways. At times, it may seem to reinforce tropicalized Latinness and the five tropes discussed in the book. At other times, though, there are moments of possibility for Zumba Fitness to be a space to build community and affirm different identities. The conclusion explains the broader social and political implications of this contradiction in contemporary US society and brings up possibilities for future research about tropicalized Latinness and its interactions with postracialism and neoliberalism.