What appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of Zumba® fans in their finest Latin-flavored workout getups crowded the Nokia Plaza yesterday afternoon, forming the most chaotic mob at L.A. Live since the Lakers riots.

If you haven't heard of Zumba yet, here's what you're missing: It describes itself as a “Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music… and contagious steps to form a 'fitness-party' that is downright addictive.”

Yes, it's as dorky as it sounds. Kind of like Pilates meets Dance Dance Revolution meets…

… Brazilian dance lessons on an old persons' cruise.

What a perfect fit, then, for AEG mogul Philip Anschutz' nauseatingly corporate downtown empire, with the Herbalife building towering overhead and all those giant Blade Runner screens blaring the mob's image back down on them.

Sigh. We've said it before — flash mobs just aren't what they used to be.

But onto the feel-good part! Zumba creator Beto Perez was in town for his birthday, and it appears L.A. showed him a pretty good time. Here's the best video we can find so far of yesterday's flashdance (we'll post a better one if it turns up):

Anyone could show — all they had to do was memorize some merengue-lite choreography posted to YouTube about a month in advance. The midriff hottie in the demo actually appears to be in Vegas, but same thing, right?

Participants on Twitter called the turnout “EPIC” and “exhilarating.” Cha-ching.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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