Creator of a popular workout based on African dance (Aerobics with Soul®), Maria Nhambu has made sharing her love of Africa and its culture and rhythms the focus of her life. Her memoir, Africa’s Child, tells her dramatic story from birth to her departure from her homeland. Drum Beats, Heart Beats is the final book of the Dancing Soul Trilogy. In it the mysteries of Nhambu’s origins are unraveled as she continues sharing her powerful story.

She was raised by German nuns at an orphanage for mixed race children in Tanzania, East Africa, and had no knowledge of her origins. Throughout the hardship and mixed blessings of her childhood, Nhambu (as she is called) sustained her spirit through dance. In the US she shared her love of dance through presentations with Young Audiences and by creating, a fitness program based on African dance.

Nhambu is sharing her inspiring story through book presentations and talks around the United States. Maria Nhambu has two adult children and three grandchildren. She lives in Delray Beach, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.