Brazilian Zouk? – Never heard of it. What is that?
This is how many conversations start when we mention that we teach or dance Zouk. Let’s keep it short: Take the elegance of Salsa, the dynamism of Forró, the sensual moves of Bachata, the sensuality of Kizomba, the swag of Hip Hop, and add a pinch of head movements. Finally, garnish it with some spontaneity and creativity from Contemporary dance, and you’ve got Zouk as a sort of “best of” all these dances.
Even though you can find all of this in Zouk, it always depends on the music, your own style, and your dance partner which influence stands out at the moment. Speaking of music: Just as versatile as the dance itself is the music to which you dance Zouk. Besides traditional Zouk music from the French Antilles, the range includes pure lyrical songs, modern pop and Latin pop songs, and even RnB. But let’s start from the beginning: Where does Zouk come from, and why is it so versatile?
In the late 1980s, Lambada – both the music and the hip-focused dance – was very successful for a short time, becoming known worldwide thanks to Kaoma’s hit “Lambada.” However, shortly thereafter, the music fell out of favor and was rarely played in Brazilian dance clubs. In response, Lambada dancers began experimenting with different music, settling on the slower Zouk music, adapting their dance, and using the name of the music for their dance as well. This led to the introduction of breaks in the dance, allowing space for sensual moves – which 20 years later inspired Korke and Judith to create Bachata Sensual. Around the same time, the first Zouk or Lambada classes started appearing in dance schools in Rio de Janeiro and Porto Seguro, borrowing elements from various established dances to enable systematic learning. This brought influences from Salsa, Forró, Samba de Gafieira, Tango, and several other, primarily Brazilian, partner dances into Zouk.
Zouk received another boost of creativity around 2000 with the emergence of the Neozouk style by Mafie and Ruanita, which introduced alternative footwork, leading through different contact points, and a more active frame – opening up the possibility to dance on all levels of the music: to the rhythm, the melody, or the accompanying instruments, and to switch between them within a single dance. This flexibility laid the foundation for later dancers from Contemporary and Hip Hop to shape Zouk with their own styles and adapt it to their music.
The probably most well-known Zouk videos from Anderson and Brenda or Xandy and Evelyn, for example, showcase a Zouk style influenced by Contemporary, featuring an endless flow of sensual and head movements. In contrast, Pedrinho’s style features clearly accentuated body isolations and varied rhythmic footwork influenced by RnB. The classic Brazilian Zouk can be found more with Kadu and Larissa, William and Paloma, or Bruno and Raiza. The current trend is set by a new generation of dancers from São Paulo, who have further developed the traditional style with higher tempo and physically challenging movements.
In the courses at bailastudio, we aim to lay the foundation for traditional Brazilian Zouk, as this is the basis for all other styles. After learning rhythm and basic figures in Level 1, Level 2 covers variations, introductory body isolations and waves, as well as the fundamentals of head movements.
Jannis, 01.01.2023
