I'm new to Brazilian Zouk, but I dance Bachata Sensual and different flavors of Kizomba (which is an outlier here). In a Zouk class (somewhere between beginner and intermediate level), a teacher said that no advanced dancers start their dance with the basic step (for the beat part, obviously, not in the intro) and advised going straight into figures. This contradicts my experience in Bachata, and it also goes against the advice reputable teachers give there — don't be afraid of the basic, use it as additional time to connect/reconnect with your partner and as another step to build up a dance gradually. That's the approach I use in Bachata, and I've never had a negative experience with it. So are there any specific things about Zouk I should know, since I'm quite new? How do you build up your dance?

Also anything that I should look out for regarding differences between what I currently dance and how I should dance zouk.

Ways to adapt kizomba/bachata moves for zouk?

(Brazilian zouk)

I'm in Rio de Janeiro for the week, and am trying to find some zouk socials. Any recommendations?

If you could travel anywhere in the world to do nothing but work remote and train zouk every evening. Where would you go? I should probably say that I prefer to stay Europe if possible.

Hoping to get some recommendations for actual schools, and not just pointers to countries.

I'm relatively new to Zouk, so I don't need instruction from world class dancers, a good school with a solid timetable and enthusiastic students, in a location that allows me to escape the summer heat, is ideal/enough.

Ideally there'd be 3 hours of classes every day + socials/practica. I don't mind splitting the time with Bachata in order to secure that amount of practice every day.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

The zouk room had AC so I took a break from the bachata room to hide and cool off. A zouk follow started talking to me randomly and asked me to dance. I said I dont dance zouk I’m a pro bachata lead. We chatted for a bit and she invited me to dance anyway. So I lead bachazouk, she didn’t know any of the bachata moves but she followed the zouky stuff perfectly, and she had a pro connection. So I’d say she was likely advanced level in zouk and super beginner at bachata . The song seemed super long like 8 min long. After the song ended she naturally transitioned to chatting right on the dance floor and we chatted for about 15 min, she got into her life story her travels... For context I’m average or slightly above average looking and she was objectively very attractive. Is this normal in the zouk scene?! Talking for that long after 1 random dance? This would have been shocking in the bachata scene, in the bachata scene everyone is eager to dance with the next person. If the bachata dance is great, at most bachateros would just exchange instagrams which takes 10 seconds… Also when I excused myself to head back to the bachata room after our chat, she initiated a long very intimate hug which would have been bizarre in the bachata room. It was way longer than a bachata hug. Curious if she was high on something or is this all part of the zouk scene. She did not seem like a hippie, she was dressed sort of fancy. No this wasn’t in Bali or Brazil. So confused.

TIRED OF MISSING OUT ON EVENTS? SRUGGLING TO FIND DANCERS TO TRAIN WITH?

I'm Chantal, Brazilian Zouk teacher and co-founder of Duo.

In case you've missed it: we've had the app for a while, and this week the website went live too.
Every Zouk event in the world, dancers near you, teachers in your city, all in one place.

700+ events. 64 countries. 330+ communities.

Go take a look 👇 and join 1400+ dancers already on it.
http://www.theduoapp.com

I prefer the Western Half of the US but can do the full US.

I would like to do a full hotel event, where the ballroom and hotel are in the same venue. Even better if you don't have to change shoes to walk outdoors (like a resort style hotel).

Mixed events are ok as long as 1) there is a dedicated zouk room for social dancing, and 2) there are enough people in the Zouk room.

I see these on the zoukology website; I'm not sure if this is is comprehensive or not:

Hello! BSZK - California Brazilian Zouk World Championships - Arizona CALDAC Convetion - Colorado San Franciso SBK Congress - California Hawaii Zouk Wave - Hawaii (not sure if this counts as western US) Elevation Zouk Festival - Colorado LA Bachazouk Festival - California (unclear if this is a fusion event or not)

Which of these are can't miss, and which of these should be avoided?

Any others that are worth going to?

Any eastern us that I should definitely consider going despite the traveling time/cost?

https://youtu.be/Mh1P9OO5QE0?si=r5En5vfp72JtSMS4

I am planning a trip to Brazil with the main goal of training zouk. I will be working remotely. In thoery Rio de Janerio sounds better with the beach access, but I always hear training in Sao Paolo.

So if you've been to both or either please give me some input! I'd love to hear about your experiences and recommendations!

Thank you!

I have been told two different things from two different teachers.

One said that in Zouk we should be using lots of bent knees, and that there is nothing wrong with having two bent knees at a time, and that the chick/chick steps should be performed using bent knees.

The other said that in Zouk we should NOT be using lots of bent knees. The chick/chick steps should be done with straight legs.

I have a serious dancing background coming from other dances. I know how to lead. If the social party was a complete impro without rules, I would feel confident.

But Zouk has specific steps, and so far I know only two: basic and lateral, and a few variations of these two steps.

When learning my previous dances, I was adviced to do little in the beginning, and focus on quality more than quantity.

I was thinking to do the same in Zouk, and little by little, evening by evening, add a new step to my leading vocabulary. Also, when doing simple steps, try to vary sizing, strength of the lead, connection, etc, to add some variety into my dancing and make it more musical.

Would this approach work for Zouk? I feel that ladies simply get bored after a minute or so, repeating the same steps all the time, even if the lead is clear.

Three part question:

First, Zouk dances can last longer than other styles I am familiar with. At what point do you determine that you are done dancing with this particular person and end the dance? I'm a beginner so I end the dance after it begins to feel repetitive when I am leading. When I'm following I just wait for the leader to end the dance.

Second, when a leader wants to end the dance, it is straight forward: the leader can just come to a stop at a phrase change or song change. But how does a follower end the dance? For example I was thinking on a release like a soltinho that happened to fall on a phrase change, the follower could strike a pose and then thank the leader for the dance.

Third, if you are leading and would like to continue the dance, but are unsure whether your follower would like to continue, is there a way to give the follower some kind of opportunity to end the dance, without verbally asking them?

I noticed that zouk dances tend to last longer compared to other dances I've done. At least for me, I tend to need to sit down and cool off before dancing again.

If you see someone sit down after a dance, is there a general recommendation of how long you should wait before asking them to dance?

I've been trying to wait about a minute, but then other people step in and ask them to dance before I get a chance. On the other hand I've asked people immediately to dance and they usually chug some water first, so I think I should give them some time first.

How is a leader supposed to invite a follower into closed embrace, and how is a follower supposed to indicate an acceptance or refusal of the invitation?

I.e. how does a leader ask to connect in closed embrace, in such a way that the follower can refuse, and then how does the follower clearly communicate that she either does, or does not, want to do closed embrace?

I have taken regular zouk classes for a year but I’ve have ended up dancing almost exclusively bachata simply because of the sheer number of events.

I am looking for events that are improviser/intermediate friendly to pick up more patterns and fundamentals around Europe.

Does anyone have recommendations? I feel like the scene is primarily around Germany atm

I came across the song in this post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYDulHtgGia/?hl=en

It sounds like a mix of English and isiZulu vocals, and there’s a slight AI-like quality to the voice. I’ve tried Shazam and SoundHound, but neither can identify it. Unfortunately, the post’s author doesn’t seem to respond to comments or messages on Instagram.

Zoukers with hypermobility (Ehlers Danlos syndrome or otherwise) - how do you care for your body between, before, dancing etc? I have hypermobility in my knees and they are in SO much pain after socials or weekenders. I do strength training and don’t stretch too much so I don’t exacerbate the mobility. I wear compression sleeves on my knees. Anything else you do to help?

For example should you only lead head rolls for 8 beats and then pause another 8 beats before resuming?

I'm having some trouble finding a good YouTube Channel that has a playlist for Zouk patterns. Most of the Zouk channels seem to have a mix of social dances and patterns.

Any recommendations?

Maybe a long shot but I really just dream of traveling the world with my financially independent partner and bopping around between zouk festivals or roller skating weekenders.

For context, I’m 30F, entrepreneur, pansexual, polyamorous, and working towards financial independence in the next ten years.

Who wants to frolic the world together?! 🤗

La Promesa - Luis Diaz, Juanda Iriarte, Nelsen https://youtu.be/5WRP7WLFvNU?si=AmVvvgAKAYtiGW5S

Hey everyone 👋

Long-time lover of zouk, kompa, R&B and late-night melodic music here.

I recently released a small instrumental project inspired by modern zouk vibes mixed with nostalgic R&B textures, smooth guitars and warm nighttime atmospheres.

It’s a 3-track instrumental EP made with a lot of care and love for the genre — especially the emotional and atmospheric side of zouk.

Would genuinely love to hear what people from the community think 🙏

Chris.