Have you wondered what Brazilian Zouk is, or seen it around and wanted to learn how to dance it?


This is your chance!


 Take your first steps in this amazing dance with our newcomer online course with Gui Prada and Krystal Williams on the fundamentals of Brazilian Zouk. 


This course is a combination of solo training and partnerwork, so if you don’t have a partner, no worries, we got you covered.


This course is a great option if:

  • you're new to Brazilian Zouk and want to learn it,

  • you’ve learned some Brazilian Zouk and would like to go back to the fundamentals to make them more solid,

  • you’d like to study the fundamentals to understand them more deeply, or

  • you just want to see how we at District Zouk teach Brazilian Zouk's fundamentals.

COMBINATION OF SOLO TRAINING AND PARTNERWORK? HOW DOES IT WORK?

This course is designed to give equal focus on both leaders and followers’ foot and body work by showing and executing movements separately before getting into partnerwork. Most of our classes were recorded live with Gui and Krystal where we learn the fundamentals of this amazing dance from the beginning. During most of the class time, we show and break down the steps for each role, executing them apart from each other so you can clearly see the mechanics of everything. We then get together as partners to talk about leading and following, connection principles, and show how the movements work together.

I DON’T HAVE A PARTNER. WILL I STILL BENEFIT?

Definitely. The way this course is structured allows for those who don’t have a partner to benefit as much as those who have a partner, since we'll spend most of the class on the solo execution of the fundamentals. 


We're excited to offer a partnerwork class for those who don’t have a partner. We're positive that if that is your case, you will benefit from it.

WHY SHOULD I JOIN?

Brazilian Zouk is a beautiful and fun partner dance that is growing in popularity around the world.  On top of that, it changes the lives of many of those who learn it. We're not exaggerating! Once you start, you’ll be introduced to a community of people from around the world that love this dance, plus you’ll have a great physical activity to practice.


This course will be a great opportunity to get to know Brazilian Zouk from the start with quality and care. In addition, this learning group will provide you with regular times to learn and ask questions of our instructors, additional opportunities to practice, and a community to share videos with and get feedback.


This is also a way you can support our instructors, some of whom teach dance as their full-time occupation, and they can support you during this time.

PREREQUISITES

We have no prerequisites for this course. You can join even if you consider that you have 2 left feet!

WHAT IS THE CURRICULUM?

This course will introduce you to the first fundamentals in Brazilian Zouk, including:

  • History of the Dance

  • Timing

  • Basics - in place, linear (Passo Básico) and side

  • Lunge (Preparation for Turns)

  • Simple Turn and Viradinha

  • Send Away

  • Lateral

  • Body Movements (Undulations)

  • Connection Principles

  • Lateral Opening and Traveling Turn

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THIS COURSE?

  • 6 hour long classes recorded live and 2 pre-follow along videos

  • Recap videos

  • Demonstration videos of the class topics

  • Stored content so videos can be accessed and reviewed later (up to 90 days for standalone purchases, or for the duration of your membership)

Purchase our new Brazilian Zouk - Level 1

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Instructors

Senior Instructor Gui Prada

Gui Prada started dancing in 2004 inspired by the movie "Shall We Dance?". He began to dive deep into dance in 2006 as a work-study trainee of the Jaime Arôxa Dance School in Rio de Janeiro. Jaime Arôxa, one of the creators of Brazilian Zouk, was the head instructor and was a mentor for the most accomplished dancers in Brazil. During his 6 years as a member of the school's team, he learned all Brazilian partner dances (Forró, Samba de Gafieira, Soltinho, Bolero and Zouk) as well as Argentine Tango. After he left the school, he continued dancing and learning from other remarkable instructors, including Fabiano Vivas, Kelly Reis, Érico Rodrigo, Guilherme Pimentel and many others. Since then he has focused his training and research on taking the best of each of these dances and applying it to the close embrace, with the purpose of conveying a sense of well-being and relaxation to dance partners. In 2016 he attended the first Zouk Retreat in Valencia, led by Xandy Liberato, Brenda Carvalho and Anderson Mendes. After that, his research on partner dancing took a new direction, as he continued working with Brenda and Anderson to seek for the application of the concepts explored at the retreat in different ways by using the references of the other Brazilian partner dances and Argentinian Tango. As a result, the importance of the basic steps and concepts became evident, since it is through them that all dances reach another level. Gui is looking forward to sharing his technique and training with students here in Washington DC to help them improve their basics, comfort and confidence on the dance floor.

Junior Assistant Krystal Williams

Krystal started social dancing consistently after a summer salsa immersion program in the summer of 2012 allowed her to experience some of the beautiful things that being a part of a caring dance community can add to your life. Although she’d taken partner dance classes before, the friendships formed from that program were what led her to get more involved. They introduced her to bachata with Ferocity Dance Company in 2014, another nurturing dance community, and then to Brazilian zouk with District Zouk in 2015. Krystal joined the District Zouk performance team in 2016 and has been learning and growing under the tutelage of District Zouk ever since. Krystal is a dedicated learner who consistently pursues opportunities to learn from both local instructors and instructors from all over the globe. She joined the District Zouk teacher training program in August of 2018 and has been working hard to become a capable facilitator of the District Zouk methodology ever since. Krystal understands the power of a welcoming dance community and seeks to help contribute to cultivating and preserving that experience for future dancers. She also understands some of the hurdles quiet bookish people may face when trying to become a part of a dance community and hopes to encourage both herself and others to get out of their heads and comfort zones and express and connect with others on the dance floor.