In-Depth Foundations and Fundamentals
Dive deep into the building blocks of Brazilian Zouk and study how to make your foundations and fundamentals solid and reliable.
If there is one thing that social dancing teaches us, it’s that “simple” is not “easy”.
Patterns and movements that we do often and without thinking can acquire such a beautiful complexity. A single step forward can be the subject of weeks, months or even years of study. In the study of Brazilian Zouk it’s no different, and this class will be the beginning of uncovering the beauty and enjoying the complexities together.
The foundations are the grounding of everything because they make up each component of the fundamentals. From the foundations of stepping, pivoting, and using torsion, we build our dance's fundamentals like Passo Básico, Viradinha and Lateral. Later in our dancing careers, we often experience hiccups or difficulties when learning variations. In most cases, that hiccup is simply caused by an overlooked foundation. Going back into the study of our foundations can help improve our head movement, for example, just by delving into footwork and how to step.
In this course with Gui Prada, Kelsey Rote and Hermela, we invite you to study the beautiful complexity of Brazilian Zouk foundations in a different way. We separate and deep dive into the foundations of Brazilian Zouk, try much of what they can offer, and then put them back together. As a wonderful plus, the amazing Kelsey Rote is our guest instructor and share with us some of the secrets behind how she builds her foundations.
Our goal is to show you the basic foundations of Brazilian Zouk and how most of the dance's fundamentals are built. You will learn how you can use the foundations to break, build back together and strengthen your fundamental movements.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
This course took place over the course of 8 weeks. There will be 6 hour long classes and 2 shorter pre-recorded ones. The first half of the course is with Gui & Kelsey, showcasing and experimenting with the foundations, and the second half, with Gui & Hermela, puts the fundamentals together.
Each week will focus on a new topic, building on the previous week progressively.
DO I NEED A PARTNER? IS THIS FOR LEADERS OR FOLLOWERS?
The majority of the course addresses topics that can be explored solo. Some of the content, however, will be better absorbed if you have a partner since you will be able to experience it better.
If you can have a partner for the course, you'll benefit from doing it together. If you don't have one, no problem at all. We've got you!
WHY SHOULD I JOIN?
If you want to enjoy your dance the same way you savor the simple complexity and richness of a nice cup of tea or coffee, you should join this course. If you want your dance to have the robust flavor and the silky, warm texture like that of a five-star noodle broth, look no further!
We have designed this course for those who have a passion for foundations and finding the beauty in a well-executed fundamental. Therefore, by joining this course you’ll see, try and feel how understanding the foundations better can create more conscious movement and improve your fundamentals, variations and advanced movements!
PRE-REQUISITES?
The only thing we ask for this class is knowledge of timing and the basic fundamentals, especially the Basic in place, Side Basic, Linear Basic, Lateral, Simple Turn, Lunge, and Traveling Turn.
The more you know and have experience with the dance, the more examples you will be able to draw on to apply the concepts you learn.
WHAT IS THE CURRICULUM?
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The 4 main foundations: Steps, Torsions, Pivots and Turns
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The concept of segmentation
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Segmentation applied to body movements
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Segmentation applied to head movements
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Stepping Fundamentals
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Torsion and Pivoting Fundamentals
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Turns Fundam
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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.
Guest Instructor Kelsey Rote
Kelsey started dancing tap, jazz, and ballet at the age of five, later adding lyrical, modern, and many others. She first tried partner dancing in college, and focused on Argentine Tango until graduation. She loved the feeling she found in Tango of gliding and flying seamlessly with another person, and would keep trying to find that same feeling in various partner dances later on. After returning from the Peace Corps, she started taking Salsa and Bachata classes, and fell in love with Brazilian Zouk from the first moment she saw it. She started taking classes as part of the first cohort of Zouk dancers in Seattle during the scene’s founding, and has been a passionate member of the Seattle Zouk scene ever since. She currently co-runs the Advanced Zouk Team at Salsa Con Todo in Seattle and travels and teaches with Gui, hoping to imbue others with the feelings of seamlessness, circularity, relaxation, and care she fell in love with.
Senior Assistant Hermela Alemayehu
Hermela started her partner dance journey in 2016 when she got some friends together to go out salsa dancing. She immediately caught the bug and before she knew it, she found herself learning salsa and bachata and dancing the nights away. Hermela later found Brazilian Zouk in 2017 and fell in love with the connection and fluidity of movement. She immersed herself fully in this style, learning from District Zouk and other local and international instructors. She has attended various festivals and participated in training courses. She is looking forward to sharing her passion and enthusiasm with others.