Technique & Drills: Continuous Practice for Turns, Torsion, and Musicality
Brazilian Zouk continues to evolve, and every year we're excited to bring you the latest and best ways to practice with drills to make your dancing even better and yummier!
Welcome to our first 8-week long online course for technique & drills with Alisson and Vanessa. Here we combine some of the most important Techniques & Drills that are the foundation to build a confident, comfortable, and fun Brazilian Zouk dancer.
Brazilian Zouk continues to evolve and every year we're excited to bring you the latest and best ways to practice to make our dancing even better. In this course, we explore and drill topics that make your balance more consistent, your footwork more solid, your posture more graceful, and your moves more fluid and flowy. Topics include: Weight Transfers, Torsion, Balance, Unlocking/Melting, Undulations & Isolations, Axis, and much more. These techniques are underrated but highly appreciated when invisibly present in the yummiest of the dancers around.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
This course was designed to be taught over the course of 8 weeks. You will have 6 hour-long classes that were recorded live and 2 pre-recorded classes. Classes are structured with a mix of breakdowns, moments to follow along, feedback, and a lot of practice.
Every week we focus on a different aspect of the dance with exercises you can do in the comfort of your home, with or without a partner. Some of the classes will build on each other while other classes can stand alone. It'll be important to keep consistent with your learning, and when possible review and practice the material before moving to the next week and principle.
For this course, it'll be important that you stay consistent with your learning if possible, and review and practice each week before moving along to the next.
This course will explore the small details of these techniques and how you can connect with your own body to perform them with ease and confidence.
IS THIS A SOLO OR A PARTNER COURSE? FOR LEADERS OR FOLLOWERS?
This is a solo class intended for anyone interested in learning more about the dance, regardless of roles when dancing.
The most comfortable and confident dancers are those who have learnt and experienced all sides of the dance. Here at District Zouk we highly recommend every dancer to learn them all!
WHY SHOULD I JOIN?
Brazilian Zouk is a beautiful dance that carries influences from many solo and partnered styles. In order to move safely, comfortably and with confidence, it's important to make sure you have a good foundation so you can build on top of it when it's time to explore more advanced techniques.
When dancing, the more you know, the more doors you can open, for both leaders and followers. There's a world of knowledge to be explored, especially in partnered dancing due to the connection that both bodies need to create together. The more you know, the more you can explore and dance all night.
When joining this course, you'll be part of a group of students who are eager to practice, ask questions and share their own experience. Although this is a recorded course, you can still send us questions. We want to make sure we're always interacting and giving feedback, because… well, nobody likes to practice without feedback and knowing that they're on the right track!
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
This course is for those who have already started their journey in Brazilian Zouk and are at a comfortable level with the very essential basics, with at least 3 consistent months of classes.
WHAT IS THE CURRICULUM?
During our 8 weeks together, we'll cover the following topics:
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Weight Transfer/Walking
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Unlocking
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Torsions
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Turns in Place
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Travelling Turn
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Body Movement
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Timing and Rhythm
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Musicality & Styles
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Instructors
Senior Instructor Alisson Sandi
Alisson Sandi began his dance career at the age of 15 in São Paulo, Brazil, where he was born. Over the years he trained in Brazilian, Latin and International Ballroom dancing with Jaime Arôxa, Renata Peçanha, Alex de Carvalho, Rodrigo Delano, and others. In 2007, he joined the Juan Rando Dance Academy (JRDA) in Perth, Australia, and stayed in Australia through 2019 teaching in multiple cities and around the world. Alisson has held performances and workshops in over 41 countries, and holds titles including 2x Pro World Champion, 3x Australian Pro Champion, and Winner/Finalist of various BZDC All Stars/Champions Jack and Jill Comps. He is one of the the founders and the first choreographers of the International Zouk Flash Mob. He has also been an official judge for the Brazilian Zouk Dance Council since its first competition event. Alisson has a passion for teaching and is known for his attention to detail and effective instruction in dance techniques. Recently Alisson completed the 50-hour lambada certification course with Master Braz, and is looking forward to practicing and teaching more lambada and sharing it with the dancers and community here and in Washington, DC.
Junior Instructor Vanessa Scott
Vanessa Scott found zouk in New Zealand and was drawn to its music, fluidity and circular movement. When she lived in the midwest US, she persuaded a ballroom teacher to split the cost of some instructional DVDs and learn Zouk from scratch together. In 2016, Vanessa moved to the DMV area and has been zouking as much as possible ever since. She joined the District Zouk dance team and performed with them for three years, and began teaching with District Zouk at the end of 2016. In 2017, she went to the first ever 30-day Rio Zouk Immersion Course in Brazil where she studied with top Brazilian instructors Jaime Aroxa, Renata Pecanha, Brenda Carvalho and Anderson Mendes da Rocha. Working closely with them in such an intimate setting allowed her to see the depth and different philosophies of this dance. She continued learning from some of the top international instructors, including a 40-hour one-on-one training with Xandy Liberato in Spain and a 19 hour training with William and Paloma in Singapore. In 2018, she formed her own Ladies Performance Team with District Zouk and she continued as the director and sometimes as the choreographer. In summer 2019, the District Zouk Ladies team won first place at the National Team Zouk N Play Competition under Vanessa’s direction. Vanessa has been teaching, traveling the world, and soaking up different flavors of Zouk, and is excited to share her passion and knowledge with others.