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Get access to a comprehensive knowledge on how to teach and develop a Brazilian Zouk scene.


This training is about 30 hours long and designed for those who teach, lead a Brazilian Zouk dance community, or intend to build one.

Our intention is to help teachers and community leaders in their most challenging tasks by developing new teaching skills, learning about curriculum building, and working on their personal dance skills through drills, challenges, and exercises.


When you purchase access to this course you'll get access to the recordings and materials from our in-person course that we held between August 19th and 25th, 2022.

This comprehensive training encompasses the key elements we understand are important to those who teach or lead a Brazilian Zouk dance community, including:

- Brazilian Zouk dance and music history, and the influence of different key people to the dance and community

- Curriculum development and how to tailor it to specific circumstances

- Basic syllabi and teaching content progression

- How and when to use certain teaching styles and methodologies

- Developing and conducting efficient warm-ups that contribute to the progression of the class

- Tailoring dance demos to every occasion

- And more!

Create your own week of training

We divided this training into groups of knowledge including theory, dance practice, and teaching tools.

Our in-person training had 6 full days of learning broken down as shown in this schedule. You can progress through the material at your own pace.

Theory Lectures

The training starts with classes about aspects we find important for Brazilian Zouk instructors or community leaders.

These classes are in lecture style. They represent  rich topics that are always in motion, transforming and changing depending on different circumstances. 

We share our experiences so they can be inspiring to you.

Dance Content

This is most of our content and provides a great amount of knowledge and support to your teaching.

Our Basics classes cover technique for fundamental patterns that we consider important for students. We cover ways you can teach them, the main points to focus on, the different approaches taken by different instructors around the world, and the way we teach them at District Zouk.

Here's what each Basics class covers:

We progress from learning the fundamental movements and mechanics of Brazilian Zouk to talking about putting together a class. We include tips on how to present the content with exercises for your students. 

In a nutshell:

In our Dance Mechanics, Body Movements Foundations, and Basics classes, you'll learn WHAT and suggestions on HOW TO TEACH.

In our Curriculum classes, you'll study IN WHAT ORDER TO TEACH these fundamentals, taking into consideration different scenarios and circumstances.

In our Class Planning and Teaching Methods, you'll learn HOW TO PLAN AND STRUCTURE a class.

In our Class Exercises and Feedback session, you'll lean exercises to help your students learn the content and suggestions on how to conduct a class.

Teaching Tools

These classes cover elements to consider when building classes to improve students' experience and maximize their learning.

Most of the classes above are a mix of lectures and dancing together.

Who is this course for?

This course was designed to experienced dancers who already run and/or teach at local Brazilian Zouk scenes or intend to start teaching classes. 

Our goal is to provide these community leaders or soon-to-be community leaders with the tools we find important to thrive. 

This course is not intended for those who wish to learn Brazilian Zouk from scratch or learn more advanced material. It's truly about teaching, for those who want to teach and already have solid experience with Brazilian Zouk.

Price

There are two ways you can get access to the Professional Development Week Online. You can get a 1-year of access for $250.

Or you can become a District Zouk Online's Zouk-a-holic member

and get access to all of our online courses and get new content every month

Meet your instructors

This is the team that will be conducting the training.

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.

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.

Full Instructor Elena Rovito

Elena is a Brazilian zouk instructor, performer, and DJ, originally from California. She has a diverse background of many different arts and sports including gymnastics, parkour, ballet/jazz/modern/contemporary dance, and various partner dances. She began partner dancing in 2014, and has since competed at collegiate ballroom events, completed certifications in multiple dance courses, and taught classes all over North America - from San Francisco to Playa Del Carmen. Her preferred styles of dance are Brazilian zouk and bachata, but she also dances samba de gafieira, salsa, West Coast Swing, forró, while dabbling in many others. The nickname “Rhinestone” refers to her love for sparkly accessories, but also to her constant development of inner sparkle and inspiration. She is a passionate advocate for body positivity and acceptance, and she loves to incorporate this into her teaching so that people of all body types can learn to dance! She also blogs about body positivity, mental health, and personal growth (therhinestone.medium.com). In 2019, she visited DC for a weekend event and fell in love with the welcoming atmosphere and dedication of the local dancers. After a few years, she finally took the leap and moved cross-country to join the District Zouk core team! She is very excited about getting to learn alongside their phenomenal instructors and to help further grow the incredible community in DC.

Senior Instructor Ashley Kent

Ashley Kent has been dancing from an early age, including training in jazz, tap, ballet, modern, west African dance, salsa, kizomba, Brazilian zouk, and lambada. She got hooked on afro-latin partner dancing while living abroad in Ghana and Sudan. When she was introduced to Brazilian zouk in Washington DC in 2012, she fell in love with it. Ashley helped build the thriving Brazilian zouk community that exists in DC today, founding District Zouk in 2014 and offering consistent weekly classes since then. She has continued her own training via trips to Brazil, professional development programs, one-on-one training with some of the top international instructors, and cross-training in other dances. Seeing new people fall in love with Brazilian zouk and lambada and grow in their own dance journey keeps her energized. Ashley loves sharing her love for this dance, building community, encouraging people to learn both roles in partner dances, and creating explosive moments of musicality.