District Zouk

We're very excited to announce our new District Zouk Advanced Training Team with Gui & Sarah

The name 'Advanced Training Team' is not taken lightly. Becoming a truly advanced dancer requires a different kind of dedication and intentional practice that goes far beyond learning new and complex moves. 

Truly advanced dancers are masters of foundations and can bend the basics to their will. They have a deep understanding of the lead and follow principles, can adapt to most partners at a wide range of levels, and dance to all music styles with proficiency and expression.

For us, the advanced dancer doesn't only train moves. They practice nuance, challenge themselves to find more about their range, and tirelessly work on the quality of their movements.

Our goal for this new team is to train members to acquire a master-like fluency in the elements that create Brazilian Zouk. We'll break everything apart and put them together again following the timeless principles of flow, comfort, and play. 

We’ll bring the complexity of higher-level techniques, musicality, floorcraft, and adaptability, allowing us to become complete, versatile, and hopefully truly advanced dancers. Brazilian Zouk is a dance that incorporates a variety of elements and engages all parts of the body, and we wanna be able to do it all!

TRAINING BASIC STRUCTURE?

This team is for those who are passionate and serious about their learning. 

Our classes will be 100 minutes long every week and will be divided in: Solo Training, Calibration Exercises by working on Foundations, Partner Work, and Challenges. Each section entails:

• Solo Training - Warm-up to music with several elements of footwork, body and head movements, with drills incorporating the subject of our partner work;

• Calibration Exercises - here we get to exercise the essential solo and partnerwork foundations and principles of Brazilian Zouk, attuning our bodies for the topics to be approached through the weeks;

• Partner work - here we bring the topic of that day’s training, which can be anything from a concept to a combination. Our goal is to alternate vertical movements and principles (no head movements) with off-axis movements and principles (with head movement);

• Challenge - we’ll end with a challenge to push you to figure out how to apply what we worked on in that training in other ways. 

WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT OUR TRAINING?

Our content will be delivered progressively, with the pace adjusted to the group's learning needs. That means we'll start from the base and progress through it together. The quicker the group absorbs each topic, the more we’ll introduce new elements.

Our first two training sessions, we’ll verify as a group where we are in our understanding of the dance. At a base level, that includes:

Vertical 

• Direction changes:    

  • Linear Basic 

  • Opening and closing of the Viradinha

  • Lateral (forwards and backward)

• Viradinha Variations:

  • Forwards and backwards

  • Traveling (3 Variations)

  • Crossing sides

  • 'Troca de Perna' 

• The Tracks:

  • Basic Tracks Principles: Open Position and Open Embrace, Walk Arounds (Yo-yos, Cuddles), Crossings, Elásticos, and Bônus (hand changes and transitions)

  • Turns into pivots/lateral

  • Round Elásticos

  • Pivots changing direction (Yo-yo and Cuddle)

• Soltinhos (3 Variations and the opposite side)

• Openings (Abertura and Lunge)

• 'S' and Lateral Openings

• Pião

• Basic rhythm variations (Timing, Half and Double Timing, Even Timings)

And, of course combining everything solo and with a partner.

Off-Axis

• Side to side and front and back head movements

• Circular Head Movements (Balão Apagado - head and body rotating to the same direction)

• Frango Assado (head and body rotating to opposite directions)

• Transitioning between Balão Apagado and Frango Assado

From there, we’ll move forward into exploring the different ways to layer these techniques for comfortable and fun social dances.

WHO IS THIS TRAINING FOR

This team is aimed at dancers who:

• LOVE to social dance and are looking for a way to take it to the next level;

• Have a desire to improve their skills through continuous learning, feedback, corrections and A LOT of repetition;

• Will prioritize everyone’s growth as high as their own;

• Values trust, understanding, connection, quality of movement, safety, and inclusivity;

• Has the discipline to continuously invest time outside of the weekly training sessions for additional practice sessions, as well as, dedicated training in strength, endurance, control, flexibility, and cross-training;

PREREQUISITES

The Advanced Training Team is designed for those with a deep understanding and experience of Brazilian Zouk's foundations and basics. Therefore, to take part in the team, students need to:

• Have NO ISSUES WITH TIMING AND BASIC TRANSITIONS - staying comfortably on the rhythm and keep it during transitions between basic steps,

• know all the basics/fundamental patterns and execute them effortlessly,

• be able to connect the basics/fundamental patterns with ease,

• know basic direction changes: in the Linear Basic (90 and 180 degrees), in Viradinha (90 and 180 degrees), and Lateral (90 and 270 degrees),

AUDITIONS 

Auditions will take place on June 4th, from 8:45 to 10:15 pm at DanceSport Dupont Circle.

Auditions will be in workshop format, starting with a warm-up, then moving into partnerwork. We'll be doing a sequence of movements designed to verify if most of the prerequisites laid out above are met.

MAXIMUM CAPACITY

6 followers and 6 leaders

DAY AND TIME

Weekly Training: 

Wednesdays from 8:50 - 10:30 pm at DanceSport Dupont Circle

June 11th until September 17th with a break on August 6