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This is the schedule of our second full 8-week cycle of 2022.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR NEW CURRICULUM BELOW.
LOCATION
All classes will be held at DanceSport Dupont Circle
2201 P St. NW (GPS 1520 22nd St. NW)
The Church of the Pilgrims Fellowship Hall
(Entrance from the south side via stairs going down)
Washington DC 20037
$180 for one course
- 5% discount if you enroll in two courses (applied automatically)
- 10% discount if you enroll in three courses (applied automatically)
- 30% discount if you retake a course you've taken before (with code RETAKE)
- If you have credits from previous classes, contact us for a code to use your credit to sign up.
For all of our events we will be following the same safety protocols laid out here:
Proof of vaccination required (must be two weeks from last shot, and include a booster shot). If you haven’t already verified your vaccination status at one of our events, we’ll ask you to show your vaccine card or a photo at your first class.
Hand sanitizer will be provided.
Short symptom survey prior to each class via Danceplace (show screenshot upon arrival).
Masks required.
Our curriculum is a breathing and ever-changing organism. After years of teaching continuous progressive classes, organizing socials, workshops, and observing social dance dynamics in our community, we adapt and adjust the ways, the speed, and the order in which we teach Brazilian Zouk fundamentals.
Our current curriculum is the result of one more improvement, aiming to provide the students with the tools to connect all the Brazilian Zouk pieces.
Our main goal at District Zouk is to provide the tools to help you become a comfortable and versatile social dancer. That includes the techniques behind creating a comfortable dance both as a leader and a follower; solid foundations; musicality; use of the space and floorcraft; social dance dynamics, etiquette, and safety.
We built our curriculum to develop your social dancing skills beyond the knowledge of the movements, providing time to dance and practice in class with the guidance of our instructors and assistants. The curriculum is also built to allow the students to receive personalized feedback from the instructors and assistants.
Our curriculum presents 24 fundamental patterns in Brazilian Zouk, along with their direction changes, lead/follow principles and other body movements. We divided this content into six progressive courses of 8 weeks each:
Basics 1, 2
Fundamentals 1 , 2a, 2b
Social Dancing Skills*
Each of these courses covers a set of fundamental patterns, floorcraft, body movements, musicality, lead and follow principles, plus social dance dynamics, etiquette, and safety. We’ve incorporated these other important elements into the curriculum to provide a complete learning experience.
Here is how it goes:
As seen in the picture above, one must:
- complete all Basics Courses in order to progress to the Fundamentals Courses; and
- complete all Fundamentals Courses in order to progress to the Social Dance Courses.
The progression between groups of courses is NOT automatic. Students will need the approval of the instructors through an assessment to be done in class or at specific scheduled dates.
The Fundamentals 2a and 2b courses can be taken on any order or at the same time, provided you've completed Fundamentals 1.
Each course is 8 weeks long, with one 1.5-hour class per week. Out of these 8 weeks, 6 are dedicated to teaching new content and 2 are dedicated to review, practice, feedback, and discussions about connection, music, social dance dynamics, etiquette, safety, and other exercises and challenges that will bring all the course’s content together.
Once you've completed Fundamentals 2a and 2b, you'll have learned the 24 fundamentals.
We strongly encourage you to take more than one course at the same time if that's possible for you. The different courses are progressive and complementary. So, for example, if you’re placed to do Fundamentals 1, you can reinforce your knowledge of any set of fundamentals by concurrently taking any of the previous Basics courses. If you take more than one course at a time, you’ll receive a discount on each course.
Fundamentals 2a and 2b can be taken at any order or at the same time. After you've completed Fundamentals 1, you can take Fundamentals 2a and/or Fundamentals 2b and boost your learning!
If you’re brand new to Brazilian Zouk, start at Basics 1.
If you have done some amount of Brazilian Zouk and know some of the Basics, join us at Basics 2.
If you've been dancing Brazilian Zouk already let us know so we can set up an individual assessment for you. With the assessment, we'll be able to verify what course(s) will work best for you.
At each course, we cover several aspects of Brazilian Zouk, focusing first on learning each of the main Fundamental Patterns
Here we start the Brazilian Zouk journey, teaching the first set of fundamentals with direction changes, basic musicality concepts, and body movements. In this level we will cover, among other topics, the following fundamentals:
Basic Steps (In Place, Side, and Linear)
Viradinha
Simple Turn
Lateral
Our second course teaches a new set of fundamentals, putting them together what was studied in Basics 1.
Lateral Opening
Traveling Turn
Yo-yo
Elástico
Cuddle
Here we teach the last set of core fundamentals of Brazilian Zouk and put everything together. Compared to Basics 1 and 2, Fundamentals 1 presents a more challenging content, with combinations that will make sure what you learned in Basics 1 and 2 is well absorbed.
Connection and lead and follow principles in Close and Open Embrace
Soltinho
Viradinha with direction changes
Bônus
Balanço
After Fundamentals 1, we will keep learning new fundamental patterns as well as study directions changes, and lead and follow principles that will help your social dancing evolve. We will have more time in class to practice and experience different possibilities and situations on the dance floor. For this course we will cover the following fundamentals:
Gostosinho
Yo-yo direction changes
Abertura
Raul
This is where we teach the last set of vertical fundamentals. We continue exploring the different dynamics in social dancing through our practices in class:
Avião
Manteiga
Cambre
Pião
After completing all Basics and Fundamentals courses and being approved in our assessment, you can join our Social Dancing Skills courses. Here we will put what you learned to the test with variations and fun changes to the fundamentals. On top of that, we will take a deeper dive into:
Variations of Fundamentals
Footwork and floorcraft
Frame and elasticity
Energy management in transitions
Lead and follow principle of question and answer
Adaptation
Body movements
*Social Dancing Skills is an ongoing course that is offered every cycle.
The content of each new cycle of Social Dancing Skills is different from the previous one, with different variations, concepts, and exercises.
There will be some repetition over the course of time, having in mind reviewing and polishing the fundamentals.
Brazilian Zouk is its current form is a mix of many dance styles, therefore it is important to cover those extra elements in journey to becoming your best! To have a great time when social dancing, the creation of good habits is essential. There aren't many opportunities or courses for us to work on solo techniques FOR partner dancing. Solo Training can be one of the best ways to improve your confidence and build up your stamina. This course for leaders and followers will include lots of practice with drills to help you improve your dance technique. This course os open to students who have completed DZ Basics 2 or a higher level course.
Weight Transfer, Footwork and Lower Body Mechanics
Drills for Balance and Turns
Posture and Body Awareness
Body Movements, Alignment and Styling
Hip Movement and Upper Body Torsion
Body and Footwork Flow and Fluidity