Guarantee a spot in our progressive courses.
Please make sure to get instructors’ approval for Fundamentals 1, 2b, Social Dance Skills, and Head Movements 1, before getting your ticket.
Our current cycle started on July 12th.
Let us know if you're interested in joining!
This is the schedule of our third full 8-week cycle of 2022.
*Basics 1 will be starting at a later date, on July 26th, and finishing on September 13th.
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
New to Brazilian Zouk?
Join our Basics 1 course and start your learning journey with us.
Click on the cover to get your tickets!
Our Basics 1 course covers the first steps in Brazilian Zouk. You’ll learn about timing and the first set of fundamental patterns that you help you get on the dance floor with confidence.
Scroll down and learn more about it.
Registration
$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.
Safety Protocols
For all of our events we will be following the same safety protocols laid out here:
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Proof of vaccination required (must be two weeks from last 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.
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Hand sanitizer will be provided.
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Masks required.
Learn more about our new curriculum!
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.
The premise of our curriculum
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.
How does the progression work?
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*
Head Movements 1
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.
*Social Dance Skills is an ongoing course with rotating topics at each new cycle.
** Although in order to do the Head Movement courses you have to complete a Social Dance Skills course and be approved by the instructors, being in the Head Movement courses DON'T mean that Social Dance Skills are at a level below.
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.
- complete at least one Social Dance Skills course in order to progress to Head Movements.
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 on specific scheduled dates.
For the Head Movements Courses, the assessment is mandatory. Assessment will only be waived in case ALL instructors are in agreement that the student is ready for the course. Read more about it and on its prerequisites below.
The Fundamentals 2a and 2b courses can be taken in any order or at the same time, provided you've completed Fundamentals 1.
How is each course structured?
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.
Can I do two or more courses at the same time?
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!
How do I know what course to take?
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.
Check out the main topics of each progressive course
At each course, we cover several aspects of Brazilian Zouk, focusing first on learning each of the main Fundamental Patterns
Basics 1
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:
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Basic Steps (In Place, Side, and Linear)
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Viradinha
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Simple Turn
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Lateral
Basics 2
Our second course teaches a new set of fundamentals, putting them together what was studied in Basics 1.
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Lateral Opening
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Traveling Turn
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Yo-yo
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Elástico
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Cuddle
Fundamentals 1
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.
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Connection and lead and follow principles in Close and Open Embrace
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Soltinho
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Viradinha with direction changes
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Bônus
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Balanço
Fundamentals 2a
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:
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Gostosinho
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Yo-yo direction changes
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Abertura
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Raul
Fundamentals 2b
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:
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Avião
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Manteiga
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Cambre
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Pião
Social Dancing Skills*
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:
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Variations of Fundamentals
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Footwork and floorcraft
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Frame and elasticity
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Energy management in transitions
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Lead and follow principle of question and answer
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Adaptation
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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.
Head Movements 1
Learn the foundations of Head Movements and its classic patterns. This course is for students who can smoothly execute the basics. We'll go over the lead and follow techniques of Brazilian zouk head movement and then add it to some of our basics with the most classic patterns. Read more about it below.
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In-depth review of the basics
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Balão Apagado
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Traveling Basics off Axis
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Frango Assado
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Chicote
The Head Movements 1 course doesn't focus solely on head movements.
In this course, leaders and followers are going to learn the tools and techniques behind leading and following comfortable head movements.
Our priority is safety and comfort, and with that in mind, we'll first make sure that the basic fundamental patterns are solid in all of the students. Therefore, in order to join the course, the student MUST KNOW AND EXECUTE WITH EASE, at least:
- Basic on the spot and Pião
- Linear Basic and its direction changes
- Viradinha - from Linear Basic, from Basic on the Spot, and from Pião
- Balanço
- Simple Turn
- Body Movements - Sways and Raul
In case any of the above fundamentals and transitions are not executed with ease, meaning without struggles and hiccups, the student will not be able to attend the Head Movements 1 course.