Why I love Brazilian Zouk
I recently got a dance video related challenge from a friend & student of mine. And I’m always up for a challenge!! But what would a blogger do - turn this into a blog post, obviously.
The challenge was: Why do you dance what you dance? Post your favorite video of your favorite dance(s).
A great challenge - and a tricky one!
So, why do I dance Brazilian zouk?
While many participating in this circulating challenge have been posting videos of dance shows, competition performances and demos that have inspired them to dance, for me, the ultimate reason I dance is not entirely in the dance itself. Yes I do love to experience different body movements. And I enjoy the feeling that comes with the connection, the ever changing dialogue and interplay between two dancers (or several dancers). But the ultimate reason why I dance is in the music.
I don’t like all music, but I do like many different types of music. Quite a few I even love. And some simply inject straight into my spinal fluid. Music can literally make me dance - I hear a certain song and it just happens; in the party I grab the first guy I see and I run to the dance floor; at home I can’t help but drop what I was doing and dance, bouncing between the furniture; in shopping mall I notice walking to the beat of the music and making little spins of joy.
Why I dance Brazilian zouk has the same answer for me; it was and still is ultimately the music that makes me dance. Of course, it’s not just the music - the music is “merely” the inspiration and zouk is my tool to use it, to fully live that inspiration. And zouk is the favorite tool in my big box of tools, the one I tend to use every chance I get.
Aside for the music, why do I dance Brazilian zouk? I love to dance it because 1) - and above all - I love to dance 2) I love to be creative and express the music - to "paint a picture of the music", 3) I love the different levels of partner connection that are possible in zouk and 4) I know by now that I can never get bored with zouk - I can never reach the "end" in zouk when "I know it all" and have nothing new to discover.
Out of all the dances I know, zouk is .....special. Zouk is such a dynamic and powerful dance. It has everything in between water & fire, sharp & soft, flying high in the clouds at zero gravity and being very grounded & present in the moment; feeling passion, love, drama but above all to me it is my compass to joy! I love being able to have it all, those magical dances that go through the whole spectrum. Those moments where I tap into the music, connect to another person, disconnect from this world, from one part of myself and reconnect to another part.
Why I love Brazilian zouk
To fill the dance video part of the challenge I will post here a few of them too!
Disclaimer - To pick ONE video that tells why I dance a particular dance is kind of absurd as there’s no one video that can encompass every detail of what I love about Brazilian zouk. Also, videos are not what inspire me to dance… It never happened to me (I know it has happened to some people) that I saw a video or a live zouk demo or a show, and then thought that I want to dance that dance. Yes, videos do give inspiration, ideas, work as a reference and help me remember things and I really do enjoy watching live & taped dancing of all kinds (frankly I willingly do spend a lot of time doing exactly that!). But I dance because I love to dance. Not because I saw something cool and I wanted to do the same.
So, it was quite tricky to choose a video.
For zouk, I choose one dance demo that encompasses many of the important aspects of zouk for me - a combination of softness & sharpness, continuous flow of movement and connection between partners, the flying feeling and (oh yes) the flying hair, refined technique & elegance, and pure joy. Also, another significance in this video is that this couple (already much before they performed this particular demo) defined to me, and for many others, what is spectacular about Brazilian zouk. Here are Gilson Damasco & Natasha Terekhina:
Another video I'd like to put here is one that I like to show to non-dancers, for many obvious reasons, when I talk about what is zouk and what makes it special. Here are Leo Gomes & Letícia Castro.
Mar 2, 2016
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/zouk-world-14028081/challenge-why-i-love-brazilian-zouk-4776554731
Русский
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