While I’m not a newbie to dancing in general, I am to Zouk…but I love it!
Ever since I saw Kadu & Larissa perform at the 2010 Sydney Salsa Congress, I’ve been taken by it’s beauty and sensuality - and despite other friends light-heartedly describing it as looking as though the female is stoned, I haven’t stopped watching that performance on you tube (see below) and have wanted to learn ever since.
Unfortunately Newcastle (where I live), doesn’t have any classes in Zouk, but as it happened a friend from here had done a few classes with “Step Up” in Sydney and so one weekend when we were heading down to “Noche de Fuego”, a Salsa party in Sydney, we went early so we could do a class. It was lots of fun and all 3 of us that went together said we were keen to learn more and perhaps even get a social night going in Newcastle if we could convince a few more people to learn.
That following week or the week after I got a message about a new 4-week beginners course starting (the class we dropped into was actually the next level up - and whilst I picked it up ok due to lots of other dance experience, I wanted to make sure I had the fundamentals right). As Sydney is about 2 hours away on a good run, a regular weekly class is often a little hard to commit to, especially on a weeknight (Monday night) as with a 7pm start there is not enough time to get there after work because the trip takes longer due to busier traffic. BUT…I thought that given it’s only a short course it was a bit easier to commit to, and decided to give it a go. I didn’t make the first class because there wasn’t enough time for me to arrange leaving work early, but I attended class last week, and again last night, and I really can’t wait to keep learning and getting to the point where I know enough to really get into it socially. (Once the beginners course is over I’ll go to the next level, but probably won’t make every week - but at least there is also a Saturday class, which means I can make a weekend or a day trip out of my Sydney visit, rather than a rushed trip.)
Now to the Kadu & Larissa video - I have watched this so many times & I don’t get sick of it!! I hope maybe to take a trip to Qld and do some classes with them either later this year or next year.
If you’re into Zouk, please share your thoughts, and if you’ve got any music suggestions, as I want to build my collection - I love the music.
Tags: brasilian dancing, brazilian dancing, partner dancing, Zouk, Zouk Dancing