Zouk-Lambada


Traditional Brazilian Zouk

Traditional zouk style was first developed in Ilha Dos Pescadores in Rio de Janeiro around the mid 90's when Lambada songs stopped being composed. It was developed and first taught by Adilio Porto and Renata Peçanha in Brazil's dance school for Brazilian couple dances of Jaime Arôxa. The characteristic steps influencing that were created are the basic step going front and back (from Samba de Gafieira), the opening and lateral step (from Bolero), elastic and bonus (also called boomerang in Europe).


Documentary film about Brazilian Zouk "My life is a #zoukdance", official trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdvYeG1PEa4

Lambazouk

Lambazouk, also called the Porto Seguro-style, is often thought of as the evolution of original lambada, although in its current iteration it has divulged far from original Lambada. This dance is characterized by high energy (energia) and feel good attitude (alegria). Although it is a fast and energetic dance, it flows smoothly and the moves are continuous and rhythmic, and dancers follow circular (and to a lesser extent slot-style) movements as they relate to each other. One way in which the present lambazouk differs from the original kaoma-like lambada style, is that they have removed wiggling shoulder movements (also sometimes seen in Cuban-style salsa). Instead the shoulders are kept fixed while the hips move (swing) to create a sensual effect. A number of movements have been added to the modern version of this dance mainly created by Braz dos Santos and Didi Santos of Brazil.

Lambazouk is characterized by the following movements:

The original Porto Seguro style is also unique in the way steps are performed to music (in this sense it is closer to Lambada). Here, the steps are performed with equal emphasis (same amount of travel) on strong beat and the two beats that follow (including the pause after the strong beat). This is done specifically to facilitate musicality by matching sharp movements (chicote and cambre) with the strong beat. When danced this way dancers fluently incorporate sharp movements to accentuate strong beat without stopping the dance (pausing to catch up). Even though this timing is popular in lambazouk it is by no means exclusive. Many lambazouk dancers also dance by taking longer step (or turning the follower) on the dominant beat. It is also a common practice to switch between the two timings within the same song (by doing multiple contra-tempo turns for the follower). In lambazouk style (as explained earlier) a popular way is to step equally (length-wise) on strong beat and following two beats. This creates continuous movements.

Lambazouk is mainly danced in Porto Seguro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Argentina, Spain, UK, Israel, the west coast of the US, Japan & recently also in Malaysia. .

List of Zouk dance congresses

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See also

References

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