Progressive Zouk Classes

Learn Brazilian Zouk's fundamentals and social dance skills to join a growing local and international community of dancers. Each 8-week course will cover a series of techniques and patterns, as well as body movements, musicality, floorcraft, connection and more.

These courses are structured to provide time for you to practice in class. Our instructors and assistants will help you by giving you specific feedback. That way you'll be ready to go to the parties and just enjoy it!

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 practice in class with the help of our instructors and assistants.

HOW DOES IT 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 progressive courses of 8 weeks each:
- Basics 1, 2
- Fundamentals 1, 2A, 2B

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. After these courses, students progress to:
- Body Awareness & Connection
- Head Movement 1, 2
- Study Group

This cycle, we're offering some special courses to serve the needs and interests of our students. These include:
- Solo Technique & Drills (for leaders and followers)
- Head Movement Conditioning (solo training for leaders and followers)
- Fundamentals X (variations on Fundamentals for students who have completed Fundamentals 1 or above)
- Lambada 1 (foundations of lambada for students who have completed Fundamentals 1 or above)
- Head Movement & Footwork Flow (for students who have completed at least one of our head movement courses)


HOW ARE THE COURSES STRUCTURED?
Each course is 8 weeks long (with the exception of some Wednesday courses). Out of these 8 weeks, 6 are dedicated to teaching new content and 2 are dedicated to 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. For additional details on each course, see: https://www.districtzouk.com/pages/progressive-classes-for-brazilian-zouk

SCHEDULE

August 19 - October 9

Mondays - 4 -week series
From Aug 19 - Sep 9
- Solo Technique & Drills w/ Gui- 7:15-8:15pm
From Sep 16 - Oct 7
- Head Movement Conditioning w/ Raven - 7:15-8:15pm

Mondays - 8 -week series
- Study Group w/ Gui & Raven - 8:15 - 9:30pm

Tuesdays - 8-week series
- Basics 1 w/ Jamiel & Hermela - 7:15 - 8:40pm
- Basics 2 w/ Gui, Jamiel & Brenda - 8:50 - 10:15pm
- Fundamentals X w/ Gui, Ashley & Sarah - 7:15 - 8:40pm
- Lambada 1 w/ Ashley, Kuna & Comfort - 8:50 - 10:15pm

Wednesdays - 7- or 8-week series
- Partner Choreo Team w/ Elena & Krystal - 7:00 - 8:40pm (ends on October 2)
- Head Movement & Footwork Flow w/ Gui & Raven - 7:15 - 8:40pm
- Head Movements 1 - 8:50 - 10:15pm
- Fundamentals X - 8:50 - 10:15pm ***NEWLY ADDED***


PREREQUISITES
- No partner required for any of the courses. You sign up as a lead or a follow.
- No experience required for Basics 1.
- For Fundamentals courses and above, we ask that you do an assessment with one of our instructors to get feedback on which level would be best for you. We're offering assessments on August 5 & 13.

LOCATION
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

REGISTRATION
- $190 for 8-week partner courses
- $70 for 4-week courses on Mondays
- $200 for partner choreo team
- 5% discount for two courses, or 10% discount for three courses
- 30% discount if you retake a course you've taken before
- Discounts for college students and District Zouk team members. Contact us for details.
- Get your tickets at: https://www.danceplace.com/ticket/buy/13816

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

Gui Prada started dancing in 2004 inspired by the movie "Shall We Dance?". He began to dive deep into dance in 2006 as a work-study trainee of the Jaime Arôxa Dance School in Rio de Janeiro. Jaime Arôxa, one of the creators of Brazilian Zouk, was the head instructor and was a mentor for the most accomplished dancers in Brazil. During his 6 years as a member of the school's team, he learned all Brazilian partner dances (Forró, Samba de Gafieira, Soltinho, Bolero and Zouk) as well as Argentine Tango. After he left the school, he continued dancing and learning from other remarkable instructors, including Fabiano Vivas, Kelly Reis, Érico Rodrigo, Guilherme Pimentel and many others. Since then he has focused his training and research on taking the best of each of these dances and applying it to the close embrace, with the purpose of conveying a sense of well-being and relaxation to dance partners. In 2016 he attended the first Zouk Retreat in Valencia, led by Xandy Liberato, Brenda Carvalho and Anderson Mendes. After that, his research on partner dancing took a new direction, as he continued working with Brenda and Anderson to seek for the application of the concepts explored at the retreat in different ways by using the references of the other Brazilian partner dances and Argentinian Tango. As a result, the importance of the basic steps and concepts became evident, since it is through them that all dances reach another level. Gui is looking forward to sharing his technique and training with students here in Washington DC to help them improve their basics, comfort and confidence on the dance floor.

Raven (She/her) began her dance journey 13 years ago in Latin Ballroom dances in Boulder, CO. She discovered the joy of Brazilian Zouk in 2015 and began teaching in Seattle at Salsa Con Todo Dance Academy in 2017. After placing first in the Zouk US Open in 2018, she taught with District Zouk in DC for a year and helped establish their first Safe Spaces committee. Raven focuses on connection and enjoyment of zouk for social dancing; working to build bodily awareness and empathy grounded in a careful exploration of foundational Zouk technique with her students. She also pulls from her training in yoga to incorporate healthy alignment, muscle control, and personal safety into her teaching.

Elena is a Brazilian zouk instructor, performer, and DJ, originally from California. She has a diverse background of many different arts and sports including gymnastics, parkour, ballet/jazz/modern/contemporary dance, and various partner dances. She began partner dancing in 2014, and has since competed at collegiate ballroom events, completed certifications in multiple dance courses, and taught classes all over North America - from San Francisco to Playa Del Carmen. Her preferred styles of dance are Brazilian zouk and bachata, but she also dances samba de gafieira, salsa, West Coast Swing, forró, while dabbling in many others. The nickname “Rhinestone” refers to her love for sparkly accessories, but also to her constant development of inner sparkle and inspiration. She is a passionate advocate for body positivity and acceptance, and she loves to incorporate this into her teaching so that people of all body types can learn to dance! She also blogs about body positivity, mental health, and personal growth (therhinestone.medium.com). In 2019, she visited DC for a weekend event and fell in love with the welcoming atmosphere and dedication of the local dancers. After a few years, she finally took the leap and moved cross-country to join the District Zouk core team! She is very excited about getting to learn alongside their phenomenal instructors and to help further grow the incredible community in DC.

Jamiel Roberson trained as a martial artist since the age of 3, competing, teaching and honing his movement technique. He has always been a lover of music and dance, so when he was shown the beauty, fluidity, and techniques of Brazilian zouk he couldn’t resist. The first time he ever competed in a Jack and Jill, he won first place, and it was the largest Novice division in North America. Now after 4 years and many hours of training under District Zouk, taking private lessons with some of the best international instructors, and participating in and dancing at congresses throughout the US and Canada, he's looking forward to helping spread the passion and knowledge he has for this amazing art form that is dance.

Hermela started her partner dance journey in 2016 when she got some friends together to go out salsa dancing. She immediately caught the bug and before she knew it, she found herself learning salsa and bachata and dancing the nights away. Hermela later found Brazilian Zouk in 2017 and fell in love with the connection and fluidity of movement. She immersed herself fully in this style, learning from District Zouk and other local and international instructors. She has attended various festivals and participated in training courses. She is looking forward to sharing her passion and enthusiasm with others.