Learn Brazilian Zouk's fundamentals and social dance skills to join a growing local and international community of dancers. This 8-week course with Raven Benko & Brenda Zetino will cover the most essential techniques and patterns. By learning with the same group each week you'll be able to build a good foundation.
Our courses are structured to provide time for you to practice during and after 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.
SCHEDULE
Mondays
June 9 - July 28
8:15-9:30pm Class
9:30-11:00pm Practica
PREREQUISITES
- No partner required for any of the courses. You sign up as a lead or a follow.
- No experience required.
- If you're new to Brazilian zouk, we encourage you to sign up for our Welcome to Brazilian Zouk class too, which is Mondays from 7:15-8:15pm.
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
- $180 for the 8-week Basics 1 series
- $70 for 4 weeks of Welcome to Brazilian Zouk or $130 for 8 weeks
- 10% discount to take two classes at once
- Additional discounts available for college students. Contact us for details.
- Get your tickets at:
https://www.danceplace.com/ticket/buy/15321
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.
Emilia Ferme Giralt has over 20 years of dance experience and is focused on creating joyful, flowy, musical movement. She started her dance journey at age 5 with the Arc Ballet Dance Academy of Chicago where she learned ballet, hip-hop, modern, flamenco, pointe, and character dance. During her teen years, the academy closed and she enjoyed social dancing, primarily bachata, with her family and friends. In 2019, she fell in love with Brazilian Zouk and started taking weekly classes at the Zouk Dance Club in Ann Arbor, MI. By 2020, she became a local Brazilian zouk organizer and by 2021 she was the president of the club and teaching Brazilian zouk classes. In September of 2023, Emilia moved to the DMV where she started taking classes at District Zouk and became part of the core team in March of 2024. At District Zouk, you will typically find her assisting in introductory-level series or laughing on the dance floor.
You may also like the following events from District Zouk:
- This Wednesday, 18th June, 06:00 pm, Zouk Flow in Washington
- This Friday, 20th June, 09:30 pm, Brazilian Zouk Social w/ Gui, DJ Afrodeshiak & DJ Chapibol in Washington
- This August, 4th August, 12:30 pm, Lambada Intensive & Weekender in DC in Washington
Also check out other
Workshops in Washington,
Entertainment events in Washington,
Dance events in Washington.
