The Beauty of Brazilian Zouk's Movements - Gui & Kelsey

Very early on in my dancing life, I have disregarded the way a dance looks. How it feels was the important thing that I cared about. However, there was a joy in creating shapes. At least in my own body, I could feel a sense of accomplishment whenever the shape I had in mind became reality through mine and my partner's body. It is hard to explain, but it is as if the movement became more movement when, for example, the line in my head came to reality through the linearity of my movement. I guess the endorphins would hit and make me feel like the archetype of the character of the dance I was embodying.

When I saw Brazilian Zouk for the first time, my eyes were mesmerized by the circles it created. The impulses, turns, the head movements, the traveling, all describing circles with body, head, and hair. It was almost like a rule to do the basics in place turning on the spot and going from there to something else. Years passed and the dance became a bit more square and linear. It acquired a new quality of movement, more controlled, clean and aesthetically pleasing. The circles, however, are still there, securely preserved in the embrace, head movements, body movements, counterbalance and honestly almost anything else we want. I can say that I feel the Zouky forces taking over my body every time my partner and I describe a circle on the dance floor. It feels exhilarating, dynamic, fun and flowy. The flow we all talk about, I can feel it so much within this shape and exploring it is one of the things I like the most to do.

When I danced with Kelsey for the first time, I was mesmerized by how her movements seek the circles almost instinctively. The head movements carefully draw a circle in space, helping in the creation of an ongoing state of flow to the movement that makes everything feels so easy. At the retreat center near Seattle earlier this year, while we were prepping for another video, Brenda had this idea of filming our dance from the balcony, from above. Kuna held the camera with the most difficulty and we had very little space to move and stay in the frame. So, we danced to another classical music and after watching the result we were all mesmerized by the beauty of it. We can see the circles happening almost all the time, along with the extensions, impulses, the mess-ups, everything became so interesting from above and I would like to share that with you all.