Zouk Classes

We are excited to offer a November beginner zouk series taught by Peri Oxford. Classes will cover fundamental patterns of Brazilian zouk like basico, lateral, viradinha, simple turn, soltinho and io-io. This series is appropriate for total beginners to start their zouk journey off with a solid foundation or anyone looking to refine their basics and increase dance floor proficiency.

Tuesdays Nov 4, 11, 18 & 25 from 7-8pm at The Ox - private home.

Peri started dancing 24 years ago and hasn't stopped since. She has studied over 30 styles of dance, from ballet to ballroom to Latin and now—her current focus—Brazilian zouk and lambada. She enjoys social dancing as well as teaching, performing, and competing. She has been the owner and director Charlottesville Zouk since 2021 where she teaches Brazilian zouk and lambada weekly and organizes community events.

$75 for the 4-week series (a limited number of discounted earlybird enrollments are offered at $65). Fee includes admission for DJ'ed weekly Kizzouk practice social (a $24 value) immediately following class 8-10pm. We encourage all students to plan to attend the social to practice what you are learning and build muscle memory and confidence - competence comes from training and repetition, confidence comes from competence!

All students are required to join the DE WhatsApp Hub - if you are new to our community you will be emailed a link to join after enrolling in the series and then added to the chat for your class to receive updates from the organizer and your instructor. The address for classes will be shared there.

This series is lead/follow role balanced and subject to class-size minimum. If a class does not reach its minimum enrollment number, classes will be cancelled and refunds issued. No refunds will be given for any other reason.

A note on roles: Lead/Leader role generally initiates and guides movement in the dance; whereas Follow/Follower role generally interprets and executes movements signaled/initiated by the Lead. Lead and Follow roles can be danced by any and all genders and this fluidity is particularly common in Brazilian Zouk.

This 3rd edition of Zouk Night (and weekend) School gives you the extraordinary opportunity to train 4 consecutive days in Sept, 8 hours total, with master instructor Gui Prada.

Night School runs Thursday - Sunday September 10-13. All classes held at The House dance studio at 900 Catherine Street Richmond, VA. Series pass also includes entry to The Vibe Train social on Sept 12 7-11pm at The Dance Space.

Class passes start at $225, with a limited quantity of discounted lead+follow couple passes available. Prices increase Sept 1.

Over four progressive sessions, immerse yourself into the world of the "Gui Effect" - learn the secrets to smooth and comfy continuous movement that creates the conditions for entering flow state. Work on improving your dance in close embrace and on effortless travel with and without head movement.

This is Level 2+ training for advanced beginner, intermediate and advanced dancers who have completed at least 6 months of progressive classes and have achieved competency in zouk fundamental patterns. If you aren't sure if you are ready for this series, ask us! Students who participated in the 1st or 2nd editions of Zouk Night School are pre-cleared for enrollment.

All students are required to join the DE WhatsApp Hub - if you are new to our community, you will receive a link to join via email after enrolling in the series and then added to the chat for your class to receive updates from the organizer and instructors. For the safety of our community, you must have your name associated with your number in the Hub.

This series is lead/follow role balanced and subject to class-size minimum. If we do not reach a minimum of 14 students enrolled by Sept 1, the series may be cancelled and refunds will be issued. No refunds will be given for any other reason.

Meet your instructor:

Inspired by the movie "Shall We Dance?", Gui Prada started dancing in 2004. But it was only in 2006 that he began to dive deep into partner dance as a work-study trainee at the Jaime Aroxa Dance School in Rio de Janeiro, one of the most prestigious dance schools 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) and Argentine Tango. As he matured more as a dancer, he found he preferred to focus less on the steps and more on turning partner dancing into a relaxing experience for the mind and body.

In 2009, on his first visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was introduced to the authentic tango hug - the close embrace - and all of its complexity and power to create the ultimate feeling of “Conforto, Cuidado e Entrega” - comfort, care, and surrender. After that, he continued learning from other remarkable instructors in Brazil, and eventually researched the close embrace and its application to all partner dances, to convey a sense of well-being, relaxation, and ease of movement between dance partners.

His investigation continued over the years, and through sources both inside and outside of the dance world. These studies guided him to form a multidisciplinary understanding of dancing and connecting in close embrace as a healing and therapeutic experience, and a way to connect with Brazilian culture. Due to its versatility, Brazilian Zouk became the perfect dance to apply this concept and explore the possibilities.

In 2017, Gui moved to Washington DC, and started teaching with District Zouk. It was then that his career as an International Dance Instructor started. Since then, much more has changed as the experience of teaching regular classes and traveling around the world has brought new knowledge and new investigations.

Over the years, Gui developed special workshops called “The Universe Behind the Hug”, Parts I and II, Finding Zouk, Embrace Zouk Weekender, Embrace Zouk Online, Partner Dancing thorugh the Eyes of Non-Violent Communication, and the Leaders Intensive Training, which together toured 20+ cities around the US and the world. Today, Gui is based in Washington DC, US, developing the local community with regular, weekly, and progressive classes. He became a reference in the execution of clean, comfortable fundamentals and its understanding of close connection, both from a physical and mental perspective. Gui is also one of the regular instructors of Alex de Carvalho’s MAC program, where he teaches new instructors how to learn, talk about, and teach connection.

Develop a firm technical grasp of Brazilian Zouk with our modular beginner training program made up of 3 blocks in 2 levels. This program was designed by Will Russ and is taught by Will and Jennifer for Dançarina Events.

Basico Level-1a block is usually delivered via a progressive 4-week series with 75-min classes.

Lateral Level-1b block is usually delivered via a progressive 5-week series with 75-min classes.

Basico & Lateral are stand-alone blocks that can be completed in either order.

Capstone: Connections Level-2 block is usually delivered via a progressive 4-week series with 75-min classes. Both Level 1 blocks must be completed before taking Level 2.

Enrollment in any of these blocks as a progressive class includes admission to the weekly Tuesday kizzouk practice social (8:30-10pm) during the run of a class series.

We recommend not missing more than 1 class in a progressive series in order to keep up and be ready to advance to the next block. Students who miss more than 1 class may be required to take a private (at extra cost) in order to complete remaining classes in their series'. All students are required to join the Class Hub via WhatsApp to get updates from instructors and class recap videos.

All blocks are lead/follow role balanced and subject to class-size minimums. If a class does not reach its minimum enrollment number, classes will be cancelled and refunds issued. No refunds will be given for any other reason.

More about roles: in this partner social dance both partners have very important roles to fill. One partner (the lead) directs the dance by listening and interpreting the music; suggesting and guiding their partners movement's in time to the beat thru physical, visual and energetic connection points; and navigating traffic on the dance floor. The other partner (the follow) co-creates the dance by listening physically, visually and energetically to the lead's signals and interprets them in time to the music. Both partners have the ability to interject their own ideas, style, and voice into the dance. In Brazilian zouk dance roles are not predominately based on gender, people of all genders are welcome to choose the role they prefer, and many people choose to learn and regularly dance both roles (we call these switch dancers). Most dancers at the highest levels of BZouk are switch dancers. In this program you will select and train one role at a time. We welcome you to repeat each block to explore the opposite role as well.

What shoes to wear? You can train in socks, soft-soled dance shoes, or clean sneakers that were not worn in from the street. Brazilian Zouk dancers usually dance in flats rather than heels.

Taking both Zouk & Kiz series' in a session? Props to you! Use code KIZZOUK10 for 10% off of each. Must purchase both series at the same time to be eligible for discount.

Financial need-based scholarships are also available to make dance accessible to all. Contact us to learn more and discuss your options.

Dançarina Events

Dançarina Events provides dance training and social dance experiences for BZouk, Urban Kiz and Kizomba, with a focus on training and practice to facilitate the development and growth of technically competent and socially confident dancers.

We also care deeply about growing dance community that is welcoming, respectful and inclusive to people of all identities and backgrounds.

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