Zouk Revolution

There are many people who are feeling terribly hopeless nowadays, they’ve been driving themselves crazy, because they got frustrated with their lives, at a point where they have even lost all their illusions; if you are one of those who feel the same way I want to suggest you to start dancing and to encourage you a little bit more to do so, I’m going to tell you some benefits that dancing could bring to our minds, without mentioning countless of physical advantages that it gives us too; because mental health is something serious and really important that we all should take care of. However we are going to talk particularly of one dance style: Zouk, but wait why Zouk? What’s Zouk to begin with? Discover it with us!

Zouk is considered a sensual and energetic dance. The Zouk rhythm originated in the French colonized Caribbean islands, is quite common in the Caribbean, just like meringue. It was created by the band Kassav, which mixed rhythms and musical styles such as Calypso, carnival, and Makossa. The name Zouk comes from the Creole dialect of Haiti (a mixture of French and African languages) and it is translated as “party”, in that case, let’s Zouk!

In Brazil, its base was developed from the lambada, and the movements were adapted to the rhythm of the music, performing more slowly turns and many arm movements as a styling component. Zouk is danced to a slow-quick-quick rhythm, the strong beats, and therefore longer steps being on the first, third & fourth beat. The basic step, called paddling, is similar to walking back and forth, leader and follower facing each other.

Zouk is danced with a belly to belly connection, with small steps and changing the weight, the follower dances in the balls of their feet twisting slightly their hips. It is also necessary to understand that when we transfer our body weight, our head follows that movement by consequence. Zouk is plenty of core movements, everything comes from our chest, body waves, upper body rolls, and chambres, actually, they all seem to be key factors of this dance; when you get to isolate each part of your body it feels and looks like if you’re flowing.

When someone is dancing Zouk it gets hard to stop watching them, because it is a very eye-catching dance. To form a perfect partnership in this type of dance is difficult to achieve, as it is necessary to find someone who fits your same energy and who responds to the connection of your bodies since the embrace in this dance is very closed. You both have to be able to read the rhythm of the music, getting a smooth symmetrical harmony. Yo can learn the basics of this great dance with this StepFlix class

The way of dancing Zouk around the world changes in each place, in some cities people incorporate ballet and contemporary steps into it, while in some others Zouk has a high hip hop influence, the mixture of all these styles makes it more interesting and funny.

Now without further due, this is how Zouk helps us with the wellness of our mental health:

-It improves our personal relationships, as it helps us overcome loneliness and shyness by allowing us to meet new people, creating connections, and establishing solid friendships that might last longer since both, you and your friends would be involved in the same world, sharing similar things and building memories together.

– It reduces stress and tension, because the simple fact of listening to Zouk music, activates dopamine in our brain which put us on a pleasant mood, getting rid of any sorrow, fear or anxiety, in scientific terms it means that Zouk beats directly affects the strengthening of our immune system, which is so convenient nowadays.

– It also gives us happiness and increases our creativity, by letting us experiment with new moves. Our body flows, increasing our vitality and our mind gets free, improving our vital energy.

– It helps us express our emotions, to channel adrenaline, giving us self-control, and it also builds up our self-esteem and confidence, lifting our spirits, and promoting clarity of thoughts.

Let’s revolution our mind, life, and the entire world by dancing Zouk!