ZOUKPOD BANKAI ZOUK

In this episode, we talk to the Close Embrace Master himself, Gui Prada! We go deep into the intricacies that exists in the embrace and walking, how he his able to teach the embrace to less-physical cultures, and the beauty + metaphysics of Tango. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did interviewing :)

0:00 Intro

2:32 How Gui is making Brazilian Zouk more accessible to a wider audience

6:45 The Zouk Economy: Why instructors teach flashy movements

9:13 The intricacies that exist in walking and embrace

18:50 How Gui developed "the Universe Behind the Hug" workshop

23:44 Touch starvation and the cultural differences that exist around physicality

31:46 How Gui manages to teach embrace to less physical cultures

35:55 How Gui adapts to the follower

43:36 The follower is never wrong?

59:44 The beauty of Tango

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In this podcast, we talk about our biggest inspirations in Brazilian Zouk and how the new generation of Zoukers in São Paulo are innovating and pushing the boundaries of this dance.


00:00 Intro

00:40 Zouk Open Recap

09:27 Anthony's inspiration for the month

14:58 Organic Creativity in Zouk

21:26 How movement in nature inspires dance

25:07 Abe’s visual inspirations from other dances

30:57 Why Abe is learning choreography

33:10 What living in the Mecca of Zouk is like

40:00 How the New Generation is Innovating

48:48 Gui Prada… THE INSPIRATION



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In this episode, we share our 21+ years of shared experience dancing Brazilian Zouk; from starting in the LA Zouk scene to training with the founders, Renata Peçanha and Jaime Aroxa.

00:00 Intro
00:29 The dance that inspired Abe to learn Zouk
07:29 Alé’s life changing dance moments
12:52 Zouk opens up a world of creative expression
18:18 Ant’s story traveling to SP
20:04 Demos are just routines
21:43 What makes Zouk special compared to other partner dances
35:51 Alé’s experience training with the GOD of Brazilian dance
39:03 The dedication it takes to become an incredible dancer
42:17 Anthony’s experience in dancing in Rio
48:56 Why Zoukers from Rio are so stuck-up

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Hello from Londrinas! We are currently at one of the best Zouk festivals in Brazil and decided to record a podcast with our friend, Gabby. In this episode we discuss the many different paths to learn Brazilian Zouk, how to speed up your progress with structure, and other miscellaneous social dance phenomenons :)


00:00 Intro

00:43 Hello from ZoukUnity!

11:14 How to get functional at Brazilian Zouk

21:12 The value of learning from multiple instructors

28:52 Social dancing is crucial to your dance growth

30:22 Why you need to develop your own style

32:19 Abe spent $100k on Zouk

36:24 What are the misuses of time when learning Zouk?

38:59 The importance of revisiting your basics

41:20 How to respond to a disconnected dance partner

43:46 How to deal with intense eye contact from your dance patnerFollow us on



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Join us as we explore the world of connection and presence, in today's interview with LUAN & ADRIANA! Share with us what your thoughts on this episode and who you might want to see interviewed next! :)



Timestamps

00:00 Intro

02:00 The mindset behind a connective and present social dance

05:23 What makes a "good" dancer?

07:52 The best dances are inside the embrace

08:41 Why most Zouk instructors don’t teach the embrace

10:13 If there is connection and sensations, then the movements come naturally

13:07 How Luan & Adriana teach beginners connections and sensations

14:11 How Luan helped “unblock” Alé with close embrace

16:29 The 3 principles that make up connection in dance

20:15 How to style and express but also maintain a connection

24:28 Why beginners should learn to dance in the embrace

26:42 What to do if the person you are dancing with is not paying attention to you

29:10 Cultural differences and miscommunication that happens in social dance

33:47 How Luan’s spiritual practice leads him to wholeness

36:51 Are Luan & Adriana Dating?

39:28 Why Boom-Chik-Chik is the essence to Brazilian Zouk

45:56 As much as you train technique, you need to train your self-connection

48:54 How did Luan & Adriana develop their methodology of connection

53:53 Influences from Jaime ArôxaFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bankaizouk

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Hey! Anthony here. I recently sold all my things, and moved to Brazil just for Zouk 😅

For me, Zouk is way more than just a partner dance. It can be about the pursuit of technical perfection, musical expression, connection, being apart of a community, building a community, popularity, dating, being the best, getting to know a different culture... and more. It can be any of these things, and all of these things at once.

And I think that's why I was crazy enough to move to Sao Paulo, because being apart of the Zouk community has allowed me to engage and express so many parts of myself, and parts of myself I didn't even know existed. And living on this side, where I can express myself and feel more alive, that for me was worth giving up the security I had in the US...

In this episode, Abe, Ale, and I talk about the mindset and approach to dancing with beginners, how Brazilian Zouk becomes a life-changing passion, and the differences in how Zouk is danced in Brazil compared to the US and Europe.

But I would love to hear from all you Zoukers, what makes Zouk so addicting for you?

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

2:02 Why it is important to dance with beginners, especially as a higher level dancer

9:56 Should professionals to deny dances?

15:12 Showing compassion in social dance

17:08 Why Zouk is the key to life

22:11 The incongruency of “connection” Zoukers

24:27 What social dancing is about?

28:54 Zouk in Brazil is Very Different than in US & Europe

38:52 Brazilians don't need "close embrace" classes

41:31 Brazilian Zouk changes when it leaves Brazil

45:26 The best teachers to learn Brazilian Zouk

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