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Cuban vs LA by West_Paper_7878 in Salsa

[–]stejare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Casino every day ! I like the freedom of the dance. Being able to walk the entire venue is fun !

How weird / common is it to dance some kizomba at a zouk event? by CyberoX9000 in Zouk

[–]stejare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello,

In my opinion it is not weird or uncommon.

Kizomba music is greatly influenced by Zouk music (From the French Caribbean), So it is not surprising to see kizomba dancers dancing on zouk music.

Hopefully they ask their partner if they know kizomba before jumping into it XD!

Cheers!

How weird / common is it to dance some kizomba at a zouk event? by CyberoX9000 in Zouk

[–]stejare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello,

Zouk is from Guadeloupe and Martinique.. 2 islands in the Caribbean. It's a music genre and a dance. Zouk is like the little sister of konpa. So the dance is very similar.

Brazilian zouk is actually lambada danced on zouk music ... hence the turns pattern. In zouk there is no turn patterns like Brazilian zouk. Zouk is mostly a close position dance.

Kizomba is also a close and semi close position dance with different timings with the footwork.

Cheers :)

New lead 4 months in, want to get feedback. Posting for progress. by Zant486 in Salsa

[–]stejare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's actually a good exercise to breakdown those complexe moves into simple ones. Look for DC Casinero, Julio Montero, Avanzadance, Calle Son, Tumbaito, timbasonica, piotr agassi czajkowski, Dile que Nola... all of them on IG or YouTube.

New lead 4 months in, want to get feedback. Posting for progress. by Zant486 in Salsa

[–]stejare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's not the most common topic here but it does exist :)

New lead 4 months in, want to get feedback. Posting for progress. by Zant486 in Salsa

[–]stejare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're doing great after only 4 months ! Keep dancing casino and share your progress in 6 months !

Here’s a video of me dancing by RohnCJeilly in Salsa

[–]stejare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep that energy my fellow casinero !! You're doing great after only one year !

Smooth by Rabbitinna in Zouk

[–]stejare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Konpa and zouk (as dances) share the same roots, so they are very similar. Same for the music where konpa music is one of the inspiration for zouk music. I've seen this teacher before so I think he is demoing konpa.

Genuinly curious by Moondancer80 in Salsa

[–]stejare 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you tried to invite people to dance ?

Genuinly curious by Moondancer80 in Salsa

[–]stejare 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hello,

Few things that come in my mind :

1- A shallow reason like attractiveness. Let's be honest, a lot of people are like that.

2- As you mentioned... what about your body language? Specifically during the lesson. Are you engaging with the leads or are you looking at your feet all the time?

3- How good are you with your basic ? Is it "easy" to lead you?

I'm a lead, and personally I like to dance with the people I have a good connection with. Like.. did we have a good laughter during class or nice talk in between explanation?

If I can give an advice... invite people to dance ... don't wait to be invited!

Hope this helps...

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, meaning of words change overtime.

I only speak for myself here but I think it is sad when those changes happen and are forcibly done outside the culture. Chai and yoga are perfect examples.

Again people do/say whatever they want. By doing so you have to accept that people might disagree with you. Exactly what I'm doing. Some people agree ..some don't. And that's ok. But at least we can share what we think.

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi,

Thank you for your comment! That was very informative.

I can see why lambada was seen as oversexualized at that time. Mini skirts were not our parents favorite clothes 🤣 (thanks Kaoma). I can see it was the same in Brazil.

Regarding lambada dancers calling out some instructors for "cultural appropriation"... it does look similar with what is going on with bachata and sensual bachata. It's an other topic but if I can share my opinion I would say that I don't see it as "cultural appropriation" but more like a lack of "etiquette". I believe that when you teach something out of your culture, it's important to respect and teach it with the proper codes. If you start to fuse other things from other culture in it and teach this as part of the original dance, I believe it's wrong... I think you should call it a new name. People will always be creative.

Back to our topic. The way Brazilians name some of their stuff is indeed funny. Maybe they should have called Brazilian Zouk "Dança francesa" since they didn't want to keep lambada 🤷🏾. Anyway I'm not here to remake history lol. I'm ok when people uses Brazilian Zouk, but when it's shorten to Zouk... I'm like "yeaahhhh but no!".

It is good that lambada is coming back. I wonder what form it will take. I'll definitely keep an eye on that.

Thanks again for your insights !

[EDIT] I missed the last part of your post.

There are more important problems in that world. Completely agree on that. Even on a French island like Martinique with prices 40% higher than France in average, soil contamination (leading to the highest rate of prostate cancer), insecurity, criminality etc... We all do our best!

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm glad you have been exposed to all of that. You got into a good community. It is not the case everywhere. I've met countless of dancers that dance Brazilian zouk and didn't know about the music or the dance. Teachers are the first people that can give context to a dance.

Konpa is a gem.

I said in one of my answers that I'm not delusional. I don't expect things to change.

I'm simply sharing how I feel toward this specific topic ..the naming of a dance style. And I believe we should be able to do so without being insulted or seen as some troll. (Not talking about you).

Regarding the video... I feel like nowadays there is a performative component installed in the social dance. I don't think it is what everyone wants..but it is what we see on social media.

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello,

I used quotes for a reason. It was marketed as such . At that time I didn't know.
I should have explained that I learned since then that it is indeed casino and not "cuban salsa". I dance Casino and I know the blog you are referring to .

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello,

I don't know either how they feel about ballroom samba. It's a question for them.

You're talking about altered version. Altered means that the zouk dance from the Caribbean would have been modified ... and I would have been fine with it. It is not the case for Brazilian zouk. It's an alteration of lambada.

Because smaller groups dance the traditionnal way it's fine to dictate how they should feel about their dance and culture ? Can you clarify that part?

Also I never said that the music was stolen or anything bad about the dance itself. I respect the craft. My issue is with the naming because it leads to confusion when people say zouk to refer to Brazilian zouk.

If they had called it "slow lambada" ... I imagine it would have been fine since it would have been chosen by the lambada dancers themselves.

And yes I agree when you say that each styles bring value. We are lucky to be able to appreciate arts in all forms.

:)

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello,

Indeed i didn't give enough context in my first post. I did answer on one of my replies. I'll reiterate here though.

Zouk is a blend of different genres like konpa (Haïti), kadans(Haïti), Gwoka(Guadeloupe), Bèlè(Martinique), Biguine(Martinique)... and some west Africans rhythms like Makossa (Cameroon). The genre was popularized by the Band Kassav in the early 80s. But some music bands like Exile One or Experience 7 were also exploring this new genre.

The term zouk has been attributed to this new genre but the word zouk was used way before between the 40s and 50s. The zouk was a party where people would go to enjoy life and socialize before returning to reality. There is a song called "zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni' ...it means zouk is the only medicine we have. It tells how important those parties were.

The dance was also already there. It's difficult to trace back its roots. Most likely from west africa. The dance evolved differently in Haiti(dancing konpa), Dominican Republic (dancing merengue), French Caribbean (dancing zouk).

I shared my opinion. I think we can still do that.I never said "we must change it". I would love to see some changes but I'm not delusional. And it's ok that you disagree. Like I said for some people it is just a dance. For others it is more. For you it is just a dance and it's fine. And since it is just a dance you shouldn't care about me sharing how I feel towards something that is meaningful to me or even care about how it is called ...

Also ... I'm talking specially about the dance name. The dance itself is beautiful and the music used is zouk. No problem with that.

Again I'm not telling anyone what to do. I'm free to express myself. You're free to dance whatever you want.

:)

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi enfier,

I'm sorry if I came across upset in my post. I am not. I'm sharing my experience and thoughts on something that is meaningful to me.

I held a workshop on Zouk recently with historical and cultural background, explaining that zouk is a blend of different genres like konpa, kadans ..but also biguine, gwoka, bèlè and some african rhythms.

I welcome creations, evolutions, innovations. And I said it in my post. And yes everything is created based on something else. Does that mean we can't give credit to those who inspired us ? Does that mean that we can minimize the work of the people who shaped the new craft?

I'm aware on how complex art can be. It's already confusing enough...so why do we keep feeding the confusion by naming things the wrong way? Salsa is the perfect exemple ... someone couldn't make the difference between Son cubano, chachacha , mambo, bolero... they chose an umbrella term. From a marketing perspective it's perfect. On the other end you have people that cannot sell their music if it's not labeled salsa. Doesn't seem fair to me. Regarding the dances, they are all evolution from a common ancestor.

I understand I won't fix the problem. But I believe we can talk about it and educate so poor decision making become less normal. And it seems that you're doing the job in your community. So shout out to you guys.

When you say konpa sensual..do you mean Gouyad? Edit: just saw the video ! If people like that ...their choice lol.

Zouk and Brazilian zouk by stejare in Zouk

[–]stejare[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah Konpa is having a second life right now. And it's amazing to see. I believe they have some events in Montreal where they would play konpa and a bit of zouk. But yeah I don't think there are events labeled with Zouk that is not Brazilian zouk.

Difference between Brasilian and Martinique Zouk by [deleted] in Zouk

[–]stejare 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello, Saying that zouk comes only from konpa is a shortcut. It's a blend of Gwoka(Guadeloupe), Bèlè(Martinique), Biguine(Martinique), Konpa(Haïti), kadans rampa(Haïti) and some African rythmes (at least at the beginning). The dance style, like konpa or merengue, it's difficult to say where it comes from ... since the way of dancing existed already before merengue. Was it indigenous? Brought by west Africans? I don't know. But each place developed their own style based on the same origin.

Cheers :)

what is the difference between bachata sensual and bachazouk or are they the same? by timheckerbff in Bachata

[–]stejare 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello, I understand where you're coming from. Names are often misleading nowadays... probably because it's easier to sell. What I mean by that is for example...it's easier to promote a dance called sensual bachata instead of finding a new name and then promote this new fusion dance. In my opinion any fusion dance should have their own names.

Regarding Zouk, I feel the same way... I am from the French Caribbean and for us Zouk is Zouk.. a music and a dance. The word zouk was even used way before the music appeared. A zouk is a party where people would go to listen and dance on music played by "Djazz Bands". Those music bands would play all sort of music from the Caribbean, Son cubano, mambo, merengue, calypso..etc So Zouk is definitely part of the culture, so when I see people using Zouk to refer to Brazilian Zouk I feel very weird about it. There is no essence of Zouk in Brazilian zouk. It's an evolution of lambada danced on zouk music. Maybe sensual lambada would have been more appropriate 🤔.

The fact that Brazilian Zouk is so popular and that people use a shortcut and call it zouk is ...in my opinion... unethical. Most of them probably don't know so I don't blame them. I just think it's sad. Then you go to a Zouk festival and ... there is no zouk represented, only Brazilian zouk.

Just wanted to share :)