Embrace Zouk in Taipei with Gui & Kelsey

Class Details:

Day1-Saturday

|Workshop #1 (2 hours): Building the Embrace and the Principles for Gliding Together 

Here is where we begin. Dancing in close embrace can be magical or the complete opposite. Therefore, this will be our most important workshop and the foundation of everything that comes next. In this class we will go over the main aspects behind building, staying, and moving in close embrace. How much tension should I hold, where do my hands go, where do I place my arms, where do I connect? 

We will answer all these questions and one more, the big one: how do I glide on the dance floor?  We will show you the principles to create smoothness and we can tell you already – It’s all about the feet!

|Workshop #2 (2 hours): Exploring the Basics – Going Beyond Basic in Place and Linear Basic

There is a lot more you can do with the basics in closed position. 

Learning variations to the basics will develop our footwork and already have a big effect on your dancing. In this workshop, we will explore a couple of different options of basic footwork so we can start putting the gliding feeling into our bodies. We will also dive into the possibilities of travelling with the basic footwork that, combined with the variations, will create a different feeling in your Zouk dancing. 

|Workshop #3 (1 hour): More time for more variations

In our last hour of the day we’ll put everything together and give our bodies time to integrate through practice. 

We’ll show some ideas of ways to connect the variations and you’ll get time to practice while we’re available to help and answer questions.

Day2-Sunday

|Workshop #4 (2 hours): Advanced Footwork for Traveling and Changing Directions 

The feeling of flying and gliding together depends on the controlled use of footwork and weight transfers. 

To continue developing these amazing sensations we will dive into more possibilities with the fundamentals, this time adding lateral, viradinha and direction changes. We will also see something very important: the adjustments we have to make with every single step. 

This workshop will teach you a lot about adaptation and control, two super important tools to be able to fly and glide with almost everyone.

|Workshop #5 (2 hours): Principles for Head Movement in Close Embrace

The way head movements work in close embrace is a little different from open embrace, we don’t have the lower body free and use a lot less engagement on lats or back. 

In this workshop we will see the basic principles to prepare the head movement in close embrace, using lower body, dissociation, and the malleable frame. Then, we will go into applying basic footwork with head movements in close position. Here the feeling of flying and gliding acquire a different layer, since we see our surroundings going up and down, side to side. It is truly amazing and so much fun!

|Workshop #6 (1 hour): Putting everything together

This will be maybe the most important hour – the hour we integrate everything and make sure we got it.

What we want the most is that you leave the weekender being able to incorporate its key elements in your social dance and bring more options, fun, and comfort to it.

We’ll take this time to review, try, and practice everything we saw, with an opportunity to ask more questions. We can’t wait to see how everything will come together. -Gui

Kelsey started dancing tap, jazz, and ballet at the age of five, later adding lyrical, modern, and many others. She first tried partner dancing in college, and focused on Argentine Tango until graduation. She loved the feeling she found in Tango of gliding and flying seamlessly with another person, and would keep trying to find that same feeling in various partner dances later on. After returning from the Peace Corps, she started taking Salsa and Bachata classes, and fell in love with Brazilian Zouk from the first moment she saw it. She started taking classes as part of the first cohort of Zouk dancers in Seattle during the scene’s founding, and has been a passionate member of the Seattle Zouk scene ever since. She currently co-runs the Advanced Zouk Team at Salsa Con Todo in Seattle and travels and teaches with Gui, hoping to imbue others with the feelings of seamlessness, circularity, relaxation, and care she fell in love with.