Tomorrow: Zouk-Kizomba Party im Havanna, Berlin
Fri, 24. February 2012

Next week: SUNDAY ZOUK PARTY BERLIN
Sun, 04. March 2012

Zouk Music and Dance

The music style Zouk was created in the early 1980s in the Caribbean. Musicians started to combine local music with synthesizer beats. The word “Zouk” is creole and originally denotes a dance festival (“Mazouk” is the creole version of the Mazurka). Zouk is especially popular in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique). The characteristic rhythm of Zouk is “long - - - short-short-long”. Here, “long” stands for the dominant beat.

In the 1990s, Zouk music became commercially successful and it spread across the globe.

On the Cape Verde Islands and in some African countries, Zouk mixed with traditional music. An example is the “Kizomba” from Angola. In Portuguese-speaking countries, the word “Kizomba” is often used to denote all kinds of Zouk music.

In Brasil, the Lambada boom came to an end in the mid 90s. At this time, Zouk became very popular. So Lambada dancers started to use Zouk music. The dance was adapted to the new music. Two styles have evolved:

• Zouk Brasil: is danced to slower music. The way of dancing is “long --- short-short-long”
• Lambada Zouk or Lambazouk: This style is very similar to the Lambada. It is relatively fast. The way of dancing is somtimes “short-short-long --- short-short-long”. Porto Seguro in the North-East of Brazil is one of the places where Lambazouk is very popular.

Both styles are related and they differ largely from the Caribbean and African way of dancing Zouk.

Brazilian dance teachers took the dance to Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America. Today, it is not only danced to Zouk music, but also to R&B, Pop, Oriental, and slow Reggaeton. Zouk has become a truly worldwide phenomenon. Festivals take place all across the world.

Examples

Zouk Lambada

Here is an interesting video about the history of “Zouk-Lambada” (Portugese with English sub-titles):