This post is a primary rough draft of my thoughts about the recent negativity in the form of expressed feelings on FB towards Brazilian Zouk pros and communities, because I’m not taking sides. I am trying to open the lines of communication for understanding, and not everyone has time to address everything that needs to be addressed. But things go wrong and I expect this post will be updated as needed to reflect anything I’ve said that is not clear.

I want to start off by saying that I, along with so many people have enjoyed the content being shared by @zouk_me_memes – This is a nice outlet for comedy and that people can come together to laugh about the faults of our own human nature. They are funny, because they are pretty much true. Except when you start getting too specific, by adding names with a public interpretation of what it is that is getting promoted and endorsed. This is becoming a socially and culturally dangerous path because perception is reality and without being conscientious of the definitive context, it is becoming offensive to a whole culture of people who brought a product to us that we love and enjoy.

There has been quite a misunderstanding with certain topics being taught, about what is actually Brazilian Zouk and what it’s not. Because each set of instructors have a specialty that becomes the priority in their style of the dance, that style becomes the norm and then calling it Brazilian Zouk. Many of these styles are meant to unlock and release your potential to dance Brazilian Zouk better, as not everyone’s learning path will be the same, or easy for them. There is only one thing that is consistent across all the styles, and it is the foundations. All Brazilian Zouk instructors have a clear understanding of what the foundations are, and that’s the reason many of them can still easily dance with each other. Styles might clash, demonstrations get weird, and guess what, even the pros have bad days and might not demonstrate or perform so well for you. This is a major factor of disconnect in our Zouk communities and there is no easy solution to remedy this, except to keep learning, and to keep going to class. Bottom line: specialty topics and other approaches to Brazilian Zouk benefits many people, but those it helps the most, are the people that have the strongest clarity in their foundations. It is primarily meant to enhance your experience of dancing Zouk, not the “only” path to learning Zouk.

The language in the memes mostly cater to the American culture. And even to the main target audience, if someone does not know the context of the dance without much explanation, there will be confusion and offense. That movie scene of the Hitler video being resubtitled for our entertainment, has been used in multiple contexts and as long as it is contextually contained, it remains funny. When it starts reaching others who do not understand the context directly (including Brazilians) – it becomes an issue of how these people think about how they come across to the general public, their peers, their families, etc. – I never expect a different culture to acknowledge and understand the context of my language, until they say they do and laugh about it. Many are not laughing.

I have no doubt, people poke fun or talk smack about each other behind their backs, that’s our human nature. I personally have not encountered any of the pro staff, as I host them and am hanging out with much of them at events in their down time, to have ever negatively talked about others. Even in the most confidential and safe spaces of conversation, I personally have dug deep for a hard opinion with other styles/instructors. Not a single attack on others. There are those who don’t prefer to dance with certain others with reason, and that’s about the limit. Even recently with the debate about understanding rhythmic/music emphasis, there is not a “wrong way,” but there is a way that it works “better.” There are acknowledgements to disagree with what is being interpreted as Brazilian Zouk, and this is mostly because there is no quick language to translate that the practices mentioned earlier are just exercises, and not the dance itself. Many seasoned instructors will comment about the next generation of instructors that need more training, and much smack talk happens more with the newer generations of instructors(I may at one point or so have been guilty of this, but I’m learning). Also, if Brazilian Zouk pros are poking fun at each other, they don’t need to do it behind the backs of other pros, because they know they will find out… they certainly have probably done it to their face for respect that they acknowledge their dance style, and humor, because it is a character trait to that pro’s dance. It is used as a teaching and skill building tool to truly understand the possibilities that exist this amazing dance style. How many pros can you mimic effectively?

For those who don’t realize how well connected the pros are with each other, especially once they share the same space of being on staff at events, I have physically witnessed learning(student) participation of Brenda and Anderson in a class with Renata and her staff, and also with Jaime and his staff. Teacher training weeks at Zouk MX this year and years past, I’ve seen participation as a student by those like Anna, Ry’El, Jessica and Walter(and more of course). Heck, this year, I’m certain many would have never expected Charles to be a participant in Xandy’s course, but they are busy growing and improving themselves, just to be more connected to each other and to promote, preserve and encourage the sharing and spreading of Brazilian culture.

I remain neutrally positioned here, because I do enjoy the memes, and I do highly respect the Brazilian Zouk culture. I want us to understand each other better, and with the memes coming out, I generally would request an approach that contextually includes the Brazilians in understanding the humor. Name dropping may need to be done a little more carefully.

Original Facebook post:
https://www.fb.com/xonovik/posts/10114215845209180