by Liza Listvinsky
liza@fastmood.com
DOWNLOAD HERE for PC or HERE for Mac
| -I am going to Barcelona next week for a Lambazouk
Congress. -For WHAT?? |
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| New York City 2001 - Barcelona 2004 It was a cold evening, I felt tired from my life and bored with my job. I was browsing through my Brazilian MP3 files in the dark office and all of a sudden asked myself aloud: "Why don't I dance Lambada?". I remember my co-workers turning their heads and staring at me for a while. That moment was a turning point in my life. Already, the following day I attended Tropical NY class. Almost 4 years separate that chilly night in NYC and this summers Barcelona Congress. During this time I've been practicing Zouk whenever I had a chance, meeting people from London who seemed to dance Lambada a lot, watched videos with incredible dancers spinning on Maluco Beleza floor. It was like watching movies: you don't really believe these people exist. The world seemed like a even-colored map, with big golden spots in Porto Seguro, Buenos Aires, London, NY, Tokyo and a few smaller spots - places where people gather to dance Zouk / Lambada. I flew back to Israel, my homeland, putting the nearest golden spot within 3 hours flight. On a humid, sunny afternoon I arrived to Barcelona. I carryed a bag, filled with dance shoes, dance clothes, packs of mini DV's and lots of printouts with the available congress info. The situation seemed quite unreal. I had virtually no idea where I was going right from the airport, let alone what was waiting for me at the Congress. But I could clearly see the faces of those legends from the video in the printouts. Could it be true that I will meet these people? Am I dreaming, or am I really about to attend this first international Zouk / Lambada congress? Could you please pinch me? I just want to know, where I go from here? Barcelona's pavements are mostly made of bricks. I was walking on the Avenida Diagonal and my bag's wheels made a sound like that of a helicopter. I was promised a place in the student dormitory (single occupancy, shared bathroom, cold breakfast, 25E / day - fair enough). For the last 2 nights of my stay I had a reservation in the official Congress hotel Covadonga, located in a commercial area, a few bus stops from the dormitory toward the city center and 2 train stops from the Ball Centre where the congress was held. Soon I realized, most of the instructors were staying at the dormitory (they arrived the day I was checking out, I had a chance to see the cute Zouklovers, sleeping in the lobby, exhausted from a long flight). I couldn't cancel my Covadonga reservation, so I moved to this mediocre and a little bit overpriced 3 star hotel. There was a 10 minute walk from Covadonga to the nearest train station, which didn't seem like a big deal at the moment of check in. The Congress timetable was very busy, but the participants still had to do some "sightseeing" due to the walk to the metro. The 10 minute walk turned out to be a bit of a problem when all we had was a two hour break with much to accomplish. Some participants and instructors had chosen other accomodation options. All the people from Tokyo stayed at the comfortable 4 star Barcelo Sants Hotel, a 10 minute walk to the Ball Centre. It was probably the best option, since it had the same rates as Covadonga. But there were positive aspects to the badly situated hotel. For example, I had to use taxis a lot, that I could brush up Spanish. One of the drivers, after listening to my short "speech", filled with directions and intentions, tried to make it easier for me and offered to switch to Catalan. Gaudi and Me I arrived 2 days prior to the Congress in order to have a chance to see Barcelona. Every day I walked out of the dormitory with a camera, at least 3 city maps in my backpack and a list of must see spots taken from the book Barcelona Designers Guide. I had a chance to be at one short flamenco show, to visit certain stores (to learn that last 3 years I've been buying overpriced Spanish clothes), to explore all kinds of local transportation with my 5 days tarjeta and to start liking what I saw. I learned that Camper shoe fabricant had a small restaurant, named Food Balls (with food formed into balls) and was also about to open a hotel. When on my third day I took a look for the first time at the Congress time table, I understood: my time for being a tourist is over. 1st Congress day: 4 classes and the 5 hour party 2nd and 3rd days: 8 classes and a 5 hour party each I was standing in a crowd in the lobby of the Ball Centre, after having paid the reasonable price of 125 E for all the workshops and events proposed by the Congress. A happy thought got clearer and clearer in my head: this Congress is a reality and within minutes I will be going downstairs to attend the first class. The lobby was decorated with palms and bright colors, there were stairs going up and down to the halls. It was well a equiped 5 floor multipurpose center with more than 2.500 m2 surface in total. The place downstairs had a bar and large dance hall with a good parquet floor and mirrors, in which all the classes and parties were held. This main hall was divided into three by mobile panels. Most of the time advanced classes were held at the left third of the hall and the beginners - at the right one, while the middle space was used for rehearsals. By moving the panels a big space was created for the parties. |
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| Lambada? Zouk? Lambazouk? Zouk-Lambada? I even heard some people call it French Lambada. Will you excuse me, if I call it LZ meanwhile? There is no right name for this dance. There is a music genre from Martinique named Zouk ("Party"). The Brazilian Lambada is now danced to the Zouk music. At certain point this Brazilian dance inherited the name Zouk. But, at the same time there is already a Merenge type dance, danced in Martinique and Guadelupe to the Zouk music. It has not much in common with the Brazilian Zouk (LZ). They use different types of music to dance LZ. In fact - almost any type of melody with a 4 beat rythm will go. Many Brazilians say that the Zouk music is strange to them, so they see no reason to call the dance "Zouk". |
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| Is it a Amsterdam-style Lambada or Rio-style
Zouk? There is probably a simple answer to the question, why does this dance still not have one name. Do you remember the picture I drew, of the even colored world map with the golden spots? Each place (spot) has one or a few schools, where students get together and dance, creating a local style (London - style, Rio-style). Obviously, people from distant places (think Tokyo - London) don't have much chance to dance together, except at a Congress like this. The Congress had made clear emphasis on the workshops. One had the unique opportunity to explore all the styles in both beginner and advanced levels. Here is a very impressive list of the instructors, who had Zouk Lambada workshops at the Congress: Gilson & Romina - Buenos Aires (Argentina) Luis & Adriana - Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Claudio Gomes - Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Amsterdam (Holland) Aochan & Mari - Tokio (Japan) & Buenos Aires (Argentina) Claudia - Amsterdam (Holland) Braz & Patricia Cruz - London (UK) Berg & Solange - London (UK) Peter & Patricia - London (UK) Heber & Helene - London (UK) Gianni & Mary - Palma de Mallorca (Spain) Gege & Maria - Palma de Mallorca (Spain) Daniel y Leticia - Palma de Mallorca (Spain) Hernan y Laia - Barcelona (Spain) The majority of Zouk/Lambada instructors gave special workshops for both levels, beginners and advanced. The Congress was also spiced up with following workshops, held for both levels together: Gafieira - Heber, London (UK) Hip Hop - Miguel, Barcelona (Spain) Acrobatics - David & Gemma, Barcelona (Spain) Samba - Rita, Barcelona (Spain) Salsa - Adrian, Barcelona (Spain) |
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| But before I entered the first Zouk workshop, I had to face the
question of my life: Am I beginner or advanced dancer? The time table was clearly divided to "beginners" and "advanced" level classes. The staff member carried two kinds of tickets, one for every type of student (the purple tickets featured large numbers “1” and “2”). She explained, once you choose your type, you must take only relevant classes. Beginners can not attend advanced classes and vise versa, all in order to achieve equal numbers of students in both groups. Obviously, the majority of the students thought highly of themselves. Advanced classes came out 5-6 times bigger than beginners. The dividing system had no future, and, already on the first day people attended classes they wanted, regardless of their tickets type. Fortunately, organizers didn’t care about it any longer. I put the ticket number “2” into my purse and sneaked into the beginners class. I can breath! There is nothing better than to see how a great instructor teaches basic steps, and at the same time to have an opportunity to breath. Almost all advanced classes were overcrowded, while the beginners had just right number of students permitting concentration on the teaching technique. The beginners class also enabled me to watch out for the differences in dance styles. Thirteen Zouk / Lambada workshops in 3 summer days There were classic Zouk/Lambada workshops dedicated to natural movements and correct steps. One could learn important things like coordination between the steps and head movement, right posture and ways to be safe while doing dips, as well as the secrets of certain fancy movements. Lambazouk by Gege incorporated lots of acrobatics and pick ups, which led to the change of the basic Lambada step: after every long (3) step the female dancer makes sure her knees are flexible, her belly and bottom are very tight and she is ready to face a jump or pick up. The point is not to be very connected to the floor, rather to stay light enough for a jump. The snake like movements, extreme dips and acrobatics give Lambazouk a sophisticated, ballet like look, and make it almost a different dance altogether, which evokes a a distant resemblance to Lambada. Gege himself noted he found it hard to dance Lambada in Brazil after 5 years of Lambazouk practice in Mallorca. The Rio style incorporates jumps and extremely deep bending back, the lead is with every part of body. The dance looks like a mix of Capoeira elements and Contact Improvisation on top of the Zouk beat. Being on the constant search for the perfect count, I had a chance to explore quite a few ways of counting. From the quick-quick-slow or simple 1-2-3 or 1-2-3-(pause)-5-6-7 in various languages, to the surprising Tchi-Tchi-Doonmmm. I really liked the way it sounded: "...On the second "Tchi" we do this step, and on "Doonmm" - we turn". Some instructors never counted steps, only dance movements. How important is the music, when you dance? And when you are studying dance? Obviously, there was more than one opinion on this matter. Certain instructors never put on music during their workshops, even during the demonstration. It made their dance look somewhat schematic and weird. Fortunately, the majority of instructors didn't underestimate the importance of sound and beat. They played music of different genres, mostly Zouk, but also hip-hop and even world / pscycodelic. As one could expect, the Congress instructors focused a lot on techniques and new movements. Obviously, many students came to the Congress to improve treir skills and dance vocabulary. But there are different ways to introduce dance, and those who reflected the ambiance and the emotion of the dance certainly stood out. The mood of the dance is not about fancy movements and good technique, it is about flowing with good music and a nice partner. Patricia Cruz's happy smile helped tranfer to the students the ultimate zouk experience. 3/4s of the Aochan class consisted of non-stop slow Zouk music, the students were prompted to do basics and walk to the beat through the room, constantly changing partners. It was a very sure way to get everybody to know basic steps, but, more important, this constant movement and relaxing cheerful atmosphere reflected the very essence - the fun of Zouk. The last class - solo technique, was a nice closure for the Congress workshops. The ladies on one side of the hall, the men on the other, while the instructors approach their own gendre to share a personal solo technique. |
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| You can live your hat on Each of the three Congress days ended up with a party. Each party included a set of performances. The parties started at 10:30pm, and show time - around 1am. I attended two parties, at the ends of the first and the second days. At each party at a certain hour, in the middle of the dance floor a big circle formed creating a backdrop for performances. This improvised "stage" wasn't properly lit and the access to it was very crowded, which made it tough for video makers. On the other hand there was something homey and friendly in the fact that performers weren't separated from the audience by a formal stage and distance. The performances were held by instructors and, sometimes, their students. The most popular artistic direction trick was the removing of layers of clothing during the dance. There were up to 3 layer removals during one show, and usually together with the clothes theme and music changed. Many performers added Salsa and Hip hop to the beginning of their show. A few Maluco Beleza style performances of traditional Zouk/Lambada used fast Zouk music. Athough the dancers didn't try to spice up their show with clothing changes and the usage of different music and dance styles, they still drew audience's attention and amusement with polished technique and picturesque choreography. A few Salsa and one Funky performance dilluted Zouk/Lambada, but sometimes Zouk itself looked like a totally different dance. Many dancers were trained in acrobatics and showed their skills within Zouk/Lambada. All the dips were taken to the extream and all the Zouk essential qualities, like natural and comfortable movements were neglected. Sometimes it didn't look much like a dance at all, rather more like a Circus. In contrast to all the acrobatic maneuvers Aochan came out with the mission. He brought his students from Tokyo Tropical NY to perform at the Congress. The choreography, which excluded all the possible acrobatic elements and head "bonecas", was to show the beauty of Zouk basic movements. The music was slow and sophisticated, the Tropical NY performance was absolutely convincing. People get older. Should they stop dancing the moment they can not develop their acrobatic skills anymore? By justifying this slow elegant type of Zouk they were offering a place for everybody in the world of dance. In order to dance beautifully, one doesn't have to be young and hold a degree in sports. |
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| Waiting for the slow The dance floor gave the best opportunity to actually try out your skills in all the styles of Zouk/Lambada and draw conclusions. As a follower I could really feel the difference in the lead of different schools students above their personal dancing skills. Quite a few times I had to scream: "hey, I don't have proper health insurance for this kind of dip!". But the next best thing to dancing is watching others dance (a few of the best dancers in the world). And if you are lucky, you might get a chance to dance with them. The legendary dancer Josy came to the first party and was announced by the organizers. Here and there people applauded to the dance floor highlights. Sometimes around good dancers got so crowded, I could see them only through the preview window of my camcorder, which I held in my outsteached arms. At the first party, hip hop, Brazilian, fast Zouk and oriental sounds filled up the dance hall and warmed up the air. I was wondering, how broad the spectrum of music was for Zouk/Lambada dancing. People moved so fast in the dark hall, I started to long for a slower Zouk music, the one I was used to dancing in NY. After dancing the following night I asked myself, why did I feel so comfortable and enjoy the party much more than the previous one. I chatted with one Japanese girl and she told me that Aochan was the DJ. I could see she felt the same: like a fresh breeze cooled out the dance floor, this romantic slow Zouk music, the one both of us danced to at Tropical NY. View video clips from the Conress dance floor
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| Quick-quick-slow...here is my passport Right before the third party, the last one for the Congress, I had to throw my things into the taxi and rush to the airport together with 3 other lambada lovers from London, who didn't even have time to change out of their fancy dancing clothes. While all the rest of the Congress people gathered at the Ball Centre lobby for the party, wearing white (the Brazilian New Year tradition), I was on my way to a distant airport terminal. I noiticed I am doing Zouk step while walking, and listening to Zouk music playing in my head. I smiled. And started calculating the flight ticket price from Israel to Porto Seguro. Could it be cheaper in December? |
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