I danced with someone I'd followed online for years, walked off the floor, and went to a dark corner to question every decision I'd ever made in my life.
They're one of the best Brazilian Zouk dancers in the world, the dance was terrible, and like most of us do, I blamed myself.
If you've ever come off a dance with somebody you admire and quietly decided the problem was you, this one's for you.
Gui's version is a follower in his D.C. scene who tries to sit down and can't, because the leaders keep coming. She's intermediate, and the teachers in that room are the ones sitting.
What we get into:
→ What "technical" even means. I go to the Olympics and the Ballroom World Championships, and then the question that matters: is that who you want to ask for a dance?
→ Gui ending a dance before the first song was over, with the follower a friend promised him explosions with. "We came to an agreement that it was not working."
→ What Jaime Arôxa's studio actually graded us on. Not only technical knowledge, but how comfortable we were, how we used the space, how musical we were, how we switched rhythms.
→ How many ways do people say water? That's the practice I'd put you on, flavours of the same Basic, Lateral, Viradinha and Soltinho, not another endless list of moves.
The big takeaway: What people want is to connect with everybody, and they are chasing that through things that are not in alignment with connecting with everybody.
Who's the dancer in your scene everybody wants to dance with, and what do they do? Tell us in the comments.
Chapters:
00:00 Opening highlights
01:22 What do we mean by a technical dancer?
03:51 The follower everyone asks to dance
07:07 Textbook technique vs social technique
10:08 What happens when you finally dance with your idol
12:33 The dance that ended before the first song
15:32 Why the same partner feels different two years later
18:29 The night I decided to forget what I saw
22:43 What Jaime Arôxa's studio actually graded
26:04 The leader who stopped listening to followers
27:49 Why Gui gave up elegance to fit more bodies
30:56 Why people chase the wrong thing to dance with everyone
35:28 How many ways do people say water?
37:20 The 'should' in your head that blocks the dance
39:16 Echo chambers, and keeping them out of your dancing
41:30 Your preferences are allowed, and they nurture you
43:00 The private lessons that came from one social dance
45:09 A mindset for life, not a six-month project
Co-hosts: Alisson Sandi and Gui Prada
ZoukNerds: https://www.zouknerds.com/
Alisson Sandi: https://www.alissonsandi.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zouk.nerds/
Episode: S06 Ep23 | ZoukNerds Podcast
