Lead/Follow Connection

The lead/follow connection is the bedrock of Brazilian Zouk. It is the foundation of the foundation. Without it, nothing else works. It’s the invisible conversation happening between two dancers through touch, weight, and energy. Suffice to say that connection is a topic that could fill a book, and we’ll be returning to it again and again in different ways.

The most basic premise of lead follow connection is the ability to adapt and listen to your partner.

Adapt to your partner

Everyone is different. Physically, people have different:

• Heights, weights, arm lengths, flexibility.
• Skill levels.
• Ways of communicating and understanding movement and energy.
• Preferences for musicality.

No two follows or leads are the same. And thank God for that! Because if that were the case, every dance would be the same.

Zouk is a two-way street. I like to use the hashtag #followfreedom to differentiate from some other dances in which frame is rigid.

In this sense, I propose you do a thought experiment. Think of any dance style. Imagine a two or three professionals dancing the dance. Now imagine they are silhouettes, so you only see the outlines of their bodies. Do they look the same? Can you tell them apart?

I often think of how if two professionals at a particular dance would be indistinguishable if they were a silhouette, it means the dance itself is too prescriptive. If rigidity and correctness is encouraged, the follow especially ends up being as a kind of doll which the lead simply shapes in the way they please. Also, people feel annoyed when the other person doesn’t do things the “right” way, instead of being playful and creating something unique on the dancefloor.

Because in zouk the connection is so adaptable, it means that it can be used to create a huge variety of movements and expressions. However, it also means that it can be difficult to learn, as there is no single “right” way to do things. It is said there is no right or wrong in zouk, only safe and unsafe. Do keep in mind I say this in a relative sense, as of course zouk does have a certain structure to it and fundamental concepts which are generally agreed upon.

The connection in zouk requires you to actually understand the other person as a sentient being with freedom and creativity, rather than a lifeless ragdoll. It’s less so about following a set of instructions, but about communicating with your partner and adapting to their movements and their style.

Zouk is not a style, it’s a concept

Concepts of connection build partner dance. It really is about communication. The question is communication with who? A real person! For this reason, you bring your style. Have a cool hip-hop background? Bring it. Do you love expressive contemporary dance? Cool, you can bring those elements too. Everyone dances differently, and in zouk that’s not a problem to be ironed out, it’s something to embrace. The only important thing is that the connection is the priority. So long as what you do doesn’t break the connection, it’s great. The concepts of zouk facilitate this communication, but they don’t prescribe the right way to move for elbow, for example.

And so, to conclude this little ramble, keep in mind that adapting to your partner involves being adaptable, understanding their style, and seeing where you can bring your style to create something together using the concepts of zouk for connection.