I had some conversations with people, testing if they would like to learn Brazilian Zouk, and some of them said they are not interested because Zouk is too spiritual, hippie, crazy…

So I got… worried. Genuinely. I spent hours thinking about Zouk's reputation. About whether there are things we're normalizing that maybe shouldn't be normal. I even asked myself: Is what I do actually healthy? Am I helping people by teaching Zouk, or am I turning them into something… unbalanced? Something a little weird?

And then I stopped myself.

Because hugging each other and looking at each other like we're all a little in love… that's not a bad thing. The world would actually be a lot nicer if more people did that. If more people cared and focused on getting good at something, so they could have better experiences and give better experiences to others. Even if it is "just" through dance.

Dancing is playing, for me. It's one of the most beautiful things we have as humans. And from all the dances I have tried, Zouk is the one that has given me the most. 

So why are people looking at it like it's strange? Like it's something they can't relate to? Like it's crazy?

There are extremes, for sure. But Zouk shouldn't be defined by its extremes. And I wanted to know, from YOU, from the community, how do we talk about this? Are we aware of the barriers the reputation can create? What parts of it are real? What parts are exaggerated? What do we think we can do to make the community feel more open, more relatable, more welcoming?

This is something I value so much. I'm genuinely happy every time I get to share it. I think a lot of us feel that way. And it would be really sad if, without even realizing it, we were putting up walls that kept other people from feeling the same way.

So I asked one question out loud on Instagram. Why are Zoukers perceived as crazy, spiritual, hippie? And what came back was one of the best conversations I've seen in this community in a long time. People were honest, sometimes uncomfortable.

Many conversations came out of that one question, and here are some of them:

01. The dress code: Is the "comfortable clothes" culture actually Zouk? Or something that happened to Zouk along the way?

02. The head movement: Bachata adopted the head movement too. Did it get a different reaction? If so, why?

03. Where the "spiritual" reputation came from: The reputation didn't appear out of nowhere. It has a history. Do we know it?

04. But is "spiritual" even an insult?: Is the spiritual side of Zouk something to be proud of, or is it holding us back from growth?

05. The spectrum: We know about the diversity of Zouk internally. But does the outside world see it? And why do some parts of the spectrum feel more visible than others?

06. The advertising problem: Can we even control how Zouk looks online, or does trying to only make it louder?

And underneath all of it, the question I keep coming back to:

How much of what we call "Brazilian Zouk culture" actually came from Zouk?

Over the next few weeks, we're going to open each one of these. Together. 

And I want to be clear about something.

This series isn't about deciding what Zouk is or isn't (The title is the hook 😛)... or maybe…

BUT! It's definitely not about pointing fingers at the spiritual side, the technical side, one type of crowd, or the other.

It's about awareness. About having honest conversations without immediately turning them into division.

I've been dancing Zouk for years. I compete in Jack & Jill. I love the technical side. And I've also felt that almost meditative and transcendental quality that makes Zouk unlike anything else. I live in the spectrum, as most of us do.

That's exactly why this conversation matters.

Which one do you want to start with?

And what's the one thing about Zouk's reputation you've always wanted to say out loud?

Leave it below.

*photo media credit: @g.teixeirafoto at League of Shadows, Sao Paulo