Zouk refers to a kind of rhythmic music that comes from Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Martinique islands. Zouk can be translated to mean “festival” or “party” in local creole with influences from the English language. Within Africa, it is widely-known in the countries of lusophone and franco. Within Europe, it is mostly well-known within France, while in Northern America, it is well-known in Quebec, the province of Canada.
ShowCasing Our Zouk Videos…Vive Les Antilles!!!
Origins
The music style of zouk was modified within the 1980’s when a lot of various styles were combined, like balakadri, compass, bal granmoun, cadence, beguine and mazurka, American and French pop, and gwo ka, kadans and various native styles.
Kassav’
The top band to come out within this period would be Kassav, stemming from Martinique and Guadeloupe. They offered a Pan-Caribbean sound to this type of music by taking various elements from salsa, compass and reggae, becoming the most well-known band of zouk all over the globe. Kassav’ came about in the year 1979 through Pierre-Edouard Decimus, an old professional musician that once worked alongside Freddy Marshall.
Zouk quickly turned into a highly well-known dance trend that struck Latin America within some time, becoming crazily popular, and even reaching Asia and Europe. Zouk was recognized for its crazily theatrical concerts that featured spectacles of special effects, outrageous antics and colorful costumes.
Zouk Love
One special style of zouk would be known as zouk-love. This refers to more dramatic and slower music. Zouk-love’s origins stem from forms of slow tempo cadence sung by Dominica’s Ophelia Marie. The kizomba music from Cola-zouk and Angola of Cape Verde also derive from zouk. They sound almost the same, even though there are noticeable differences to people who can recognize both genres.
Caribbean Zouk (Traditional)
Caribbean zouk refers to dances performed within the Caribbean; it is often seen within the Haiti, Martinique, St. Lucia, Dominica and Guadeloupe islands. Like meringue, it is basically danced by altering weight from one foot to the next with the music, which a lot of dance teachers refer to as time. Its choreography is easy and needs little elaboration.
Brazilian Zouk
Within Brazil, the rhythm of zouk is put to use for styles of Brazilian dancing, but with movements that are more suited to its music. In general, lambada is frantic and quick. However, Brazilian zouk is sensual and slow, allowing a lot of turns and steps.
Soulzouk
Soulzouk came about in the year 2005 by a teacher called China from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Soulzouk, also known as zouk freestyle and refers to a brand new method of dancing zouk from Brazil. Being more modern, it is different from classic Brazilian Zouk through a brand new method of connecting with music. This kind of dancing does not focus solely on pace, but song melody, as well. This means that it can be danced along to zouk, as well as various other musical genres such as R‘n’B and rap. It is up to the men to lead with arms, hands, shoulders, head and their legs.
