Letters to Beginners

Dear beginner,

Welcome! I'm so excited that you are interested to learn Kizomba! I may be a little bias, but it's my favorite dance in the world... and I have tried and trained in many. Why Kizomba? Because it has a deeper connection than any partner dance that I have every tried, it also allows for more creativity, musicality, styling and self expression than any other social dance I have tried. Dancing Kizomba with a good partner can feel like floating in the clouds, being lost in the time of the moment, where we are sharing a special moment that is beyond the body, connecting at a soul level. It's a dance that is hard to understand or even fully appreciate looking at it, as it's really more an inner experience, more than it is danced to look good to the onlookers. Many times the dances that people love the most at a social are not at all the dances that the onlookers think were good. Sometimes the best feeling dances were done almost entirely on the spot and used micro movements that made it very interesting to the dancers dancing it, but those movements were barely visible to the outside, so the dance was not very interesting to look at. So, Kizomba can also be very confusing at first and many people get a wrong impression at first. This is why I decided to write this letter, to explain a few things and help you to have a better mindset around learning the dance.

Firstly, many people try to figure out the steps looking at people dancing and just get confused. There is a reason the that, in Kizomba there is no repeating basic steps (the 2 closest popular dances you may have heard of are Argentine Tango and Blues for that reason) which means that we are very free to the direction, speed and feel of each step (there are of course steps and patterns that make up this dance, but they are more starting points than static targets and there are many variations possible of each step) Which is why we say that it's not how many steps you know that makes you a good Kizomba dancer but how you use each step. The music is in 8 counts, but we don't use it much. As you start learning you will soon find out that moves have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ...10, 13... counts. You will also come to know that we don't need to start things on 1, or end them on 8. It's more of a continus flow that never really ends. Also, we can dance to any instruments in the music, including the voice. You can see couples dancing to the same song, one dancing really fast, another slowly, and neither of them are wrong, they are just dancing to something different in the music. This can all be confusing at the beginning, as you are trying to wrap your head around understanding the dance. It doesn't really fit in a box... which is one of the things that is awesome about the dance. Another awesome thing is that because of that it's easy to hide your mistakes.

Secondly it can seems too close, sexy, intimidating, especially in cultures that are use to keeping a big personal space bubble. I can say that to truly experience Kizomba fully that is something that you will need to get over. That is also one of the reasons that I tell people that Kizomba is not a dance for everyone, you do need to be able to accept the closeness of the dance. There are several reason it's danced so close. The first being that since there is no repeating basic as we just discussed, each step has to be led, even more each weight transfer. By having a chest to chest connection and thigh/side of knees connection it allows the information to be transmitted to your partner. And yes we also dance in open frame, but it's most of the time just on fist width apart which is still quite close. Connection allows for the information/intention to flow between the partners and allows to dance almost magically in sync even without knowing what the next step will be. Connection also allows to truly connect with your partner on a deeper more spiritual/soul/energetic level and create something truly special together. When danced that way it's danced in a way very innocently, although to the outside eye it can seem sexual. It's just a different type of connection that people are not use to. Connection is one of the most scary but also beautiful aspects of Kizomba. Is can be scary to open yourself up to another. It required building trust in the partnership and being open. If you can get there the rewards are usually an amazing dance.

Thirdly, Kizomba can seem like an easy and simple dance. But it's far from the truth. Yes we may be walking around doing seemingly easy steps, but it's all an illusion, it looks easy because of the way we walk connect and move together as one and because it's more of an internal than showy dance. But as you start to dance Kizomba you will very soon realize that walking any number of steps with a partner connected to you who doesn't know what the next step will be... usually ends up in an awkward and stumbly mess... don't feel bad when this happens... believe me we have all been there. It's usually a bit of an humbling experience, after which the true learning can begin. Walking is an art, in Kizomba a very popupar expression states: "In kizomba walking is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master" Why, because walking a certain way is what allows for a smooth connection, an exchange of the information/energy/intention, allows to dance in sync and in a way that feels good and is pleasing to the eye, but it also allows the window of opportunity to do all more advanced movements like slides and lifts. Quality of movement is important in kizomba because the way you step is actually how you lead and follow. I call it the anti-leading dance. There is very little prep, you lead by dancing the step and the connection allows your partner to follow. So the better you walk and execute the step, the more clear you are to your partner, and usually the better the dance is. The basis of the connection and leading is based an a preasurised connection that stays the same for the whole dance, this is the main thing that makes it look effortless, as there is not the push/pull that every other social partnered dance I know uses. So, it's a very detail oriented dance. Due to it's nature with no repeating steps, each step you learn is open to interpretation and variations, so it's also more of a concept based dance. Because of it's out of the boxness, it also means that there are endless variations, interpretations... so, you can keep learning for a very long time if you want to.

Forthly, You may be confused looking at videos or at people dancing, on the variety in how the dance looks and the music sounds. This is because although there is a style called Kizomba, there is also the Kizomba umbrella that has 8 main styles under it that can be further subdivided. This also includes the music. So, we have very traditional African souding music of the Semba which has existed for at least 100 years and we have remixed pop songs of Urban Kiz a style that is only around 9 years old. Passing by the hard hitting Tarraxo and the soft melodic Douceur. When going to a social most of the music styles will be played. They are all Angolan styles related to Kizomba (or more specifically Semba, which is the root of the music and dance) which is where the walking based styles come from and Tarraxhina which is based on hip isolations, also originating from Angola. Once the dances hit Europe, more modern styles were created like Urban Kiz and Tarraxo, but still based in the rhythms and steps of the original Angolan dances. When I teach I start with what I call a foudation, which teaches you the original Passadas (walking patterns) from the root Semba, all of which are also used in all the other walking styles. I teach it keeping in mind the techniques that are universal in all the styles, so that it gives you a foundation to learn any of the styles afterwards. Later on, if you keep learning, we will get more specific and learn about how the dance each style using the foundation. Basically again because this dance does not fit in a box is can look wildly different depending on the style and who is dancing it, that is one of the things that make it fun and exciting... but also kind of confusing at first. But if you take things one step at a time, things will slowly make more and more sense as you progress in your learning journey.

Fiftly, No, Kizomba is NOT a Latin dance, it's an African dance hailing from Angola and other Afro-Portugese colonies. Why is this so important? Because the African hip movements are different from the Latin hip movements. So, contrary to what many think, Latin hip movements will not help you dance kizomba. But both dances do step while moving their hips... but that is basically where the similarities end. So, no matter what dance you are coming from, you will need to learn from the beginning. There is no other dance that has the same movements, way to lead/follow and vocabulary. The 2 most useful dances to know are actualy Argentine Tango and Blues because in these dances there is a similar connection and they also don't have a repeating basic step, so it does help with certain aspects, like connection and creativity. However the walking and posture are completely different. So, if you actually want to get good at kizomba, you will need to get humble, become a student again and start from the complete beginning. And at least taking classes with me and coming in with an open mind I promise it will not be too easy... actually it will probably feel challenging. 

Well I hope this gives you a better understanding of the dance and maybe I busted a few misconceptions that you had in the process. I can't rave enough about kizomba it's truly a special dance. It's a dance that is hard to explain or to fully appreciate looking at it. It's more of an experice. So, all I can say is come and try it out if you are curious and interested and feel what kizomba feels like. But warning, many fall in the kizomba hole once they feel the dance... and never come out. Some even forget about all other dances, and get sucked in the kizomba world. That is why it has slowly taken over the world, and why in Europe, the first place it went after Angola, in many if it's cities Kizomba has become the biggest and most danced Social dance, beating popular dance like Salsa. For example in Paris if an organizer organizes a multidance and room social, they always give the biggest room to Kizomba. We are not there yet in North Americe, but it's also only been here for about 10 years, including a pandemic... through pioneers like me who found the dance (in my case living in France, before it even got popular there) and started promoting, teaching and growing the dance in North America. I was the first one to introduce Kizomba to Halifax about 10 years ago... not far behind Montreal. It's been cool to be part of it's expansion in North America and beyond, it's now spread pretty much everywhere, from Asia, to India, to Russia and South America, everywhere seems to be getting in to dancing Kizomba. But it's also been cool to see the dance itself grow, branch out in new and different styles, some of which like Tarraxo are only 5 years old.

Well, I hope if you made it this far, you will start your Kizomba journey and experience the magic of Kizomba. The kizomba community in Halifax will welcome you with an open heart if you do and I will be there every step along the way guiding you and encouraging you. Celebrating all the small accomplishements and giving corrections when needed.

Best,

Brigitte