Zouk is never an easy dance, but a lot of zouk is fairly safe and friendly to students. That is, in most schools it is taught in a manner that tries to minimise fear and risk by creating a shared bank of choreographies that dancers can repeat on the dance floor.
The result is dances that look “nice”. A dance with some nice expressions, some decent musicality. With couples that train a lot together you can see beautiful acrobatics movements and lifts.
But most of the time, except at very advanced levels, this kind of zouk is very safe and (frankly) kind of boring. It’s difficult to make big mistakes, but it also means a repetitive dance.
MZouk, in my experience, is thrilling.
But it’s also really, really scary.
That’s not to say that MZouk is not beginner-friendly. In fact, it’s one of the best styles for beginners to learn. Many zouk schools of all styles now train beginners in MZouk movements (primero paso, quarto paso, quinto paso, “y” and quarto-quinto) because this gives students a solid base for dancing zouk.
But unlike most other zouk styles, MZouk doesn’t try to be easy.
MZouk is scary from the very beginning.
It is scary because it’s possible to fail, and fail spectacularly.
The movements that you do in MZouk are complex, and not choreographed, relying instead on the technique of both dancers. If you miss a beat in the coordination, connection, or the alignment of your own body, you can screw up the movement and end up with something ugly.
But when MZouk it’s good, it’s heart-stoppingly, jaw-droppingly good. Because you can create movements you will NEVER see in other zouk styles — they just don’t have the technical capacity to create these shapes and expressions.
The body position of the dancers makes them able to move together as though they are reading each other’s minds — often meaning a more dynamic and more musical dance.
And yes, a scary dance too. As a follower, it is only in MZouk that I finish the dance sweating and with my heart racing, adrenaline pumping through my veins and a stupid grin on my face, because each dance is unlike something I’ve danced before.
I would encourage any follower to try it.
