April 2026 4 classes are uploaded (intermediate and advanced)
Technique of the month is Bate Cabelo and Bachazouk Flow 1.Bate Cabelo Bate cabelo is the Portuguese term for "hair whip," originating from Lambada and the drag and vogue culture of Brazil. Brazilian Zouk adapted this move, as did Bachata around the time of the pandemic. Mechanically, a bate cabelo is the combination of torso torsion (twisting) and inclination, which creates a passive head movement. The bate cabelo can be divided into three levels: - Hip Level: Slow and big movements. - Chest Level: Fast and small movements. This level is independent of your hip movements; therefore, the follower can walk or incline their hips, since the hip position will not affect the bate cabelo movement. - Neck Level: Super fast and very small movements, but it really makes the hair fly! 2.Bachazouk Flow: Mastering Head Movements & Footwork This Bachazouk Flow class addresses the common problem of stopping your feet during head movements. The purpose of this class is to build combinations starting with simple Bachata steps without head movements, and then seamlessly adding the head movements as advanced variations. Understanding the Musicality Bachata music is typically faster than the music Brazilian Zouk dancers usually prefer. Additionally, Bachata features distinct rhythm sections within a song (most predominantly derecho and majao): - Derecho & Majao: During these sections, we prefer to maintain the Bachata cadence (mostly in the hips), or at least keep our footwork moving to match the song's energy. - Breaks & Intro Sections: In sections where the bass guitar drops the standard Bachata rhythm, it feels more natural to pause or stop the feet. - The Drive: However, as long as the bass guitar is driving the rhythm alongside the bongos and güira, we do not want to stop our feet! The Golden Rule of Bachazouk Head Movements The main ingredient of Bachata is hip movement. However, when we combine head movements with footwork, we need to reduce our hip movement to zero and focus entirely on our pivoting footwork.