So enjoy, and Happy Halloween. bit.ly/nelEpM

Zouk Nation and Street Smart Entertainment would like to thank all the dancers who participated in the “Don’t Keep Me Waitin’” Video Contest. All the hard work and creativity that was put into each submission was truly inspiring. And now without further ado here are the winners of the contest.

Taking first place are Alisson Rodriguez Sandi and Audrey Isautier from Perth, Australia! After careful consideration it was decided that their video, with the beautiful production quality by producer Ross Metcalf, best embodied the spirit of the song. http://bit.ly/qPkUNx

As the winners of the contest, footage from their video will be incorporated into the official video for the song to be submitted to MTV and various other music channels. Keep your eyes on the Zouk Nation website for the date of the official video release.

In second place are Marcos Fonseca and Emily Ma from Hong Kong, representing the growing Zouk scene in Asia and showing why it’s one of the hottest new communities to join the international Zouk scene. http://bit.ly/n3WOOk

As the second place winners they will be receiving autograph copies of D. Lopes new album to be released later this summer.

Great job guys and again congratulations!

Nilton Ramalho, the newly crowned Kizomba Artist of the Year, will be performing new songs from his album and some golden classics at SOB’s down in the Soho area. I’ve been informed that tickets for this event are selling fast, so order yours before their all gone. If you don’t know who Nilton is, you might want to check out the interview I did with him last year when he was the featured artist on Zouk Nation, http://bit.ly/kITxVP

Date: Friday, July 8th, 2011
Location: SOB’s, 204 Varick Street (at the corner of West Houston)
Time: Doors open at 11pm
Price: $20 in advance, $22 at the door Buy Tickets
Website: www.sobs.com

Schedule Change! Wednesday, August 3rd, Zouk Nation and Fire on the Water present the 4th Brazilian Zouk Boat Cruise

Join us for a very special evening dancing to the latest Zouk sounds as we cruise up and down the Hudson River under the stars. This year’s event features special guest instructor Mari Hodges and our very own DJ Piyo.

Price of admission includes a free Brazilian Zouk lesson taught by Mari Hodges.

Admission:
$10 in advance
$15 at the door

Tickets may be purchased in advance online through the Zouk Nation website, http://bit.ly/bUtI4f

Schedule:
Boarding: 6:00-7:30 pm
Free Brazilian Zouk dance lesson: 7:00 -7:30
Cruise: 7:30-10:00

Location: Pier 40 West

Directions: Take the 1 train to Houston Street Station. When you get out of the Station, walk 4 blocks west to the end of Houston Street.

For 3 consecutive summers Zouk Nation has hosted Zouk in Central Park at Bethesda Terrace, but all that is about to change.

On May 23, the Department of Parks and Recreation officially changed the status of Bethesda Terrace into a “quiet zone.” As such, the Park authorities will no longer allow the playing of audio equipment or musical instruments in the area.

This announcement has been met with some controversy as local musicians who frequent that area of the Park view the ban as an infringement on their right to freedom speech as laid down in the first amendment and has been written up in many of the local newspapers including the New York Times, which featured an article on June 5th about the growing debate.

Zouk Nation called up it’s contact in the Parks Department, the same department where it has registered for a permit each summer, to see what, if anything, could be done about this situation. We were informed that for the foreseeable future, Bethesda Terrace would remain off limits to anyone playing audio equipment or live instruments. Anyone violating the new park law would be served a citation, one that could result in a fine ranging anywhere from one hundred to several hundred dollars.

As a result, Zouk Nation has seen no choice to but to relocate Zouk in Central Park this summer. The new location will be by the Shakespeare Statue on Literary Walk, the same location that the Tango community has been using for their weekly milongas on Saturdays for the past ten years.

Directions:
Walk from Bethesda Terrace, at the northern end of the mall to the southern end. The Shakespeare statue is situated next  to the Olmstead Flower Bed. If you are entering the Park from Eighth Avenue on the west side or Fifth Avenue on the East Side you will want to enter the Park at 66th Street.

Dates: Zouk in Central Park will take place on Sundays from 6pm- dusk on the following days
June 12th
June 26th
July 10th
July 24th
August 7th
August 21st
Sept 4th

A couple weeks ago an email arrived at the offices of Zouk Nation containing some stunning photos of a wedding in which zouk dancing was featured as part of the festivities. We made some inquiries as to the origin of the photos and the story behind them is as follows.

On May 7th around 2:00 in the afternoon at the Old Marylebone Townhall in London, Andrew Finch married Yiye Zhang in a ceremony that was attended by a small gathering of  family and friends. After the ceremony the celebration was continued in Regents Park where the guests had a chance to mingle and take photos of the newlyweds. At  4:00 a canal boat transported the entire gathering to the London Canal Museum, where the couple had reserved the 1st floor for the reception and dinner.

After the dinner, the tables and chairs were swept aside to make room for a dance stage. The couple’s first dance was a zouk performance done to the song Arash, by the artist of the same name. Anh Hoang, a friend of the couple, described the dance as “graceful” and “sensual”. The performance inspired other zouk dancers who were in attendance to join the couple out on the floor after the performance was over.

When asked why the couple chose a zouk dance for their first dance, Yiye, the bride, replied “given how much we love dancing zouk, the decision to make zouk our first dance came naturally to both of us. She admitted that out of all the planning that took place for that day it was preparing for the first dance which proved to be the most time consuming and challenging. Both the groom and the bride credit Marcos Fonseca, the couple’s first zouk instructor and close friend,  for originally introducing the world of zouk to them and inspiring them to dance.

As for the photos themselves, they are the work of James Leung and his team. James states that he drew inspiration for the photos from the photography of Alen MacWeeney and Zouk Nation.

Zouk Nation congratulates the happy couple, may the two of you continue dancing together for years to come.

To view the entire album, go to the gallery section of this site and select “Zouk Wedding Photos by James Leung” from the pull down menu.

Zouk Nation is proud to present a special Dance Parade Weekend Zouk Lambada Workshop with guest instructor Mari Hodges. This very special workshop is scheduled to take place on Sunday May 22nd at Pearl Studios in New York City. See details below.

Mari Hodges Biography:
Mari has been dancing zouk lambada for 17 years, and has taught private and group classes for more than 10 years in Buenos Aires (Maluco Beleza, Club Porto Seguro, and Balaio), New York, Los Angeles and San Diego in the U.S., Japan and Israel. She taught and performed at the 3rd and 4th International Zouk Lambada Congresses in Porto Seguro (2009 and 2011), and also served as a judge for the 3rd World Zouk Lambada Championship in 2011. She began dancing in Japan where she learned her first steps with Aochan, and she was later influenced by Gilson, Braz and Patricia Cruz. Her philosophy of dance and teaching zouk lambada is that it should be truly pleasant for both dancers as well as asthetically beautiful, and this means adapting to and harmonzing with one’s partner in steps that are clean, beautiful and natural, with a natural, intuitive lead, and dancing with the music.

Zouk Workshop with Mari Hodges
Presented by Zouk Nation

Pearl Studios
500 8th Ave, 12th Floor,
New York, NY 10018
Ph: 212-904-1850

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Part 1: 12-2 Penthouse 2
Part 2: Rm 1215
Admission $35

The following is a complete list of activities that will take place in New York City during the Dance Parade Weekend, from Friday, May 21st – Sunday, May 22nd. Hope to see you at some, if not all, of these events.

Friday

10:30 pm- 2:30 am: Meet and Greet Party at the Bubble Lounge, New York’s premiere champagne bar. The party will be downstairs in the Krug Room. We will also be celebrating Makihala Casseus’ birthday, so don’t forget to wish the birthday girl a happy birthday.
Location: 228 West Broadway, #1, New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 431-3433
Website: bubblelounge.com
Directions: Take the 1 or the 2 train to the Franklin Street Station

Saturday

12:00: Sign in for Dance Parade at 21st Street and Broadway

1:00: Dance Parade begins

3:00: Dance Parade finishes at Thompkins Square Park and the Dance Fest begins

4:25: Free 30 min. introductory Zouk Lambada lesson taught by special guest instructor Mari Hodges
Location: Stage B in Thompkins Square Park

6:00: Dance Fest ends

8:30: Dinner at Cantina Royale (formerly known as Monkey Town)
Location: 58 N. 3rd Street in Williamsburg
Directions: Take the L train from Union Square to the Bedford Avenue stop.
Note: Cash only! No credit cards are accepted.

9:30-10:00: Free Zouk Lambada lesson at Cantina Royale taught by Mari Hodges

10:00 – 1:00 am: Zouk & Kizomba dance party at Cantina Royale, no cover charge, but there is a two drink minimum requirement.

Sunday

12:00 – 5:00: Zouk Lambada Workshop with Special Guest Instructor, Mari Hodges
Location: Pearl Studios, 500 8th Avenues, 12th Floor.
Time: 12-2 & 3-5
Price: $35

6:00 – until Dark: Zouk in Central Park down by Bethesda Fountain
Directions: Take the C train to 72nd Street Station. Enter the park and walk East. Bethesda fountain is in the middle of the park near the Boat House

Have you ever dreamed of dancing in a music video? Well, now’s your chance. Street Smart Entertainment and Zouk Nation present the “Don’t Keep Me Waitin’” video contest!

Popular Zouk/Hip-Hop artist D. Lopes created the song, “Don’t Keep Me Waitin’”, which has since gone on to become a popular hit in the Brazilian Zouk dance community.

In honor of the song’s eighth anniversary, D. Lopes has gone and remixed the song and is currently planning to create a new music video. This will be the official video for the song which will be submitted to MTV and other music channels.

D. Lopes is a huge fan of the Brazilian Zouk community and in order to show his appreciation for all the support the community has given him has decided to feature some Brazilian Zouk dancing in his new video.

In order to find the best dancers, Street Smart Entertainment and Zouk Nation have decided to hold a contest called the “Don’t Keep Me Waitin’” Video Contest!” Brazilian Zouk dancers everywhere are encouraged to participate. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a teacher or a student or what country you reside in. All that matters is that you can dance. So start sending in those videos.

How to Enter

1. Download the sound file from SoundCloud

2. Shoot a video and upload it onto YouTube

3. Send the link to the video along with the following information in an email to Zouk Nation, onezouknation@gmail.com

Name of both dancers featured in the video:
School of group dancers are affiliated with:
Mailing Address:
Email Address:

4. All participants must be a member of Zouk Nation. If you are not currently a member, simply go to the Zouk Nation page on Facebook and join.

5. The deadline for all submissions is May 31st, 2011

The Contest

All video submissions will be judged on the following criteria:

1. Quality: Mainly, what we are looking for is a nice, clear image with clean sound. So no blurry videos shot on cellphones, please.

2. Concept: When thinking of a concept you want to choose some place visually interesting, preferably outside. Try to avoid shooting the video in a dance studio or on a stage. For example, if you live in Paris, why not shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower? If you live in Amsterdam, why not shoot it by one of the canals.

3. Dance Skills: Your dancing will be judged not only on how well you and your partner can dance, but how well you connect with each other. In short, we want to see some heat people.

Judging

A panel of judges will narrow the videos down to ten finalists. Those ten videos will be forwarded to D. Lopes, who will make the final decision.

Prizes

1st Prize: Having footage from your video incorporated into the new official video for “Don’t Keep Me Waitin’”

2nd Place, a free signed CD and t-shirt from D. Lopes.

On behalf of Street Smart Entertainment & Zouk Nation we wish everyone good luck.

Lights, camera, dance!

On Saturday, May 21st, Zouk Nation will be participating for the third straight year in Dance Parade in New York City. This year’s event will attract an estimated 10,000 dancers, 118 groups representing more than 75 different styles of dance.

The parade route will begin on 21st Street and proceed down Broadway to the East Village where it finally ends up in Thompkins Square Park, where for the rest of the afternoon groups perform and offer free dance classes. Later in the evening the festivities will continue with dance parties at various venues around town.

Last year’s Parade attracted more than 30 Brazilian Zouk dancers from across the United States and Canada. This year our goal is to double that number. Zouk Nation invites Zouk dancers from all over the world to come to New York for what it is sure to be a very memorable weekend. In addition to the Parade there will also be a dance party on Friday night to welcome visiting dancers, a dance workshop on Sunday by a special guest instructor and a few other surprises. So if you’ve ever considered coming to New York to check out the local Zouk scene, this would be the weekend to come.

To view photos from last year’s parade go to the Zouk Gallery page on the Zouk Nation website and selecting Dance Parade 2010 from the pull down menu.

If you are interested in joining us, let us know by signing up on the Facebook invite page that has been created for this event and then registering on the Dance Parade website.