Overview
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a smooth, relaxed style of partner dancing that moves in “slots” on the dance floor. Known for its improvisational, playful, and dynamic feel, WCS is danced to a wide range of music—from modern hits to old-school classics.
Born in the U.S. in the 1960s, West Coast Swing has evolved with the times, always staying in step with the music and cultural trends of each new era. We like to think of it as the cool younger cousin of swing dancing.
Overview
Brazilian
Zouk
Brazilian Zouk, or Zouk, is a modern partner dance that emerged in the 1990s as an evolution of Lambada. Known for its intimate connection and fluid movement, Zouk creates a deep sense of partnership on the dance floor.
Its basic rhythm is simple and beginner-friendly, but the dance also features dynamic upper body isolations, playful styling, and signature head movements from the follower. Zouk is smooth, flowy, flirtatious—and unbelievably fun to dance!
More on West Coast Swing
Dances have a lead and follow role, but both partners strongly influence the dance and contribute ideas. What a partnership creates together can never be replicated, since it’s all improvised! There are no gender requirements—we encourage everyone to engage with the role(s) they feel drawn to.
WCS is a social street dance. This means that while it offers fun and challenging technique to learn, it’s meant to be enjoyed by people of all skill and interest levels. You can be as casual or as formal in your training as you prefer. It also means that everyone generally dances with everyone—there’s no need to bring a partner.
One of our favorite things about WCS is its stretchy, elastic look and feel. Partners smoothly swing toward and away from each other in a hypnotic, continuous cycle of kinetic energy. You have to experience it to understand the joy of a “gooey” dance!
This dance is for everybody and we will do our utmost to meet you in the intersection of your skill, experience, goals and interest. While our services are curated for adults, children are welcome under the supervision of a responsible adult.
Absolutely not! We are overjoyed to welcome dancers of all experience levels.
If you do happen to be a dancer of another style, you will likely enjoy the fact that WCS readily accepts influence from other dances. You can absolutely incorporate styling and, in some cases, technique, from other dances you are fluent in.
While it’s a little dated, we think this is a pretty good illustration of some of the features of this highly entertaining dance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4fRV0aG3lc.
If you choose to look at videos online, be aware that most of them will be competitive dances by professionals. Their performances generally look rather different from social WCS! Many of our classes will include a demo, and you can also feel free to request one from us at any time.
More on Brazilian Zouk
Zouk has a way of cultivating trust between partners. Follows have opportunities to rely on leads to keep them safe as they engage in head movement and off-axis turns. Each moment flows naturally out of the connection between the partners. As with all our dances, there are no gender requirements, everybody dances how and with whom they choose.
Zouk is a social street dance. It doesn’t have the highly-regulated rules that other partner dances tend to have, such as various styles of ballroom. While you can choose to engage with it competitively, it really shines as a means to bring people and communities together.
One of our favorite things about Zouk is its fluid movement as it flows elegantly around the floor. It’s also easy to find your place, since it always returns to its basic rhythm. The experience of relaxing into a dance and trusting in your partner, the music, the connection and yourself is an incredibly poignant kind of freedom.
Our mission is to make partner dancing accessible to everybody. Though Zouk does feature follow head movement, that is a more advanced skill that is taught after the basics are mastered. It is optional and always voluntary – it is not required to enjoy the dance! It can also easily be modified to accommodate specific limitations.
All of our classes are geared toward adults, though beginner classes are stylistically all-age friendly. At higher levels we begin to incorporate sensual elements. While there is nothing overtly sexual about Zouk, the sensual nature makes it better suited for adults. As such, we recommend Zouk classes and socials for ages 18 and up. However, children are welcome at the discretion of their guardians and under the supervision of a responsible adult.
The dances we do at our studio are casual, social dances that are intended to be danced by anybody who is interested! We will take you through as much training as you want, but know that any level of skill or interest is welcome. It takes all kinds of dancers to make up our wonderful community!
We think this video does a good job highlighting the main features of this beautiful dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14aLHE0BuJo.
As with most dance styles, if you choose to look at videos online, know that most of them will be of professionals. Their performances generally look quite different from social Zouk!
There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.
– Vicki Baum
Deanna is an amazing instructor. She is able to diagnose the finer points of your current ability and show simple fixes that make you look smooth and polished. I am always amazed at how she can work with people of all levels in a class setting, and everyone gets excellent instruction. I highly recommend her as an instructor for private and group lessons.
Kim
I am truly grateful to have found Deanna’s class. I had no prior experience to dancing and she is amazing on explaining how and why we do various aspects of dancing in a very beginner friendly way!
Josh
Deanna is the BEST! I always thought I was a person who could not dance, but when I met Deanna, I knew I wanted to work with her. She is so encouraging!! Deanna helped me learn the skills and confidence to really enjoy dancing. She has great energy, a depth of knowledge, and a true passion for dancing. I love that she creates a warm community where you can practice with other people and have fun. Highly recommend Deanna as an incredible teacher!