Kizomba Wednesdays — Hints and Tips for Kizomba
Question From Baldaling
Hi guyz, So I just got introduced to Kizomba about 5 months ago. I love the dance and I really want to master it, but it seems not to be happening for me. I’m okay with the basic steps now but you know, it gets boring doing the same thing all the time. How do I spark my creativity Kizomba? Any ideas on how I can improve my dance in the shortest possible time? Any free lessons online you can recommend?
Answers
User airbrat
My kizomba game is pretty strong. If you think kizomba is about fancy tricks and showing off then you’re wrong. This is where musicality comes into play.
I take as many privates and workshops when available. One particular private lesson my instructor gave me a challenge. He challenged me to dance (at the next social) but not to do a single trick. Not one. He told me to slow down, listen to the music and then telegraph that to my partner without saying a single word.
I know it sounds silly but this, to me, was my ‘holy shit’ moment. Everything at that time made sense. When I danced that evening with my partner it was one of the best dances I ever had. By me enjoying the music, moving to the flow and then communicating that energy to my partner I was able to enjoy my dancing that much more. But here’s the best part — my partner enjoyed her dance to. It was such a good dance that she didn’t even realize that I didn’t perform any tricks. It was 100% musicality and she felt it.
Now why am I bringing all this up? Because it sounds like you’re eager to learn all the ‘cool’ tricks associated with kizomba. Sometimes you need to take a step back, slow down and remember why you started to dance kizomba to begin with. My friend, in your eagerness to learn something new you’re going to burn yourself out.
To this day I will dance with random girls and sometimes I’ll do nothing but keep it absolutely simple. The look on their face is priceless when the song is over. Musicality first and then everything else happens automatically my friend!
Lastly never NEVER rush through learning how to dance. Dancing is an art form and boils down to individual interpretation. There is no ‘wrong’ way to dance. Enjoy yourself and don’t get frustrated. When you start to rush through lessons then you look like every other lead on the dance floor who only memorizes dance steps. It’s so damn obvious.
TL;DR When your musicality is on point. The lead won’t even know!
User xicomen
This.
What i did was: I learned the steps and tried do understand the kizomba “flow”; had social kizomba, semba and tradicional kizomba. (i took 6months of classes 3 times per week + social) and then the next 6 month of just socials, 2 or 3 times per week, my city have alot of kizomba parties :).
At first was weird going to socials because i didnt have the confidence and i know i needed to think less and just dance naturaly, so i think it comes with time and alot of dance! The confidence i got from classes and the dancing naturaly comes from social dancing! For real, classes and social are so diferent and they mixed together is good. The connection you get from someone at socials you dont get at classes, that connection is what makes you enjoy the dance i belive.
I guess at start i just wanted to know steps and afterwards the basic was the real deal, when clubs are full and you dont have space the only thing you can do is basics, use musicality and rythm dynamics, so even if you are doing the same thing it doesent feel like you are behing repetitive (and you can tarraxar xD).
Good dances!
User maitangle
Best way to get better is to go to more events or classes. You could also get a partner to practice with regularly
User leto78
Kizomba is like jazz… Creativity comes from mastering the basics. Look at how the teachers dance in the social, not what they teach in class.
In kizomba, less is more.
User feschubert
I think it pretty much depends on the girl, here where I live, its 50/50, while some girls like more wild moves, others are fine if you just keep with the basics, its more a personal thing I believe.
User Baldaling
I wished that would be the case in my area. The only ladies comfortable with basic moves in my immediate environment are often the beginners. The intermediate level dancers won’t hesitate to turn you down after seeing you exhibit basic moves on the dance floor with previous dancers. They are very impatient towards beginners.
But all the same, I’ve learned to enjoy the musicality of the dance and flow with it.
User feschubert
I’d say this is general for any dance unfortunately, girls are NEVER patient with guys that are beginners, you can add that to any other dance like Bachata, Salsa, Zouk, Forro, etc.
When you are a beginner, you are screwed, so the best you can do is practice a lot with the girls from your class and attend any workshop available, this will also help you to build a little reputation between the dancers and you can get to know more people and have more dance partners in parties. OFC, if the girl is a total asshole, she deserves nothing but to stay in the seats alone waiting for somebody to invite her to dance, having some self respect and never inviting these girls to dance is also a thing, IMO.
User Baldaling
Less is more, more like marketing. But you know, in the pubs back in my country, if you don’t have some wild moves up your sleeves, forget about inviting any lady on the dance floor the second time. They will so turn you down. But advice well noted though
User DJNJM
Manuel Dos Santos and Flavie Merise are a wonderful dance couple from Montreal (You’ll see them at many North American festivals). They do lessons at DrKizomba.com and you could always try KizombaHarmony’s KizombaToGo app for your iPhone.
