Friday, May 16, 2014

International zouk competitions

The dancers are a competitive breed of people. And why not? If you got skills, step up and show them! There are a couple of international competitions coming up in my favourite dance form, Brazilian zouk Sign up and be a zouk star!




May 30 - Jun 1 2014: Zouk World Cup

in Zurich, Switzerland held at the Zurich Zouk Congress (KSG, Limmatstrasse 114, Zürich), organised by KriZouk.

Qualifiers on May 30, 11:30 pm: Improvisation to 2 songs, one slow and one fast. All the competing couples will dance at the same time.

Finals on Jun 1, 11 pm: The finalist couple perform a choreographed zouk show (2-4 minutes).

Criteria: Musicality and rhythm; Creativity; Harmony; Use of space; Clothing.
The judges award 5-10 points for each criteria for every couple. The finalists will be chosen by the highest accumulated points of the qualifiers. Points from the qualifiers and the final will be summed up to for the total points for each couple.

Judges: Renata Peçanha, Jorge Peres, Rodrigo Delano, Renato Veronezi, Babi Pacheco, Bruno Galhardo, Eglantine Oliveira, Leandro Wakko, Masha Oliveira and more.

Prizes: Full passes of international zouk congresses.

Registration: Fill in the form here.
Registration fee: 50€ (includes entrance to Friday and Sunday parties).
Registration deadline: May 20 2014.

Note: The competition will be held only with the registration of 6 couples. Otherwise the competition will be canceled and registration fees refunded.




in St. Petersburg, Russia at the International Russian Zouk Congress, organised by Piter Zouk Congress.

Categories:
Amateur = couples dancing zouk more than 6 months, but not teaching or performing professionally.
Professional = zouk teachers and couples dancing zouk more than 2 years (advanced level).

Qualifiers: Freestyle zouk to a mix of two zouk songs (slow and fast) of 4 minutes. 5 best couples of each category with the highest score pass to the finals.

Finals / Amateurs: Improvisation to unknown zouk song for 4 minutes, which must include a set of obligatory zouk moves. The obligatory moves and the possible zouk songs used in this stage to be published before the competition. One lift and choreographed parts are allowed.

Finals / Professionals: Choreographed zouk show, maximum length 3 minutes. Elements and figures from other dances are allowed for maximum 1 min of the routine and zouk part should not be less than 2 mins. Props allowed, lifts and tricks recommended. The music must be sent 2 weeks before the competition. 

Judges: Renata Pecanha (chair), Jorge Peres, William Teixeira & Paloma Alves, Tiago Kamacho, Alex de Carvalho, Renato Veronezi, Val Clemente, Xandi & Evelyn, Mafie Zouker.

Prizes: Cash prizes of total 700€, gift certificates from sponsors and passes to dance congresses.

Registration: Email to russianzoukcongress@gmail.com with subject "Championship"; write your names and the category.
Registration fee: 40€ per couple.
Registration deadline: Jul 7 2014.





Aug 8-10 2014: Zouk S.E.A. Championship

in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Zouk South East Asia Festival, organised by Zouk S.E.A.

Showcase Routine Competition

Category: Amateur.

One round competition: Each couple present a show of 2,5-4,5 min to a song of your choice. Song must have audible zouk beats or recognizable as a valid zouk song (remix or unremix song). Lifts and tricks are allowed and costume required.

Registration fee: 50RM per couple.
Registration deadline: Jul 15 2014.

Note: The competition will be held only with the registration of 5 couples.


Jack & Jill Competition

Qualifiers: Couples are selected randomly. Couples dance at the same time to randomly picked zouk songs. Top 5 leaders and followers will be chosen for the finals.

Finals: Each couple will dance one at a time.

Criteria: Each competitor will be judged individually and not in pairs. Costumes are encouraged but required.

Registration fee: 10RM per person.
Registration deadline: at the location (Aug 8-10 2014).




in Porto Seguro, Brazil at the Berg's Congress, organised by Berg Dias & Co. This is the mother of zouk competitions, the 5th edition to run now in 2015.

Note: Except for the competition dates, no official details so far available. The info below is based on the previous, 2013 Championships.

Categories: Amateur and Professional.

Elimination on Jan 3: Improvisation to a mix of two zouk songs (slow and fast) of 4 minutes in small groups of 3-5 couples. The songs are drawn for each group before their round.

Semi-final on Jan 5: Choreographed shows.

Finals on Jan 7: Improvisation to a mix of two zouk songs (slow and fast) of 4 minutes one couple at a time. The songs are drawn for each couple before their round.

Judges: To be announced. (In 2013 the judges included e.g. Rodrigo Delano, Gilson Damasco, Solange Dias, Renato Veronezi, Bella Fernandez, Rodrigo Oliveira..)

Prizes: Cash prizes of ~100-1000+ RS for each of the top three couples in both categories and trophies.





More competitions?


There's a couple more competitions to come which you might want to mark in your calendars.

At the next Prague Zouk Congress on Mar 26-30 2015  there will be PZC Zouk and Zouklambada Competition. Prizes look promising - 1st place award 1500€ in cash!? Check out later the PZC website for more info (not yet announced).

At the International Zouk & Lambada Congress in Rio there has typically been a massive zouk competition as well - International Zouk Competition of Rio de Janeiro. The next one will be in January 2016. This competition is for professional dancers and it will take place on two nights of the congress - first round with freestyle zouk dancing and finals with shows. Winners will receive cash prizes and trophies. See my thoughts from the 2012 competition!

There are also some other interesting pro-level zouk battles to watch. Typically at the Zouktime! festival in Brno (2014: Sep 12-15) you'll see the teachers challenging themselves at a fun Jack & Jill comp - not to be missed if you're at the festival!




Even more??


Is this list missing your zouk competition? (Note: only international competitions!) Let me know! Send a message via the contact form or via DTW Facebook page.

Want to read more dance competition stories? See them all here!






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