How to dance like a Carioca? The latest on zouk in Rio!

If you like dancing here you'll fit right in. Brazil.

Brazilians love to dance and - as it seems to the viewer - they are also extremely good at it. Some of the most famous exports of Brazil, you might say, are in fact a number of dance styles, musicians and dancers. Perhaps the most well known dance and music of Brazil is samba. There are many styles of samba danced both in Brazil and around the world but what a person typically goes to see in Brazil is samba no pé, a type of samba you'll see in the carnival parades. And just a few days ago millions (I'd be safe to guess) travel to Brazil, and in particular to Rio de Janeiro, to see just that.

Dance dance dance! A passista at carnaval, guy dancing on the street in Floripa and Berg & Bella at Berg's Congress 2013.

But....... 'Brazilian dance' cannot be summed up in just samba no pé and samba carnivals. While Rio de Janeiro is the place to be for a sambista, you'll be sure to find a great number of dance schools of all sorts, dance events for all tastes and - one my favourite things - exceptional & deliciously colorful dance clothes. Whether you're a Carioca dancer or a dance tourist like myself, you'll be like a kid in a candy store in Rio.

And yes: you'll most certainly find Brazilian zouk in Rio! Though São Paulo may hold the crown in the sheer volume of zouk dancers, dance schools and clubs (and as with anything, in the true spirit of the everlasting Rio de Janeiro vs. São Paulo rivalry, a Carioca may try to question that statement), Rio de Janeiro is the #1 destination for any self respecting Rio style / zouk tradicional dancer, to say the least. It's also the home of many great zouk teachers that are known around the world, such as Renata Peçanha and Jorge Peres, Lidio Freitas and Monique Marculano, Mafie Zouker, China, Val Clemente and Thayná Trovick, Paloma Alves,..... The list goes on and spans a few 'zouk generations' already, not to even mention all the top artists that have spread their wings and are spreading their zouk knowledge now elsewhere in the world.

Renata and Jorge, the icons of zouk in Rio de Janeiro! Captured at 2014 Helsinki Zouk Festival.

Back in Cidade Maravilhosa... Rio de Janeiro vol.3

Just a few weeks ago I was back in Brazil, aaaagain! And once again I found myself in Rio de Janeiro, the enchanting raw diamond of Brazil.... it seems I simply cannot avoid it even if I try (haha!). Actually my plan was to start this Brazil trip in some small idyllic beach town. But it turned out that our dartboard of a travel plan pointed our way to Rio!

The 'idyllic small beach town'.... Rio! Ipanema beach at sunset.

This was my third time in 'Cidade Maravilhosa', the marvelous city of Rio, and this time I'd booked us in for three days. Remember my last trip: 24 hours in Rio? Or my first one with a bit more of the tasty Carioca life - oh that was the life. Three days wasn't too much for Rio, but enough to kick-start another fun Brazil adventure :) It was the day after the Christmas holidays when my friend and I landed in Rio. We smoothly arrived to our cute small hotel right in the heart of Copacabana. It was late afternoon and the temperature was well over 30C... our bodies must have had a bit of the heat shock! We couldn't wait to head out for cold drinks and what better place to do that than right on the beach. Oh the sweet Brazilian life!

Luckily we had a good 9 hours of sleep while crossing the Atlantic the night before as the plan for the evening was to go dancing... obviously, zouk! We met up with the rest of our group of fearless Finns that were staying just a block or so away. In no time at all we were on our way to the famous Renata Pecanha's dance school where the party was held that night, ready to burn the floor! More about that and zouk in Rio in the next post!!

Brazil 2015 zouk playlist

Soon in the blog: all about my trip to Brazil last month: Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro & Berg's Congress 2015, Itacaré, Salvador and São Paulo!

But before that: latest & hottest zouk tracks in Brazil right now! Below are the most memorable and most played songs from 2015 Berg's Congress and São Paulo dance floors during this January - featuring lots of great new zouk, kizomba and other zoukable tracks, as well as some classics you'll hear at the clubs in Brazil right now.

A ready playlist for you? Of course! I collected all the songs I could find on this Youtube playlist!

Zouk Spring Season in Helsinki - 2015

I'm sure you guys have been waiting for this.... 2015 spring zouk season in Helsinki! Sorry for the delay in the blog caused by my Brazil trip (though honestly I'm not really all that sorry about it, hehe)!

As usual, note that the dates may be subject to change and more classes & parties are sure to appear - always check with the respective organisers for their latest schedule.

Traveling dancer's vocabulary: English - Finnish

Alla suomeksi!

Happy New Year everybody! I thought I'd start the year off with something fun.....! Hehe. Some weeks ago I published the English - Portuguese dance vocabulary, to help my fellow traveling dancers. Now why not continue this, with another set of "dance & survival" words and phrases: English - Finnish! Now you can impress your Finnish dance friends ;)

English words & phrases are written on red, and on their right the Finnish words & phrases on blue.

Muutama viikko sitten julkaisin ensimmäisen tanssisanaston, englanti - portugali, matkalevien tanssijoiden avuksi. Nyt sanastosarja jatkuu; vuorossa englanti - suomi! On hyödyllistä osata muutama sana tai lause maailmalla tanssiessaan - toivon mukaan tästä on sinulle apua! Ja: Hyvää uutta vuotta kaikille!

Englanninkieliset sanat ja lauseet on kirjoitettu punaisella, ja näiden oikealla puolella suomenkieliset vastineet.

Helsinki seasons: Winter!

Perhaps you read my earlier post Helsinki all year round and Helsinki: Autumn? Now it's time to look into one of my favourite seasons in Helsinki, and Finland: WINTER!!

Winter in Helsinki!

Finland, the land of four seasons. If you're an inhabitant of Helsinki, you'll probably have a love-hate relationship with winter. You look forward to the snow that lights up the city during the dark months. And you dread the days when it's pouring rain, sleet or snow horizontally onto your face, temperature suddenly drops -25C and for the fifteenth time dig your way out of your house/to your car/to the tram. I have to admit though: I love winter!

Some of the best of Helsinki during winter: Scenes (left:) Töölönlahti, Kruununhaka, Esplanade, (right:) Meilahti, Töölönlahti, Hakaniemi from Eläintarhanlahti and harbour towards Suomenlinna.

Winter basically starts when the daily average temperature goes below zero Celsius. You can expect the winter weathers to arrive sometime between end of October and start of January, and end sometime between the start of March and end of April. You'll most likely see the picture postcard type of snow frosted sceneries in Helsinki in January - February. But as the the climate change is affecting Finland as well the weather can be quite fickle. From December to mid March you can expect anything from +10 and rain, to -25 and 1+ meter of snow. So check for forecasts before arriving to Helsinki!

Despite the extreme weather  conditions public traffic is quite reliable in Helsinki (though the locals complain even about 1-2 minutes' delays) and the roads remain open. Just be careful driving & walking out on the roads when it's dark and slippery!

While the end of autumn and early winter (Oct - early Dec) can be quite gloomy with short daylight hours, the mid and end of winter (End of Dec - Feb) are typically much more pleasant, even truly terrific times to visit Helsinki! When the snow covers the city and the daylight hours quite rapidly start to increase after the winter solstice (22nd Dec), you can experience the magical winter wonderland, right in the capital city with all its activities and services! The weeks before Christmas certainly are a great time to experience the city with its holiday lights and Christmas markets. If you want to try out winter sports, you can do all of that in Helsinki as well! Check below for more details.

If you're interested to make a Lapland visit on your winter trip to Finland, then read more on my post Fun winter week in Lapland!

Make most of your travels: 10 best tips

There are a few things I've learned while traveling.... like never ask for "spicy" food in Mexico or Thailand and don't fall asleep on the beach without 50+ sunscreen. Well, you probably know these already, don't you? Below some a bit substantial life lessons I've picked up along the way: my tried and true notes to make the most of your travels!

If you are planning a long tip, feel free to read the summary of my round-the-world trip with the FAQs and my favorite spots, or take a look at the Travel index page!

Traveling dancer's vocabulary: English - Portuguese (Brazil)

Abaixo da imagem em português!

Knowing the local language can help a lot while traveling. Unfortunately (IMO) it's not possible to learn every language of the world - but learning even just a couple key words and phrases can save you from a lot of trouble. And it always makes a positive impression with the locals!

With kind assistance from my friends in Brazil I compiled this short Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary for the traveling dancers. Thanks to Stela Regina Novaes from Studio Metrópole and Jaakko Pispala from ZK Adventures for the help!

English words & phrases are written on blue, and on their right the Brazilian Portuguese words & phrases on green!

Now t-shirts available with this print!

Conhecer a língua local pode ajudar muito durante a viagem. Infelizmente acho que não é possível aprender todas as línguas do mundo - mas pode realmente ajudar se você aprender ainda algumas palavras e frases importantes. E isso faz sempre uma impressão positiva!

Com a ajuda dos meus amigos no Brasil eu compilei este pequeno vocabulário de inglês - português brasileiro para os dançarinos que viajarão. Obrigado Stela Regina Novaes de Studio Metrópole and Jaakko Pispala de ZK Adventures pela ajuda!

Palavras e frases em inglês são escritos em azul, e do seu lado direito as palavras e frases do português brasileiro são em verde!

Break the rules, break the routines - 5 keys to being innovative

I took a break from my daily routine and headed to Slush. Not the wet snow you might find on the streets of Helsinki this time of the year, but the hottest IT start-up event in the Nordics. Though slightly off-topic on this blog (will get on-topic soon), I truly can recommend attending Slush if you are an IT innovator or investor anywhere in the world - these guys really know how to make a cool event!

Together with over 10.000 people I roamed, what I would describe, a super-sized nightclub meets science lab for two days. Four mesmerizing stages packed with key notes & seminars, a hundred+ cool stands and quite a few free macchiatos later, a person does get a little worn down with the same innovation BS. A lot of smoke and mirrors... literally. (Which they need for the 1000000 lazer beams that criss-cross the ceilings.) Nonetheless, weary or not, you always end up picking up something new and interesting, meet lots of people you'd normally never get around to see and get some valuable practice on your elevator pitches (and notice how much you're in need of that practice).

On the second morning of Slush, the United States Ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck - known in Finland not only for his position in the US Embassy and local politics, but also from his charismatic appearances around the country ranging from TV cooking shows to displaying his well-shaped biceps (a life-long body builder) - stepped up to start off the day two of the event. I was definitely expecting something to wake me up. Though the crowd was clearly tired & hungover (myself luckily only the former) from the party the night before, and though the points he covered while on stage were no rocket science, his talk served as a good reminder on an important topic; how to be more innovative.


If Slush has one thing slightly in tangent to this blog, it's innovation and that particular speech. So I'm not totally off in writing about this. Below are Bruce Oreck's 5 practices to being innovative:

Beyond words: Helsinki Zouk Festival 2014

It takes quite a lot of effort to create something good. But what does it take to make... magic?

I know, I know. Last year I made the statement that Helsinki Zouk Festival is a zouk event quite unlike any other. And true, the 2013 HZF was great. But indeed, the last weekend's 2014 HZF was simply beyond words.

I try not bore you with everything I've already told before. Yes, Helsinki is a cold, dark place in November. The zouk scene is small but us zoukers in Helsinki are extremely proud of it. And I think many may agree we've developed a fairly nice group of dancers here. But now, we also have one of the best zouk events in the world!

Helsinki Zouk Festival is organised by Freddy Marinho and Andressa Castelhano with their Rio Zouk Style dance school now for the third time with the same format:

• Six professional zouk artist couples representing the best of the best in a few different zouk styles.
• Two and a half days of workshops with only one intermediate/advanced track and one beginners' track.
• Three nights of parties (plus separate pre & after party).
• Family atmosphere.

In summary: Less is more. Quality over quantity.

Artists who took part in this year's event: Renata Peçanha & Jorge Peres, Leonardo & Becky Neves, Jefferson Dadinho and Kelly Palhares, Daniel & Leticia Estevez Lopez, Clinton Lacerda & Cristi Boone and the hosts, Freddy & Andressa.

Zouk dancer's challenge: Learning salsa!

A while back I decided to take on a new dance challenge: I signed up for salsa classes for this autumn season.

In other words: Salseros, beware! :D

So starting early August I've been learning cross-body salsa with a simple intention of becoming a fluent social salsera. I committed myself to this project for four months -  it will be exciting to see how much I improve during that time and how I'll feel about salsa then!

So where did I start off in August? I'm not a complete beginner in salsa or social dancing in general, as you might know. Which is a double-edged sword: I have both the luxury and the complications of not starting from scratch. While most of my knowledge in social dancing I derive from Brazilian zouk, during the past couple years I have also ventured on the salsa floors around the world a couple times. Remember when I was salsa dancing in Mexico, Bolivia, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Estonia..? Basically I've just used the little I know of the on 1 basic step and count myself to death with 123 567 while I dance. Every time I've danced salsa I've discovered something new... and realised yet again I have no idea what I should do. But now I'm learning to dance salsa, for real.

Below I talk about the challenges and rewards of learning salsa during my first two months of training!

Is this how I will look like dancing salsa... way way in the future? 

2015 zouk congress calendar

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Find the updated version of the calendar: http://zouktheworld.com/2015-zouk-calendar