Nice to have you here! 

In this post you will read about why you shouldn't dance with your dance partner. No, I am kidding. It is ok to dance with your partner. But...

This is an excerpt from one of my books - "The Secrets of Social Dance - How to Become a Popular Dancer" which you can find on Amazon.

... if you only dance with your partner, you will not advance as fast. It is not too uncommon that a couple shows up in class and don't want to change partners like everyone else does. I usually accept it, but I also often let them know that they will not advance as fast as dancers.

Sometimes you also see couples glued together in dance socials. I don't quite understand it. If they only want to dance together, why not do it at home? There is so much fun going on in a social, so why not take part? It is like they are there, but they are not quite there.

Yes, you can become excellent within your couple. You might dance great together. If that is the only goal, then...

Nice to have you here! In this post we talk about something I call dance smarts. If you are a lead, follows will love if you do this. And if you are a follow, leads will too!

This is an excerpt from one of my books - "The Secrets of Social Dance - How to Become a Popular Dancer" which you can find on Amazon.

Be Gentle

This might seem obvious, but it is still far too common to not include here. Good technique is not painful at all. Poor technique can be. 

• First of all, don't squeeze your partner. Not the hand, not the body.
• Don't hold your partner's fingers. If you hold the fingers, doing any kind of turn might also turn your partners' fingers in their place. No more dancing with that partner. Maybe ever.
• Avoid pushing and pulling. Your partner wants to keep their arms in place, no need to pull them off. If you are gentle, everything will work out better. Remember, leads send a signal. They make a suggestion. It is up to the follow to interpret that signal and...

Here are some tips for dancers on different levels - in salsa, bachata, kizomba, urban kiz, tango or whatever social dance you enjoy. We start out with beginners...

This is an excerpt from a bonus text in one of my books - "The Secrets of Social Dance - How to Become a Popular Dancer" which you can find on Amazon.

Beginner Dancers

First of all, don't hesitate to go dancing. The longer you wait, the longer you miss out, and the harder it will be to dare to go. You don't have to be a great dancer to enjoy dancing.

When I started with capoeira, I went to classes for some time, but I think I took at least ten classes before I went into the roda, before I put anything that I had learnt to the test. I started seeing people who had just taken one class or a couple of classes going into the roda, and I began to wonder what I was doing. Why didn't I enter? Waiting for too long just made it more and more difficult as the pressure to perform got higher.

The earlier you start,...

In this post you will learn what leaders really think are the biggest mistakes followers do when they dance kizomba, kizomba fusion and urban kiz.

So, the biggest follower mistakes - this is something I really know about. I dance a lot, I teach a lot, and I give many private classes. But, to be really, really sure I also took some help from Facebook and asked this:

Leaders, in your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes followers do in their dancing? In terms of technique, attitude, anything...

I made the exact same post, but for leaders. Anyway, guys gave a bit different answers than girls did. It was more focused on technique than the answers that girls gave.

So, let’s get to it!

First mistake:

Not keeping your own balance 
This is really bad for the leader because the follower needs to rely on him for balance and it can even pull him out of balance.

There are several different reasons. Some of the reasons can be:
- Feet are too far apart in taps
- Not walking on a line
- Too...

Here you will learn what followers really think are the biggest mistakes leaders do when dancing kizomba, kizomba fusion or urban kiz. 

Originally, this was my plan - to talk about the 5 biggest leading mistakes in kizomba. I was thinking a bit more technical tips, but some other tips too. I had it all ready, I knew what I was going to talk about, but then I asked a question on my Facebook, to get a bit more insight.

“Followers, in your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes leaders do in their dancing?”

I made the exact same post, but for followers. Anyway, the answers I got from followers were a bit different from my original plan.

The answers I got related more to other things, not the actual leading, but more things like attitude, connection, feedback, musicality etc.

So, I decided to include more of that, and instead call it the five biggest leader mistakes. 

Just to be clear, this is not scientific at all, and it is not in any specific order,...

We are living in a world where social dance is currently a bit restricted, very restricted or outright forbidden. But before we ended up where we are now, kizomba and the related dances kizomba fusion and urban kiz managed to conquer the world, in just a few years. 

Recently I realised that I actually took my very first kizomba steps in 2004, with a friend from Cape Verde. She showed me the steps in a normal club. So, in PALOP communities kizomba has been present around the world for quite a long time, but I didn't start dancing kizomba until 2011 and then there were maybe just 3-5 festivals per YEAR in Europe. In 2015 I had already been travelling to teach in several different continents. So, from 2011 to 2015 we went from having 3-5 kizomba festivals per year in Europe, to having 3-5 festivals every weekend and festivals in many other places all over the world. And in 2019, it was much more. 

There are many reasons for this. I probably...

What is the history? How did kizomba conquer the world? What are the similarities and the differences between these dances?

What is Kizomba

• It is a circular couple dance characterized by a close connection within the couple and soft and grounded movements. It has origins in Angola, but it has developed simultaneously also in other PALOP countries (former Portuguese colonies in Africa).
• Nowadays it is a dance that is danced all over the world, on all continents, and with some spin-off dances.
• It is a type of music, with influences mainly from Semba and Caribbean Zouk.
• It is a way to socialize in Angola and many PALOP countries, going to kizombadas in the backyards or bigger parties.
• The word itself means "party" in Kimbundu, a Bantu language spoken in Angola.

There is some confusion as to what really is Kizomba music. This is because the word has also become a kind of umbrella term that incorporates several different genres, including the real Kizomba, coladeira, cabo-love, ghetto...