Zouk et Compas Love

Origins

Zouk was invented in the early to mid-1980s when many different styles were fused, such as Kompa, balakadri, the Dominica based Cadence and bal granmoun dances, mazurka and biguine, French and American pop, and kadans, gwo ka and other indigenous styles.



Kassav

The leading band to emerge from this period was Kassav', who gave the style a pan-Caribbean sound by taking elements from Kompa, reggae and salsa, and became one of the most famous bands in the world. Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus, a long-time professional musician who worked with Freddy Marshall. Together, the two of them decided to take carnival music and make it a more modern and polished style. Their first album, Love and Ka Dance (1980), established the sound of zouk. They continued to grow more popular, both as a group and with several members' solo careers, finally peaking in 1985 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk la sé sèl médickaman nou ni".

With this hit, zouk rapidly became the most widespread dance craze to hit Latin American in some time, and was wildly popular even as far afield as Europe and Asia. Zouk became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects spectacles, colorful costumes and outrageous antics.



Zouklove

A special style within the zouk is called zouk-love, where the music is slower, and more dramatic. Zouk-love has its origins in a slow tempo form of Cadence sang by Ophelia Marie of Dominica. The music kizomba from Angola and Cape Verde is also a derivative of zouk which sounds basically the same, although there are notable differences once you become more familiar with these genres.

Popular zouk love artists include Netherlands based Suzanna Lubrano and Gil Semedo, but also French West Indian artists like Edith Lefel, Nichols, or Haitian artists like Ayenn and Daan Junior, or African artist like Philipe Monteiro.



Zouk Lambada

Zouk is danced to in Brazil using a modified, slower, even more sensual but less vulgar version of the lambada. It could be considered one of the three main "non-ballroom-dancing" dances there. Unlike forró, which is led with the whole body, or salsa, which is led with the hands, "zouk", "zouk lambada" or lambazouk (created in Palma de Mallorca, Spain), is led by the glued-to-each-other hips of the partners. Thus, in a basic sideways movement, it is the hips that move first, followed by the rest of the body, and this is part of what makes the dance so "sensual". When practicing zouk in dance classes, teachers generally warn women to be very careful with their backs, as one of the most distinctive and comment movements is for the woman to lean her head far back, sometimes even below her waist, and whip her head and hair from one side to the other. If not done properly and with lack of luck, this could possibly lead to injury. It is interesting to note that in Brazil, popular belief states that Zouk music originates from French Polynesia.



The Dance Zouk



Zouk - that it means party - is a dance practised in the Caribbean, mainly in the islands of Guadalupe and Martinica. The example of Merengue, is danced changing the weight basically in the heads of the musical times (what many professors of dance call time simply) and its choreography sufficiently simple and is little elaborated. There are 3 ways to dance to zouk music. The first is the Zouk Love French Caribbean way, the second is the Brazilian Zouk Lambada style (a dance evolving from the Lambada). The third is Angolan or Cabo Verdean style, known as Kizomba,(the music was developed directly from Zouk). the zouk love style is also danced in various parts of French speaking Africa. Other names for the music are Zouk love, Zouk, Cabo-Love, Cola-Zouk, Kizomba, Tarrachinha (a version of kizomba music & dance)ghetto zouk, Afro-zouk, Zouk RnB, Lambada Francesa, French Lambada,