In this workshop segment from the Warsaw Zouk Festival 2025, instructors Alexej and Florence demonstrate a series of advanced Zouk movements, focusing on the elastic line (elastico) technique, leader‑follower weight transfer, upper‑body connection, head‑movement butterfly variations, and a chicoche diagonal step. Alexej explains the precise footwork, timing, and spatial positioning required for leaders to give followers space, while Florence reinforces hand‑placement, weight‑shift cues, and structural consistency. The duo walks through a full combination—open, chin, cross, back, stop, open—integrating the head‑movement butterfly and chicoche diagonal, and they assign a challenging homework sequence for the most advanced participants. The instruction is highly detailed, count‑based, and emphasizes smooth connection, frame, and timing.
Chapters
We'll go further. So she's very good. Sure. So we start from elastic line. This is what we call elastic line. Of course, I can go around my follower, left, right, left, right, left, right. Now the idea, I start with the same movement. I start with my left foot to my right and create the start position with my left leg. So from here, I wait for my follower. Let my follower go back. So I need to stop her before she Transfer the weight. Because the one is not the one, it's the one. It's the projection sound. One. So, so she transferred the weight. So I step up over. Yes, she transferred the weight. And I start, I go to the leg and start my passing. Left, right, and stop. Turn and back. So the next one, we start with— oh, we don't forget about the preparation here as well. So we open the ribs and go up. Yes. From here, I start with my left, but now I go to the right shoulder here with the right. And take attention because my shoulder goes now up after the fight. So I try to stop this movement here. The same idea: the round goes back. I stop here. So now I turn. So important, I'm here with the right. Here connection to upper body. And now really smooth.
Keep your hand back open here. And now transfer your weight on the left and come back to guys' foot. And give yourself time to come back with your hand. You don't need to give me this here.
Really important in this move, leaders, don't try to be on the same line. If I'm here and my follower go back, you see what's happening. So try to be a little bit more outside. So then I'm here and do shake, shake, and so she has space and I go back. For the next, we start with the head movement. So contraction. So we open the chest, and now here's the idea like the normal butterfly. Cross and go back. I cross and go back, but not like this. Now I cross and I try to change the side, right? What I only need to do, my forward—
keep the structure before the head movement in the butterfly.
Believe it's pretty smart, pretty much. Try to keep the connection, but then you can do because my forward is alone. So what I need to do is to make Wave free and change direction. Wave free and change direction. In the end, when we start, uh, when we finish the head movement here, and my follower will wait, it's the left turn. The left turn for the follower. What we want to do, when Florence is here, is to start here, the last figure, and go back. Sorry, this hand here. I start the chicoche diagonal down. And up, just a step, simple turn. How we combine? Open, chin, chin, cross, back, stop, and open. Now let's go down, up, just a step. So additionally, conditionally, we have 3 to 4 advanced people here. Homework. And maybe it's like a word or something like that. Yes, very hard to do your mind.
Let's put all together. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
And go. Two, three, stop. And turn. And back. Two. And left. And up. Lock. And turn. And back. Contract. Go. And go. Bravo!
