ZoukNerds: A New Experience in Learning for Dancers

About ZoukNerds: A New Experience in Learning for Dancers

The Brazilian Zouk podcast for dancers who overthink the dance. We overthink it with you. I'm Alisson Sandi — 3x Pro World Champion, Head Judge for the Brazilian Zouk Dance Council (BZDC), and Resident Lecturer for the MAC Project. I'll be honest: I was never a natural. I had to fight for every piece of this dance, and that fight is the reason I can explain it. Every week, Gui Prada and I — plus the occasional guest — talk about what classes don't cover: stalled progress, disappearing leaders, what connection really feels like. New episodes weekly, in audio and video.

Publisher

Alisson Sandi

Category

arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Nov 2023

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

123 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Oct 2026

   What Is Frame in Brazilian Zouk, Really?

   I apologised at the top of this one, because I know what the word does to people. "Fix your frame, your frame doesn't work, your frame is this, your frame is that." Nobody tells you which part of your body they mean. In Brazilian Zouk we use frame as an umbrella word for a pile of separate things, and then we correct people with it. This one is for anybody who has been told to fix their frame and walked away with no idea what to actually change. Gui asks the leaders who come to him to show him what they mean, and they tense their whole body and push harder into his. What we get into: → A student at BraZouky asked Gui how to keep their lats engaged in close embrace, and he said, "You don't. You don't do that." Your frame there is your whole torso. → The Wi-Fi test. If we can do the movement with no connection, just body leads, why do you need that much tension the second your hands land? → The gap at the wrist. A leader's right hand never fully arrives on the body, so they frame up and squeeze, and the shape was never the problem. → The Ruler of Intensity, or Régua da Intensidade, from Gui's own training. A one to ten on the tension in your own body, another on the compression into your partner. → Why I start every dance from my quietest voice, and why the five you dance at is one you build together. The big takeaway: the frame is the shape you take, the distance from your partner, the tension you hold to keep it, and the connection points where the touch happens. At least four things, Gui says, probably more. Chapters: 00:00 Opening highlights 01:42 What frame means, and why the word triggers people 04:31 What leaders do when you say "use more frame" 06:24 Frame is a million things, not one thing 09:27 How do you keep your frame in close embrace? 12:36 The Wi-Fi test, and the hand that never arrives 15:47 Don't take frame advice that can't tell you where 17:57 "I can't feel their frame" and how to diagnose it 21:19 Frame as a communication tool, with or without touch 25:17 Three places to connect: arms, chest, hips 28:08 How to ask a better question about your connection 30:30 The Ruler of Intensity, from one to ten 33:12 A vest with prosthetic arms, and where the lead comes from 35:42 Why people quit when holding their frame hurts 37:12 Guess your partner's number on the tension scale 38:57 Starting a dance from the lowest voice you have 41:50 Why your three is your partner's six 43:41 Light and heavy frame are really light and heavy touch 47:29 The four elements hiding inside the word frame 49:59 When it is not your frame at all Co-hosts: Alisson Sandi and Gui Prada ZoukNerds: https://www.zouknerds.com/ Alisson Sandi: https://www.alissonsandi.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zouk.nerds/ Episode: S06 Ep25 | ZoukNerds Podcast

2. 

   7 Oct 2026

   How to Build a Dancer From the Floor Up

   We put two people on the floor at a Brazilian Zouk teacher training and asked the room one question. These two are complete beginners, what do you fix first? Somebody said the timing, somebody said the posture, and then somebody said the torsion, so I had to stop everyone. "Hold on, slow down, torsion, who is that?" Like, is it food? At that point that word does not exist yet. If you've ever been told to fix your posture with no idea what that meant, this one is for teachers and for dancers who feel stuck. So Gui and I went through the two frameworks we use. The Correction Ladder is the order we fix things in, the Foundational Stack is the bare minimum you build a dance on. What we get into: → Gui's ladder, from the ground up: rhythm, then the feet and ankles, then the knees, then the hips, then the posture. And it is a chain event. If you hold the beat standing still and lose it going front and back, you do not have a timing problem. → Posture, defined so you can test it. Gui calls it whatever arrangement lets your forward step and your back step be the same length and the same stability. A Lambadeiro, a Tangueiro and a Forró dancer all stand differently, and all are stable. → The part I know is controversial. At the very beginning we barely talk about frame, connection, leading and following at all. The big takeaway: Gui's words, not mine. The other person is there for guidance, for the connection, for the playfulness. For the dance to exist, it does exist in your body on your own. Chapters: 00:00 Opening highlights 01:10 The Correction Ladder and the Foundational Stack 02:30 The teacher-training test: what do you fix first? 04:28 Gui's ladder: rhythm, feet, ankles, knees, hips 06:47 Why a timing problem is usually not a timing problem 09:05 Say it in words a beginner already has 10:37 Neutral body alignment, and why posture is too vague 12:00 Most dancers arrive with no body awareness at all 15:33 Make a correction stick: teach it back, then film it 19:10 Four Brazilian dances, four postures, all stable 21:00 Travel, control, ground, and where the balance goes 23:35 Why we don't teach leading and following first 26:54 Develop the dancer's autonomy 28:34 Sliding feet or silent steps? Awareness and choice 32:10 Head movement, and the foundation that sells itself 33:50 What is frame, man? 36:26 The second stack: building the Brazilian Zouk body 38:30 Two months on the calendar, eleven hours in the room 40:59 Soltinho, and what makes a step a basic loop 45:50 Be a beginner in a beginner class, and the driving test Co-hosts: Alisson Sandi and Gui Prada ZoukNerds: https://www.zouknerds.com/ Alisson Sandi: https://www.alissonsandi.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zouk.nerds/ Episode: S06 Ep24 | ZoukNerds Podcast

3. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Great Technique Won't Get You More Dances

   I danced with someone I'd followed online for years, walked off the floor, and went to a dark corner to question every decision I'd ever made in my life. They're one of the best Brazilian Zouk dancers in the world, the dance was terrible, and like most of us do, I blamed myself. If you've ever come off a dance with somebody you admire and quietly decided the problem was you, this one's for you. Gui's version is a follower in his D.C. scene who tries to sit down and can't, because the leaders keep coming. She's intermediate, and the teachers in that room are the ones sitting. What we get into: → What "technical" even means. I go to the Olympics and the Ballroom World Championships, and then the question that matters: is that who you want to ask for a dance? → Gui ending a dance before the first song was over, with the follower a friend promised him explosions with. "We came to an agreement that it was not working." → What Jaime Arôxa's studio actually graded us on. Not only technical knowledge, but how comfortable we were, how we used the space, how musical we were, how we switched rhythms. → How many ways do people say water? That's the practice I'd put you on, flavours of the same Basic, Lateral, Viradinha and Soltinho, not another endless list of moves. The big takeaway: What people want is to connect with everybody, and they are chasing that through things that are not in alignment with connecting with everybody. Who's the dancer in your scene everybody wants to dance with, and what do they do? Tell us in the comments. Chapters: 00:00 Opening highlights 01:22 What do we mean by a technical dancer? 03:51 The follower everyone asks to dance 07:07 Textbook technique vs social technique 10:08 What happens when you finally dance with your idol 12:33 The dance that ended before the first song 15:32 Why the same partner feels different two years later 18:29 The night I decided to forget what I saw 22:43 What Jaime Arôxa's studio actually graded 26:04 The leader who stopped listening to followers 27:49 Why Gui gave up elegance to fit more bodies 30:56 Why people chase the wrong thing to dance with everyone 35:28 How many ways do people say water? 37:20 The 'should' in your head that blocks the dance 39:16 Echo chambers, and keeping them out of your dancing 41:30 Your preferences are allowed, and they nurture you 43:00 The private lessons that came from one social dance 45:09 A mindset for life, not a six-month project Co-hosts: Alisson Sandi and Gui Prada ZoukNerds: https://www.zouknerds.com/ Alisson Sandi: https://www.alissonsandi.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zouk.nerds/ Episode: S06 Ep23 | ZoukNerds Podcast

Who has been a guest on ZoukNerds: A New Experience in Learning for Dancers

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Laura Riva
• Raven Benko
• Deblin

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

45 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 56 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

84

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68

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