Brazilian Zouk is a Latin dance which began in Brazil during the early 1990s. It originated from a Brazilian dance called Lambada with influences from other Brazilian dances.
In the 80’s, Lambada was very popular in Brazil and quickly gained worldwide notoriety through its music especially because of the popularity of the band Kaoma, Beto Barbosa, among others, and different styles of music such as Samba-Reggae, Caribbean Zouk, Flamenco music, mainly Gipsy Kings, among others. TV shows, films and DJ’s also helped promote the dance and the music.
Lambada was a dance that dominated most nightclubs in Brazil, especially in Porto Seguro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro.
The most popular nightclubs in the 80’s and 90’s:
- Porto Seguro – Reggae Night and Boca da Barra
- Rio de Janeiro – Roxy Roller and Ilha dos Pescadores
- São Paulo – Lambar, Mel and Reggae Night
- Belo Horizonte – Casa Blanca and Cabaré Mineiro
In the 90’s Lambada’s popularity began to decline and with that the remaining lovers began to use primarily Zouk Caribbean music to continue dancing Lambada.
