Zouk Phoenix Instructors
Elijah
One of the founding members of Zouk Phoenix, Elijah started his dance journey in 2008 where he first trained in competitive Latin and Ballroom dancing. A few years later while teaching Cha Cha at a Latin dance congress, he decided to take a beginner Brazilian Zouk class and instantly fell in love. Since then he decided to dive in fully and learn from as many teachers as possible. He has been certified by the Brazilian Zouk Dance Council and completed over 60 hours of teacher training from teachers around the world.
Less than 3 years later he and his former partner Deenie took this training and won the Amateur US Open at LA Zouk Festival and the following year won the Semi-Pro division. He regularly competes in JnJ at the Advanced level and loves the challenge that it brings. He continues to fuel this passion every day in Phoenix while hosting regular classes from beginner to advanced as well as DJing for events.
He currently travels around the US and Canada on weekends to teach & DJ to help "plant the seed" and grow local Zouk communites. Elijah loves the creativity, expression, and beauty that Zouk has to offer and looks to embody that in his classes and musical style.
Elena
Elena found the essence of Brazilian Zouk completely irresistible at the end of 2018. While dancing, competing and teaching in Ballroom, she was drawn to Brazilian Zouk as a safe space: for the people, the culture, the love, and the flow.
Her background spans all dances that were available for her to learn since 2013, including Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Rumba, Cha Cha, Swing, Bolero, Samba, Argentine Tango, Night Club 2 Step and West Coast Swing. She uses ALL of those dances and an awareness of their techniques to build a beautiful Zouk repertoire in both dance and training methodologies.
Elijah James, her original inspiration into the dance, along with his dance and teaching partner at that time, Deenie, also offered an opportunity to learn to teach in the local Zouk Phoenix scene, to help with the Foundations classes in the community as it was quickly growing in 2021.
She’s studied in the MAC teacher training program, Zouk MX teacher training, and then Bruno and Raiza BRiCK methodology for the last 3 years to complete their Level 5 teacher training in August of this year.
She continues to love her studies in the Brazilian Zouk Arts under her mentors, most influential of which are Bruno & Raiza, Gui Prada, Larissa & Kadu, Iago & Vanessa, Pedrinho, Felipe Meger, Nina & Matheus and Lui & Larissa, as well as constantly learning at different events and from different instructors from around the world.
David
David is originally from Dallas, TX and moved to Arizona in 2021. Once arrived, he began dancing and one of his first dance lessons was Brazilian Zouk. Since then, he has grown to love the dance practicing and constantly hungry to learn more. Now, David travels across the US for Zouk events and teaches in Tucson as well as Phoenix.
Lahna
Growing up dancing ballet, Lahna rediscovered her passion for movement through social dancing in Tucson's Bachata scene in 2019. During the pandemic, she was captivated by a video of Brazilian Zouk dancers, drawn to their fluid and dynamic movements. This ignited a deep desire to learn Zouk, leading her to start classes with Zouk Phx in mid-2021 and eventually move to Phoenix in 2023 to be closer to this vibrant community.
For Lahna, Zouk has been a transformative teacher, revealing overlooked aspects of herself and serving as an enlivening force for connection and self-discovery. The Zouk Phx teachers have provided her with more than just dance lessons; they have helped her access new parts of herself. Now, as a teacher, she is thrilled to share this journey with others.
Jenn
Jenn grew up in Illinois and Tucson, where she danced ballet, bellydance, hula, bachata and more. In summer 2021, she started learning Brazilian zouk and was immediately obsessed with the creativity and athleticism of the style. By 2022, she had relocated from Tucson to Phoenix specifically so she could study with Zouk Phoenix! In addition to the beauty of the dance itself, she loves the strong sense of community in zouk and Brazilian culture. The Zouk Phoenix community has truly become her family.
Sandro
Sandro began dancing overseas in the early 2000s after joining the military. He studied different Latin dance styles while moving throughout Asia and Europe. He came across Brazilian Zouk at a local dance festival in Germany. Zouk didn't come naturally at first, as his passion was in Latin dancing. In time Sandro began to see how Brazilian Zouk could be applied to different genres of music and from there all other dances began to take a back seat. While in the military Sandro participated in many Zouk Congresses and festivals throughout the world from Netherlands, Germany, Spain, to Croatia, Crete, South Korea and Japan. After his retirement from the military he settled in Arizona and was introduced to Elijah and the lovely Zouk Phoenix community. He is happy to teach and support the ever growing local dance populace.
Cici
Cici is an LMT and bodyworker of 10+ years, a veteran festival/gogo performer, a yoga therapist, mother, Brazilian Zouk dancer of 6+ years and now, a local Brazilian Zouk instructor. Based out of Phoenix, AZ, she began teaching for Zouk Phx in 2021 under the wings of Deenie & Elijah. She has taken her hands-on practices of trauma informed bodywork, movement, and dance and has integrated them into the therapeutic world. From festivals to private lessons to group lessons and special events, you can find her teaching and building local dance communities throughout Arizona and Alaska.
Woody
Woody serendipitously discovered the world of Brazilian Zouk when he came across an evening social at the LA Zouk Congress 2017. Intrigued, Woody found himself irresistibly drawn to the dance and soon embarked on a Zouk journey when a friend then enrolled him in local beginner classes, where he first honed his skills in Orange County, CA. His passion for Zouk soon took him to Brazil for weeks at a time in 2018 and 2019 where he immersed himself in the art of Brazilian Zouk at the world renowned dance studios of Renata Pecanha and Jaime Aroxa. Recognized for his attention to details, unique energy, and hip-hop influenced style, Woody was asked to start teaching with “Zouk Phoenix” in 2022 and now shares his expertise by leading student workshops, classes and contributing to their vibrant program. He also enjoys competing at Jack and Jills thanks to his never-ending passion of always striving to improve as a dancer and teacher. He started competing in 2022 and since then he has earned several top 3 placements in the Novice Division.
His viewpoint on dance is: We are all pieces of clay. Each day chipping away at ourselves to find the masterpiece that lies underneath.
Sarah
Sarah fell in love with partner dancing in 2014 during a Lindy Hop lesson she attended on a whim, after seeing the club flyer posted on her college campus. Since then, she has expanded her dance knowledge by learning and teaching many different social dancing and ballroom styles. The last few years have been a focused deep dive into Zouk, inspired by the unique feeling of creative joy that is enabled by the well-developed body control and musicality techniques in the “dancer’s dance”. Now, she continues to chase her curiosity for connecting the dots by taking and teaching Zouk classes in Phoenix.