Advanced
Viradinha
Advanced Level
Full mastery — nuance, personal expression, and artistry
A quick directional change borrowed from Brazilian zouk — a small, sharp turn that redirects the follower in close connection.
Tips
- •Think of the viradinha as turning a key in a lock — a small, precise rotation from a fixed position.
- •Leader: your hips and follower's hips should rotate together as a unit. If they're doing different things, you're not connected enough.
- •Practice with your eyes closed to ensure you're leading with body contact, not visual cues.
Common mistakes
- •Using hands and arms to force the rotation instead of leading from the torso
- •Creating too much space during the viradinha — it should happen within close hold distance
- •Not maintaining the basic step timing through the directional change
- •Adding head movement before the basic viradinha rotation is clean
Practice drill
Basic step in close hold. Viradinha on every count 5 for an entire song. This gives you 20+ repetitions in 3 minutes. Focus on making each viradinha smaller and smoother than the last. By the end of the song, the viradinha should be barely perceptible from the outside but clearly felt by both partners.