If you love dancing Brazilian zouk, samba de gafieira or forró, you will most likely at one point want to go to Brazil to take classes there and learn from the local teachers. They speak Portuguese there, so you might want to brush up on your language skills before signing up for classes. Even if you can’t travel, knowing dance class vocabulary will come in handy when you want to take online courses from Brazilian instructors or learn dance technique tips from their Instagram reels or YouTube videos.
I spent a month in Brazil last spring and when I came back I put together a cheatsheet for the most common words you need to know in Portuguese to understand instructions from Brazilian teachers during dance classes. Below I have 3 categories – general instructions, body parts and numbers.
Instructions
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| Passos | Steps |
| Básico | Basic / basic step |
| Direita | Right |
| Esquerda | Left |
| Para trás | Backwards |
| Por trás / atrás | Behind |
| Para a frente | Forwards |
| Frente – trás | “Back and forth” |
| Abaixo / Para abaixo | Lower/downwards |
| Virar | To turn |
| Levantar | To stand up / rise |
| Lado / ao lado | Side / next to |
| Abrir / abriu | Open |
| Olha / Olha só | Look |
| Mais uma vez | One more time |
| Aqui | Here |
| … e paro | … and stop |
| Vai! | Go! |
| Peso | Weight |
| Meio | Half/middle/centre |
| Trocou! / Trocou parceiros! | Change or switch / Change partners |
| Condutores / conduzidos | Leaders/followers |
| Damas / cavalheiros | Ladies/gentlemen |
*Brazilian dance teachers often give instructions in the past tense, for example “trocou” is “changed” in the past, but is used as “change!”. I have also heard “abriu” and “parei” which are past tenses of “open” and “stop”.
Body Parts
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| Pernas | Legs |
| Joelhos | Knees |
| Quadril | Hips |
| Braços | Arms |
| Cabeça | Head |
| Movimentos de cabeça | Head movements |
| Ombro | Shoulder |
| Tronco | Torso |
Numbers
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| Um | One |
| Dois | Two |
| Três | Three |
| Quatro | Four |
| Cinco | Five |
| Seis | Six |
| Sete | Seven |
| Oito | Eight |
Zouk dancers might want to know the names of zouk moves in Portuguese and for that I already have two separate blog posts: part 1 and part 2, be sure to check them out.
Hope this list helps you prepare for your trip to Brazil or give you an opportunity to take online classes from Brazilian teachers, since many great teachers rarely leave Brazil. I recently signed up for an online course in samba de gafieira and I am glad I can understand most of the instructions, since samba classes are still relatively rare in Europe. Boa sorte!
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