Jettence

Portuguese Cheatsheet For Dance Classes

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

PortugueseEnglish
PassosSteps
BásicoBasic / basic step
DireitaRight
EsquerdaLeft
Para trásBackwards
Por trás / atrásBehind
Para a frenteForwards
Frente – trás“Back and forth”
Abaixo / Para abaixoLower/downwards
Virar To turn
LevantarTo stand up / rise
Lado / ao ladoSide / next to
Abrir / abriuOpen
Olha / Olha sóLook
Mais uma vezOne more time
AquiHere
… e paro… and stop
Vai!Go!
PesoWeight
MeioHalf/middle/centre
Trocou! / Trocou parceiros!Change or switch / Change partners
Condutores / conduzidosLeaders/followers
Damas / cavalheirosLadies/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

PortugueseEnglish
PernasLegs
JoelhosKnees
QuadrilHips
BraçosArms
CabeçaHead
Movimentos de cabeçaHead movements
OmbroShoulder
TroncoTorso

Numbers

PortugueseEnglish
UmOne
DoisTwo
TrêsThree
QuatroFour
CincoFive
SeisSix
SeteSeven
OitoEight


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!

*

Subscribe to this blog by entering your e-mail below and get new articles straight to your inbox. I also post social dance related content on Instagram @jettence, you’re welcome to follow me there!

Subscribe to the Blog

Exit mobile version