“The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.”
– James Brown
Sarah fell in love with forró while living in Milan and she hasn’t looked back since. Building on her experience in sports and language education, Sarah launched and started to teach forró classes in Brussels in 2014. She now teaches regular classes across multiple levels and two cities, as well as travelling all over Europe and occasionally beyond to teach at workshops and festivals. She is also one of the founders of the Be Forró association in Brussels, working to serve the growing forró community in the city.
Sarah's belief that a teacher should be forever an enthusiastic student has led her to study with many teachers and dancers, both within forró and beyond (samba de gafieira, tango, body percussion, and more…) In particular, her initial work and partnership with Ricardo Ambrózio shaped her vision of forró, and more recent studies with Sheila Santos have significantly enriched her approach and methodology. Beyond these two crucial influences, Sarah has been privileged to be able to teach and study with many other talented teachers which has broadened her horizons and skills as both leader and follower.
This desire to learn and share her knowledge also resulted in the creation of the Encontro Pedagogico in 2017 in collaboration with Emilie Gasia. This is an annual meeting of forró teachers to collaboratively discuss and enhance the quality of their work. In parallel Sarah has created the Projeto Monitores to develop assistants and future teachers here in Brussels - meet the team below!
Sarah's classes emphasise the importance of presence, connection with our partner and musicality. Musicality has in fact been one of the focal points in her teaching and research for many years now and has become one of the most requested topics from festival and workshop organisers. In the classroom, she also prides herself on (trying to!) achieve that oh-so-delicate balance between technique and creativity, precision and freedom, focus and fun.
“I don’t want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance.” – George Balanchine
Andrés
The best way to get to know Andrés is to invite him to dance! One of the most generous dancers around, he's the first to open the dance floor and the last to leave it.
Andrés started dancing forró in 2017, and quickly proved himself a dedicated and curious leader. One of his strongest skills is connection, opening up lots of space for creativity and playfulness on the dance floor. In the classroom, he is laid-back but highly observant, analysing what's going on and providing support wherever necessary.
Hélène
When Hélène started dancing forró in 2016, her desire to learn and her enthusiasm quickly became obvious. She has been assisting Sarah in the classes since 2017, and now teaches independently as well.
Hélène is an expressive and creative dancer, full of smiles and empathy. She also brings this energy to her teaching, blending humour and patience to ensure her students learn well and - of course - have fun at the same time. Her signature warmth and connection will draw you in and put you at ease right away!
Lili
Lili has been part of the Brussels forró scene from almost the very beginning. Since discovering forró in 2016, she has become a crucial part of the community: organising events, playing excellent DJ sets, assisting at classes and more.
Her open-mindedness means that no matter the song playing, she'll be dancing - xote, baião, coco, frevo... And with her sunny disposition, clear explanations, and hunger to learn and improve, she's an brilliant asset to the Monitores team.
Patrick
Everything Patrick does is clean and precise, providing maximum opportunity to connect with his partner. He's the embodiment of quality over quantity.
He started dancing forró in 2018, bringing his background in salsa, bachata and other dance styles with him. If you fancy a philosophical conversation on couple dancing? Patrick is your guy! And in the classroom, he is exceptionally patient, drawing on his diverse dance experiences to clearly communicate the details with a touch of humour.
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Simon
Simon discovered forró in 2018 in Toulouse and dived straight in, immersing himself in the dance, the music, and the community.
He loves the challenge of breaking down new moves and then practises diligently which creates his signature smooth dance style, whether he's turning universitário-style or exploring the intricacies of roots footwork. In the classroom, he is passionate, detailed-oriented, and untiring - keen to contribute to each student's learning as best he can.