1st WestZoukTime

WestZoukTIME 2013: The Dream That Stepped into Reality

There are moments in life that quietly, yet profoundly, change everything.

For me, WestZoukTIME 2013 was one of them.

Up until that point, Brazilian Zouk was just a dream... a dance I had only seen in videos, admired from afar, and imagined myself doing one day. I didn’t know when or how it would happen, but I knew that someday I wanted to feel that flow, that connection, that magic with my own body. And then, suddenly, there I was—on my way to Brno, to my very first Zouk event ever.

We were eight people from Timișoara, packed into two cars, full of excitement, playlists echoing with West Coast Swing rhythms. And for good reason, the event was a blend of WCS and Brazilian Zouk, and most of the group came for West Coast. All except me.

I was the only one determined to go for Zouk. But what I didn’t expect, what made this experience even more unforgettable, was that my good friend Andy, who originally came for West Coast Swing, stepped into the Zouk room… and never left. Something clicked for him too. And looking back now, it feels like fate. That one choice would eventually blossom into something much bigger. Andy is now teaching Zouk with Monica in Timișoara and helped grow the warm, vibrant community we have today there.

That weekend was electric. The energy, the people, the first time hearing the music not through headphones, but filling a whole dance hall. I was finally part of it, moving with it. And I wasn’t just dancing...I was living a dream that had felt unreachable for so long. It felt like my heart had finally found the right rhythm.

I remember struggling with head movements, how unfamiliar and overwhelming they felt. Every time a leader would try to guide me into one, I’d panic halfway through, freeze, or completely miss the flow. It was frustrating and a little scary. But I never gave up. I had a fire inside me...a courage that pushed me to invite absolutely anyone to dance, no matter their level. I just wanted to learn. I was thirsty to feel the dance, after spending hours watching hundreds of Zouk videos on YouTube, imagining what it would be like to live inside that music.

And then there was the connection beyond the dance, Pavla and Luděk, the incredible organizers, whose warmth and vision gave the event its soul. Through them, and through that weekend, I met people from Brno who would later become dear friends, bonds that have lasted, grown, and danced their own story over time.

WestZoukTIME 2013 wasn’t just an event.
It was my beginning.
A spark that lit up everything that followed.

And even now, years later, I look back and smile... because I know that’s where the rhythm of Zouk truly entered my life and never left.