Claudio Gomez

Rio Zouk and Step Up Dance Studio

Instructor, performer and choreographer

Claudio Gomes is a pioneer of Zouk Lambada in Sydney. In 2004, long before the term zouk became known in the dance community, he introduced this style while assisting a local teacher deliver a lambada class. Since then, he has trained not just students but also dance professionals from different backgrounds and levels of expertise. Amit Arora, DJ Coco, Gary Wilson, Kelli Doig, Jane Garmanik, Simon Cox, are just a few of the many zouk teachers who were introduced, trained and inspired into zouk by Claudio.

Claudio sees partner dancing as more than just a fun exercise. He believes dancing is an instrument of self development and should be made available for the general public, not only professional artists. His focus is to help students finding their own way of expression through dance by developing appropriated technical skills, connection and musicality.

Claudio started his training in 1990 at the prestigious Jaime Aroxa studio in Rio de Janeiro. During that period, he also mastered other Brazilian rythms: samba de gafieira, forro, bolero and soltinho.

Claudio has extensive experience in Biodanza, a dance therapy and scientifically proven system to develop human potentials.

Claudio is the founder of Rio Zouk in Australia and is the Brazilian dance director at Step Up Dance Studios in Sydney.