Nelly Caldeira is an energetic, fun, and passionate Brazilian Zouk Instructor/Dancer from
 Brazil who currently lives and teaches in South Bay, California. Her number one passion is to spread knowledge, body awareness, and self-development among those who come her way. Her academic background is philosophy, and she has spent over 10 years teaching this subject for people of all ages in several schools and prep courses in Brazil. She started learning Zouk in Niteroi (BR) from Rodrigo Goncalves (Renata Pecanha’s School instructor) in 2014. Nelly’s desire to dive deeper into Zouk technique led her to Paloma Alves and in 2016 she became part of the Entre Passos Studio’s intern team in Rio de Janeiro. At the end of 2017, Nelly met Val Clemente & Vanessa Bonilha. She instantly fell in love with their teaching methodology and energy. She been part of the ‘Zouk Needs You’ team since then.

Nelly has competed and placed in J&J competition several times, has performed with Zouk SF team, K&L ladies team, Boneca Baddies, and has taught workshops and weekenders in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Bay Area, Sacramento, Mexico, Dallas, Hawaii, and Arkansas. She is currently directing the Zouk Babes Bay Area Team, and has been feeling super honored and proud to be part of this family. According to her, being in charge of the Bay Area team is an opportunity to create bond beyond dance. It’s a chance to inspire, empower, receive, support and grow in community. A special journey that can only be understood from inside out.

Lately, she is dedicated to bringing Zouk and self-development together. She believes that dance is an essential part of self-discovery that promotes internal and external connection, self-confidence, body awareness, and emotional healing. With this vision, she’s been working on projects that connect both dance and communication. The idea is to help the Zouk community to grow not only in dance quality but also inspire Zoukers to grow emotionally by unleashing their authentic and responsible self.