Interview with Azzedine
From Football to Kizomba: A Journey of Passion and Purpose
Before discovering dance, I was deeply involved in football. I played seriously—some say I was pretty good. But one day, I suffered a major injury that left me unable to run anymore. That changed everything.
Around that time, some of my friends were dancing salsa. They saw I now had more free time and encouraged me to join them: “Come try dancing. You can’t run, but you can still move!” I figured, why not?
I attended a dance school in my hometown, in a suburb outside of Paris. They offered salsa, bachata, and kizomba classes. I tried all three. Salsa didn’t really speak to me. Bachata was nice. But Kizomba? I fell in love immediately. The music, the connection, the flow—it just clicked. I told myself, “I’m starting this next week.” And I did.
I began in a small local dance association with pure Kizomba classes taught by Madu, Madis, and Mil. They weren’t famous, but they were passionate and deeply committed teachers. That was more than enough for me.
Why I Started Teaching
From the beginning, I felt a strong urge not only to dance, but to defend and represent Kizomba. Among my friends who danced salsa and bachata, Kizomba was often misunderstood—some thought it was too slow, or overly sensual. I would always tell them, “No, really—there’s footwork, connection, musicality. You have to feel it to understand it.”
So early on, I had this inner drive to educate, to promote the real essence of the dance. I didn’t just want to be a dancer—I wanted to be someone who could help others understand what Kizomba truly is.
Training Relentlessly
To grow, I immersed myself fully. My teacher gave classes in three different towns—and I followed him to all of them, taking the same class multiple times a week to improve faster. I didn’t want to take shortcuts, but I also didn’t want to wait a whole week between lessons.
Eventually, I started going out to socials. At first, I went with friends to SBK events—Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba—but most of the night was salsa and bachata, which I didn’t dance. That meant I had to go to socials alone, which is hard as a beginner. But I kept pushing through.
Soon, I became a taxi dancer, and eventually decided I wanted to try teaching. Before that, though, I wanted to train seriously. I worked with a talented dancer named Allison (some of you may know her), and together we entered the Olympiads of Kizomba in 2017.
A Turning Point: The Olympiads
The Olympiads were a huge moment for me. We competed in four categories and won medals in three of them. In Tarraxinha, we even took the gold. The only category I didn’t place top three in was Urban Kiz—but I was still in the top five.
What I loved most about that competition was that it was social dance-based—not choreographed shows. You picked a number, gave it to the DJ, and danced freestyle. That’s the kind of dancing I value most.
The Olympiads pushed me to improve in areas where I wasn’t as strong and made me a more complete dancer.
Going Viral & Going Global
After the competition, videos of our dances began to spread online. I wasn’t in a partnership with Allison—she already had a dance partner named Joseph, and I made it clear from the start that our collaboration was just for the Olympiads. Thankfully, he was very supportive.
From there, things took off. I started receiving invitations to teach and perform, and I began traveling more and more. Not just with Allison, but with other talented dancers too.
That’s how my journey as a dancer and teacher truly began—and I’ve never looked back.
Check Instagram for the demo videos - @azzedine__k
