The word 'zouk' means 'party' in the Antillean Creole language. The music style was created in the 1980s by a group from Guadeloupe called Kassav', who mixed traditional Caribbean rhythms with modern pop and African sounds. Their music spread quickly across the French-speaking Caribbean, including to Saint Lucia, which has strong French and Creole cultural connections.
Zouk music has a distinctive sound — there is often a strong drum beat underneath lush, flowing melodies played on keyboards, guitars and wind instruments. Vocalists often sing in Creole, the language that mixes French with African words and grammar. The music can be joyful and upbeat, or slow and dreamy, but it always has that smooth, wave-like pulse.
As a dance style, zouk spread around the world. Particularly popular forms developed in Brazil and Portugal, where the dance became even more fluid and expressive. Today you can find zouk dance schools and zouk music festivals on every continent. For Saint Lucians, zouk is part of the musical identity that reflects the island's French Creole heritage.