Background

Born and raised in Sweden, by a Swedish father and a Czech mother, Kristofer grew up in a suburb just outside Stockholm. 

During his early years, he loved animals and nature and spent a lot of time in the forest near his home, building huts from branches in the woods. 

In school, he was very shy and never put his hand up to answer questions, even if he knew the answer. During his free time he liked to play football/soccer and meet friends, often on his bike. 

During his teenage years he stopped playing football/soccer and started with martial arts. At first tae kwon do and later on kick-boxing.

He took an M.Sc. business degree at Stockholm School of Economics and worked with marketing online for 10 years, first with viral marketing and later a bit broader with social media.

He also gave guest lectures about viral marketing for a couple of years on Berghs School of Communication, the world’s best school 2009 according to Cannes Lions.

In 1999 he took his first steps of salsa but soon got hooked on capoeira, in 2000. He spent in total about two years practicing the art in Brazil. 

Around 2010 he started getting into bachata, but soon heard about kizomba. 

Getting into Dance

In 1999 he took his first steps of cuban salsa but already in 2000, after going on student exchange in Brazil, he soon got hooked on capoeira. He spent in total about two years practicing the art of capoeira in Brazil. 

From 2006 he got back into salsa, danced a lot in socials in Denmark and Sweden and in 2010 he got interested in bachata. 

But already in February 2011 he saw kizomba for the first time. At first, he wasn't that impressed and it took until June 2011 for him to try it out for the first time. It was in Rovinj in Croatia, a bit by accident. Kristofer was attending a salsa class but didn't like it for some reason. He decided to go to another class and try kizomba. And, he got hooked. He liked the music, and he liked the moves, so he decided to learn. 

Since there was no one teaching kizomba in Stockholm he had to travel to festivals to learn. The first festival was outside Paris one month later, in July. The second festival in November in Prague, and then in December in Budapest. From there, he started going to festivals almost every month, and then almost every two weeks, and soon every weekend. 

In January 2012 the first real kizomba classes started in Stockholm, so he joined there too, and never missed a social in Stockholm.

Starting to Teach

Teaching came by accident to Kristofer. As one of the first dancers in Stockholm starting to dance kizomba, soon he was asked to fill in for another teacher who had to be absent from class on four occasions. But, there was a misunderstanding. The school wanted him to take the whole semester of classes. 

After some deliberation, he decided to take the offer, despite having suffered all his life from being shy and hating to talk in front of other people. 

From here, teaching started to grow. Kristofer liked it more and more, and others liked his teaching style. He started to travel to teach at first in other cities in Sweden, then other countries in Europe and soon all over the world. 

From 2015 he made dance teaching into his full-time occupation and he has been teaching in more than 60 countries and 150 cities in all corners of the world. 

He is known for his videos recorded in amazing places around the world, and he has more than 30 000 subscribers on Youtube, and more than 40 000 on Instagram. 

Other Projects

Dance is not his only interest. Since around 2013 he was tinkering with a book about habits and how to change your life. And from 2018 he started to write more seriously, making it into a proof of concept. In 2019 he self-published the book, proving to himself and others that the ideas in the book really work. If you are interested in changing your life, this book is for you! Check it out on Amazon.

At the moment he is still travelling the world to teach, as well as running his own online courses in kizomba here on the page at www.kizombaclasses.com. 

At the same time, he is working on new projects to realize some ideas he has had for a long time. You can follow his work on kristofermencak.com

Qualifications & Trainings

  • Participating as a student in more than 60 festivals

  • Teachers Training "Kizomba & Semba Course" with Petchú & Vanessa

  • Teachers Training "Kizomba Specialty Course" with Petchú & Vanessa

  • Teachers Training "Semba Specialty Course" with Petchú & Vanessa

  • Teachers Training Kizomba Level 1 with AfroLatin Connection

  • Teachers Training Kizomba Level 1 with AfroLatin Connection

FAQ

  • Why do you dance barefoot?

    The first time I danced barefoot was in Italy. I was going to a festival and the airline lost my bag on the way. So I didn't have any dance shoes. Or any clothes. Or anything. I bought some underwear and deodorant and I got to borrow some shirts and perfume, but I couldn't find any dance shoes on a Friday night! So, I had to dance barefoot that weekend. And I kind of liked the feeling. So, I do it continued doing it because I feel a better connection with the floor and it is always a perfect grip.

  • Why don't you have a partner?

    Because it is not that easy to find someone you work with. I have had a partner before, and I also started with a second one, but her boyfriend was jealous, and we never even went on the first event together, even if we had three events booked together. Now I think I kind of got used to it, to work without a partner. So I don't really look for a partner anymore, but if someone would turn up, I am all for it!

  • Why don't you do shows?

    The simple answer is because I don't like being on stage. As a kid, I hated doing the presentations in school. I blushed and was very, very shy to talk in front of people, so I always avoided it, up until the university level even. I never wanted to become a teacher, but I got dragged into it through a misunderstanding. Now I am ok with it, but I still don't like to be on stage and do some kind of show. Some people love the feeling and love doing shows. I don't, so I leave it to the ones who are great at it.

  • You are so humble and talk to people. How come?

    I don't believe I am better than anybody else. I am a good dancer, yes, but I can enter a class and I never know who is there. I can have a Nobel Prize winner, I can have some scientist solving cancer. Everyone is a superstar at something, so why should I be stuck up and believe I am better than anyone else? You treat people as you want to be treated! Also on the dance floor! We have all been beginners at some point, and people danced with us, so we should all dance with everyone.