Kizomba

The origins of kizomba can be traced to the late 1970s Angola.^[4] Kizomba is characterized by a slower, romantic, more sensuous rhythm^[5] than the traditional Angolan semba music.^[4] Kizomba music emerged as a fusion of Angolan Semba with Antillean zouk, and further Angolan music influences:^[1] It slowed down the cadence of songs and added a stronger bass line to the composition of instruments. Eduardo Paím is internationally recognized as the "father/creator of kizomba music", as he and his band were taking a major role in the development of the music style creation.^[6] Most kizomba songs are sung in Angolan Portuguese/Portuguese.

Semba, a dance and music genre, rose in popularity in Angola during the 1950s. This was as a result of the development of modern Angolan music which is attributed to the musical group Ngola Ritmos. After gaining independence from Portugal, Angola entered a civil war in 1975 that lasted to 2002. As few semba music was being released during this early period, Angolans started to look else where for musicality such as the Caribbean. In the 1980s, when the actual kizomba music was pioneered and got more and more popular, Angolans started to adapt their semba steps according to the tempo and flavour of the Kizomba beats. As such Kizomba (dance) has essentially remained to many Angolans to what is referred to as "Semba Social", only that it is danced to a spectrum of various music genre such as semba, kizomba or zouk. The emphasis is "Semba social" as Semba is often misinterpreted as "Semba Show" which is a style of Semba that is characterized with fast semba or zouk music alongside various dance tricks. As Kizomba is essentially "Semba Social", that left room for "Semba Show" to be marketed as Semba by Angolan teachers outside of Angola. ^[7]

The Kizomba dance is a couple dance, in which the torso and right arm of the leader will guide the follower across the dance floor. It is the goal to synchronize perfectly as a couple with the music and express it through elegant footwork, smooth body movement, and attitude, called Ginga (for women) and Banga (for men).

في البرازيل، اكتسبت رقصة الكيزومبا شهرة واسعة عندما أصدرت الفنانة كيلي كي ألبومها "نو كونترول" في 3 فبراير 2015. تخلّت كي عن أغاني البوب ​​الراقصة / آر أند بي لتُعرّف الجمهور البرازيلي برقصة الكيزومبا. ^{[ 9 ]} وفي مقابلة لها، صرّحت كي بأنها كانت تسعى إلى الأصالة والأساليب الجديدة: "أتحمل مسؤولية عدم القدرة على التنبؤ بما سأقدمه. كنت أرغب في تسجيل أغاني كيزومبا لمدة 13 عامًا! الآن أشعر بالنضج وأمتلك معرفة جيدة بالحركة". ^{[ 10 ]}

تزداد شعبية رقصة الكيزومبا في بعض المدن الصينية الكبرى مثل بكين وشنغهاي وشنتشن وهونغ كونغ. ^{[ 11 ]} بعض مدرّبي الكيزومبا صينيون، بينما البعض الآخر أجانب. تُنظّم سنوياً مهرجانات رقص لاتينية مختلفة، مثل مهرجان شنغهاي للباتشاتا/الكيزومبا.

تُعدّ رقصة الكيزومبا في غانا واحدة من أشكال الرقص المتنامية، لا سيما في العاصمة أكرا ، حيث تُقام جلسات رقص أسبوعية في مركز أفريكيكو الترفيهي أو في حانات ومطاعم أخرى. ^{[ 12 ]}