What is Kizomba?

Kizomba is a beautiful couple dance, originating in Angola. Often described as African Tango to the interested newcomer, it developed from the Angolan dance Semba in the 80's and 90's before starting to spread over to the other Portuguese-speaking countries. Especially Lisbon as a melting pot of Luso-African culture was crucial in the further development and spreading of Kizomba. It continued to conquer the rest of the world and is danced today all over Europe, the Americas, Asia and beyond.

The essence or soul of Kizomba is characterised by the flow of movements, the soft body movement of the dancers also known as Ginga, the connection and embrace of the partners, and the feeling and expression of the captivating rhythm.

To this date Kizomba also has inspired many other dance forms or fusion versions of itself like Urban Kiz, sensual Kizomba, Tango-Kizomba, Neokizomba, and other fusion styles. In some of these the essence of Kizomba is intentionally altered or removed.

Kizomba music has greatly been influenced by Antillean Zouk, which in turn is a product of African rhythms being exported to the Caribbean during the transatlantic slave trade. This is also probably the reason why Zouk music in general has always been popular throughout the African continent.

When Antillean Zouk spread to Angola in the early 1980ies, it triggered an artistic revolution, inspiring many Angolan musicians to integrate the Zoukish feeling into their own production and to enrich it with traditional Angolan rhythms like Kazukuta or Semba. This combination of influences gave birth to an Angolan version of Afro-Zouk: Kizomba.

Since then the Kizomba music – like the dance – has seen a lot of fruitful tendencies in Angola, other PALOPs countries, Europe and across the globe. The expansion of music inter-dependently as well as independently brought to light a huge variation of musical production.

Today we enjoy many different rhythms during our Kizomba parties, which we consider part of the wider Kizomba music universe such as Semba, Tarraxinha, Ghettozouk, Zouk, Afro-Zouk, Zouk-Love, Coladera, Cabo-Zouk, Cabo-Love, Kizomba Romantica, Douceur, and more.