Kizomba is one of the most popular genres of dance and music originating in Angola.

[1][2] It is a mix of traditional Angolan semba with kilapanda, zouk and merengue sung generally in Portuguese, wrongly confused with Zouk, because the pace is very similar.[3][4] In Europe the word "kizomba" is used for any type of music derived from zouk, even if not of Angolan origin. It was the Kimbundu name for a dance in Angola as early as 1894. The Kizomba dancing style is also known to be very sensual and flows with a music of a romantic flow.[2]

Contents

1 Origin and evolution 2 Cultural influences o 2.1 Kizomba dance 3 Popularity o 3.1 Kizomba in Belgium o 3.2 Kizomba in the UK 4 Kizomba congresses around Europe o 4.1 Spain o 4.2 France o 4.3 Portugal o 4.4 Reino Unido o 4.5 Italia o 4.6 Blgica 5 References 6 External links

Origin and evolution

Kizomba music was born in Angola (in Luanda) in early 80s following the influences of traditional semba with kilapanda, zouk and merengue. On this basis, Kizomba music emerged as a more modern music genre with a sensual touch mixed with African rhythm.[3] Unlike Semba, Kizomba music is characterised by a slower and usually very romantic rhythm. Given that Angola is a former Portuguese colony, Portuguese is the principal language spoken in Angola and thus, also most Kizomba songs are sung in Portuguese. However, Kizomba songs of the very beginning were song in Kimbundu and in other National languages of Angola. The dance style Kizomba was connected to the music style in 1981, through "Bibi king of the pace" percussionist of the SOS Band, a group that joining other styles such as merengue and Angolan rhythms to others styles developed by other contemporary groups, developing a sound more attractive and danceable that began circulating in the Angolan "Kizombadas" (party's).[3] One member of this group was Eduardo Paim that after the dissolution of SOS, moved to Portugal leading with him the pace Kizomba, which began garnering fans in Lusitanian lands but mistakenly confused with a variant of Zouk.[3] Eduardo Pain I am the precursor of Kizomba. It was a process that began in the early 80's with groups whose names are Afro Sond Star and soon after SOS. I was inspired by the Afro Sound Star,

already assumed as reference style the kilapanda, in the mix appeared things that excited me, I gathered a lot of references that I could grab from the semba and our merengue, and these references eventually gave me conditions to unwittingly develop a sound which, face it, people fell in love. When I arrived in Portugal (with my music), I was highly criticized and even they called her zouk. But it is not zouk. It is Kizomba.[3] Confusions between zouk and kizomba arise after many Cape Verdean emigrants in France in the late 80's, have taken contact with zouk and mix it with a traditional Cape Verde style the coladera, creating the cola-zouk, a derivative of zouk, very similar to the kizomba and typically sung in Cape Verdean Creole. It is this rhythm that is confused with kizomba, and is heard in Portugal when Eduardo Paim arrives there and releases his first record with kizombas. Presently, in Lusophone countries and communities around the world, and due to it being very difficult to distinguish between zouk, cola-zouk and Kizomba, all these styles are called kizombas, however in a rough and generic way, one can say that Zouk is sung in French and French Crole, cola-zouk in Cape Verdean Creole and Kizomba in Portuguese or Kimbundu. However although Kizomba was not originally a fusion of semba and zouk, presently arose a version of kizomba influenced by zouk, and is wrongly being popularized as kizomba, as the name given to this version is "Kizouk" or "kizombalove". This zouk influenced of kizomba (or vice versa) is actually becoming very popular throughout the world.[5] It is also performed in other lusophone African countries, in Europe and in USA. It is known for having a slow, insistent, somewhat harsh, yet sensuous rhythm; the result of electronic percussion. It is ideally danced accompanied by a partner, very smoothly and slowly, though not too tightly. A rather large degree of flexibility in the knees is required, owing to the frequent requirement that dancers bob up and down.[2]

Cultural influences
The influence of Angolan kizomba is felt in most Portuguese-speaking African countries, but also Portugal (especially in Lisbon and surrounding suburbs such as Amadora or Almada), where communities of immigrants have established clubs centered on the genre in a renewed kizomba style. Kizomba is now also quite popular among white people that come to these clubs in growing numbers. The So Tomean kizomba music is very similar to the Angolan, Juka is the most notable among the Sotomeans, but it is also one of the most notable performers in the genre. In Angola most clubs are based in Luanda. Famous Angolan kizomba musicians include Neide Van-Dnem, Don Kikas, Calo Pascoal and Irmos Verdades, Anselmo Ralph, among many others, but Bonga is probably the best known Angolan artist, having helped popularize the style both in Angola and Portugal during the 1970s and 1980s.

Kizomba dance