Kizomba

Slow | Sensual | Grounded

Intimate and Seductive

Kizomba empowers you and your partner to dance in harmony.

Meaning party in Kimbundu and described as African Tango, Kizomba will inspire you to become one with you partner, and leave you wanting more. It originated in Angola to match a new, slower style of music with a heavier bass line, and developed into different “flavours” as it became popular around the world and picked up on different places’ cultural music and dancing. Kizomba is slow, seductive and grounded. It is a partner dance with a leader and a follower, and is driven by an aim to move harmoniously with your partner and express the music.

Learn from scratch, no prior experience needed. Learn with confidence in a fun and safe environment. Learn how you learn best, either in the classroom, or by private tuition. Everyone has to start somewhere, you don’t have to know how to dance, to learn how to dance Kizomba.

Learn Kizomba at Long-Steps

Long-Steps currently teaches Kizomba periodically during our Urban Classes and by Private Tuition.

Long-Steps teaches Kizomba according to popular, recognised sources.

History of Kizomba

Kizomba was introduced in the late 1970s in Angola in Africa. The dance style developed to match a new shift in Angola’s music style, which became slower and more sensual around this time. Eduardo Paim is credited as the creator of Kizomba music, characterised by a slower cadence and stronger bass line than the traditional Semba music of the region. Kizomba music became particularly popular during the 1990s and began to spread around the world.

As the music slowed down, Semba dancers slowed their movements and adapted their steps to suit, thus creating the Kizomba dance. Kizomba is a partnered dance with a leader and a follower, and is well-known and loved for being close, relaxed and beautifully harmonious. The leader guides the follower using their right arm and torso, and the goal is to express the music smoothly and in perfect synchronisation with your partner, while also giving it some attitude.

As Kizomba music developed, different places added their cultural influence, most notably Angola, Haiti, Martinique, Guadaloupe and Cape Verde. More recently, musical styles such and R&B and Hip Hop have been fused with traditional Kizomba music. These musical changed have led to slightly different dance versions of Kizomba, including Kizomba Fusion and Urban Kiz.

Regardless of the different variations, Kizomba is often characterised by its slowness, sensuality and the fact that it is well grounded into the dance floor. Lead and follow principles are also always followed, and a focus on harmony between you and your partner makes Kizomba a beautiful and rewarding dance style to master.

Sources: Wikipedia, Kizomba Kollective

Technical Details

Time Signature: Usually 2/4
Musical Selection: Kizomba, Ghetto Zouk, Coladance, Tarraxa
Tempo Range: 80 to 105 beats per minute

 

Contact us to start your Kizomba Journey