this is a page i send to my friends when they ask "what's kizomba?"

i've linked some of my favorite videos representing each style, but if you're only gonna watch 2-4 of them, start with the bolded ones.

(most of this context / history i learned from my teachers, including but not limited to christina lesego and jessica marie. if any of this info is correct, it's because of them; if anything's incorrect it's my fault lol.)

kizomba (/ semba)

after the angola won the war of independence from portugal in 1975, there was a multi-faction civil war for control of the newly independent angolan state, which lasted for decades. during this era, kizomba music took influences from caribbean countries, cabo verde, and other neighboring african countries; angolan singers told stories about celebration, romance, grief, longing, or daily life. dancers started using steps from semba to dance to this music, which was often (but not always) slower, and often had a stronger bassline, creating kizomba as a dance style. (so the fundamentals of kizomba and semba are essentially the same, but they're applied differently to the different genres of music, which means the dances often feel quite different.)

kizomba is a close-embrace "walking dance"; you're basically giving your partner a warm hug and then walking around the room together with them. since kizomba's basic steps don't really have any fixed number of "counts", the dance is very freeform — anything can follow after each individual step. there's less emphasis on fancy combos or spins or tricks — it feels less performative than other partner dances i've tried — but the level of connection and focus on your partner feels really exceptional.

kizomba can be very close and intimate, but it's not necessarily sensual or sexual — it can also be relaxed, or lively, or comfortable, or playful. the word "kizomba" just means "party", and the dance started in backyard parties where people might dance with family and friends, just as easily as they would with any romantic partners.

tarraxinha

tarraxinha started as an elaboration of the 1st basic step in kizomba (where you just stand in place and shift your weight from one foot to the other, with relaxed hips); it emphasizes subtle movements in the hips and lower body, similar to haitian konpa. eventually beatmakers created a whole genre of music around it, so you can dance tarraxinha to a whole song without moving around the floor much. the word "tarraxinha" means "little screw", and originally in angola, it's a style you might typically only dance with an existing partner, friend, or someone you're trying to get more familiar with. (maybe imagine, as an imperfect comparsion, grinding to r&b with someone in a club in the us?) but as it's spread to europe/north america/elsewhere, people now dance tarraxinha at socials with strangers without anyone inferring any further intentions. (no matter where you are: don't assume that any social dance, even a sensual one, implies interest in anything beyond the dance itself, unless you explicitly talk about it together.)

kizomba styling

kizomba styling tends to be grounded and understated. "ginga" roughly translates to "swag"; by keeping their legs and hips relaxed, both leads and follows keep a natural sway in their hips while walking or shifting their weight. the feeling is pushing down into the earth with your whole foot, instead of swinging your hips sideways (as in some latin dances) or going up on your toes (as in some european ballroom dances).

urban kiz

in the 2010s, as kizomba spread to france, portugal, the rest of europe, the americas, and elsewhere, dancers started adapting it to different genres of popular dance music, like ghetto zouk from the cabo verdean diaspora, hip hop and r&b from the us, and afrobeats from west africa. as the dance started becoming more differentiated from its original form, dancers started asking whether it should still be called "kizomba" — there was (justified) concern about european cultural appropriation, and diluting/misrepresenting an important angolan cultural dance. in 2015, a group of prominent european and angolan dancers met to discuss these topics, and ultimately decided on the name "urban kiz" for the european style, with the intention to honor the original roots but find a different name for the newer style. people still routinely get the two confused today, and, for example, many videos on youtube are mislabeled.

(note that the original form of kizomba is just called "kizomba" — it's not called "traditional" kizomba, and urban kiz isn't more "modern" or "current". kizomba and semba are still living dances, evolving on their own paths separate from urban kiz, with communities around the world constantly inventing new moves and concepts.)

urban kiz has a few slightly different fundamentals from kizomba — urban kiz is typically danced on lines and 90-degree angles, in contrast to kizomba, which usually has a fluid circular momentum. in urban kiz, there can be pauses or sudden stops and starts to accent the music, whereas kizomba steps usually continuously flow into each other. urban kiz is danced with slightly more tension in your frame, and a slightly more upright posture — sometimes you're on the balls of your feet instead of flat-footed. there's also sometimes a little more space between the partners' chests. some of these differences come from the influence of european ballroom styles, and some of them are practical considerations, to allow for sharper taps/blocks/accelerations, or to give space for quick disconnections.

tarraxo

tarraxo is an offshoot of urban kiz that's led primarily with leg connection (instead of the lead's arm/hand). also, whereas tarraxinha (an aspect of kizomba) focuses on the hips and lower body and keeps the upper body quiet, tarraxo incorporates chest and shoulder isolations, body waves, etc.; it also adds sharper / harder hits that you wouldn't see in tarraxinha. you can bring any kizomba and tarraxinha moves into urban kiz and tarraxo, but you wouldn't "backport" urban kiz / tarraxo moves to a kizomba song.

urban kiz styling

urban kiz styling is really individual; people take influences from hip hop / popping, afrobeats, latin dance, other ballroom dances, etc.