Lundu (also spelled landu or landum) is a style of Afro-Brazilian music and dance [1] with its origins in the African Bantu and Portuguese people.
Lundu (also spelled landu or landum) is a style of Afro-Brazilian music and dance [1] with its origins in the African Bantu and Portuguese people.
The interconnectedness of Lusophone countries dates back to the Atlantic Slave Trade, between Portugal, Brazil and regions of Africa. [2] In the 15th century, the Portuguese were the primary exporters of African slaves to the Americas, and with slaves came their musical traditions. [3] Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a massive Brazilian presence in Angola, enabling a cultural exchange between the two Portuguese colonies. [4] This exchange enabled subtle amalgamations of musical styles between Angola, Brazil and other African slave trade countries. [5] The establishment of a creole population in Brazil led to further cultural developments in language, religion and art. [6]
Records from the inquisition of the 18th century reveal that the Europeans initially considered gandus and lundus to be witchcraft. [7] Many slave-owning Europeans in Brazil tolerated the dance in an attempt to avoid slave rebellion. [8] Eventually, the style became attractive to Europeans in Brazil for its sexualized quality and its believed effectiveness in reversing witchcraft. [9] de Mattos was disgruntled by the blurring by dance and drums of strict racial and cultural boundaries in Brazil. [10]
Gradually, the lundu style grew in popularity among the elite population in Brazil. [11] In 1749, Brazilian musician Manuel de Almeida Botelho immigrated to Lisbon, bringing with him the modinha and lundu musical styles. [12] By the 19th century, lundu had become the music of choice for the Luso-Brazilian bourgeoisie. [13] Historians have even called the style the “…most characteristic late 18th century [genre] of dance and song in Portugal and Brazil”. [14]
Lundus are characterized by varying structure, the interplay of tonic and dominant harmony, and strummed chords layered atop a syncopated rhythm reminiscent of traditional West African music. [15] Limited recordings are available of traditional lundus style. Usually a flirtatious ritual of a couple dance, accompanied by a guitar, or sometimes a thumb piano or drums, Lundu is related to the Spanish fandango and other new-world dances like the Argentine Zamba, the Peruvian Zamacueca and the Cuban Bolero - they all involve, to some degree, handkerchiefs, castanets, and holding one's arms above one's head. In the 19th century, the lundu was one of the sources of the Choro, the Maxixe and the Samba
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. It was developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil at the beginning of the 16th century. It is known for its acrobatic and complex maneuvers, often involving hands on the ground and inverted kicks. It emphasizes flowing movements rather than fixed stances; the ginga, a rocking step, is usually the focal point of the technique. The most widely accepted origin of the word capoeira comes from the Tupi words ka'a ("forest") paũ ("round"), referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior where fugitive slaves would hide. A practitioner of the art is called a capoeirista.
Portuguese is a Western Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea and Macau. A Portuguese-speaking person or nation is referred to as "Lusophone" (Lusófono). As the result of expansion during colonial times, a cultural presence of Portuguese and Portuguese creole speakers are also found around the world.
Samba is a Brazilian music genre and dance style, with its roots in Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions, particularly of Congo, through the samba de roda genre of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, from which it derived. Although there were various forms of samba in Brazil with popular rhythms originated from African drumming and the African structures of polyrhythm of Beat and Off-Beat, Time-Line-Pattern and the elementary pulse, that are performed by different instruments of the bateria of the samba schools of the famous Samba-Enredo, that has its origins in Rio de Janeiro.
Samba is a lively, is a nice dance of Afro-Brazilian origin in 2/4(2 by 4) time danced to samba music whose origins include the Maxixe.
Choro, also popularly called chorinho, is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a fast and happy rhythm. It is characterized by virtuosity, improvisation and subtle modulations, and is full of syncopation and counterpoint. Choro is considered the first characteristically Brazilian genre of urban popular music. The serenaders who play choros are known as chorões.
Lusophones are an ethnolinguistic group of peoples and nations that comprise an estimated 270 million people spread across 10 sovereign states and territories that recognize Portuguese as an official language. This area, known as the Lusofonia or Lusophone World, is the corresponding community of Lusophone nations which exist in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Afro-Brazilians are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry. The term does not have widespread use in Brazil, where social constructs and classifications have been based on appearance; people with noticeable African features and skin color are generally referred to as preto ("black"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or pardos, may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Depending on the circumstances, the ones whose African features are more evident are always or frequently seen by others as "africans" - consequently identifying themselves as such, while the ones whom this evidence is lesser may not be seen as such so regularly. It is important to note that the term pardo, such as preto, is rarely used outside the census spectrum. Brazilian society has a range of words, including negro itself, to describe multiracial people.
The Portuguese people are a Romance nation indigenous to Portugal who share a common Portuguese culture, ancestry and language. Their predominant religion is Christianity, mainly Roman Catholicism, though other religions and irreligion are also present, especially among the younger generations. The Portuguese people's heritage largely derives from the pre-Celts and Celts, who were Romanized after the conquest of the region by the ancient Romans. Y-DNA ratios in northern and central Portugal today indicate a small percentage of descent in male lineages from Germanic tribes who arrived after the Roman period as ruling elites, including the Suebi, Vandals and Visigoths, who ruled for circa three hundred years. Finally, the Moorish occupation of Iberia also left a small Jewish and Arab-Berber genetic contribution in the Iberian Peninsula.
Samba rock is a Brazilian dance culture and music genre that fuses samba with soul, rock, and funk. It emerged from the dance parties of São Paulo's lower-class black communities after they had been exposed to rock and roll and African-American music in the late 1950s.
José Eduardo Agualusa Alves da Cunha is an Angolan journalist and writer of Portuguese and Brazilian descent. He studied agronomy and silviculture in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently he resides in the Island of Mozambique, working as a writer and journalist. He also has been working to establish a public library on the island.
São Luiz do Paraitinga is a municipality (município) in the eastern part of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The name Paraitinga comes from the Tupi language (Parahytinga) meaning clear water). The city is a major tourist destination of the Paraíba Valley region, particularly, due to its Historic Centre, declared a national heritage site, and its Caipira traditions, including the Folia do Divino and the Carnival of Marchinas.
The maxixe, occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music, that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1868, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay. It is a dance developed from Afro-Brazilian dances and from European dances.
Angola–Brazil relations refers to the historical and current bilateral relationship between Angola and Brazil.
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about 140 km (87 mi) apart and about 250 and 225 km off the northwestern coast of Gabon.
Slavery in Portugal occurred since before the country's formation. During the pre-independence period, inhabitants of the current Portuguese territory were often enslaved and enslaved others. After independence, during the existence of the Kingdom of Portugal, the country played a leading role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, which involved the mass trade and transportation of slaves from Africa and other parts of the world to the American continent. Slavery was abolished in Portugal in 1761 by the Marquês de Pombal. After the abolishment of slavery in Portugal, the Portuguese slave traders turned to clients in other countries where slavery was not yet abolished such as the United States of America. Slavery in Portugal, Portuguese Slaves were many different colours and were from different regions. The main colour of slaves was black and they were most likely from India or Africa. They transported Slaves to Portugal through the Atlantic slave trade.
Umbigada is a dance move in various Afro-Brazilian dances. Sometimes translates as "belly bump" or "belly blow", it is performed as follows: a dancer opens her arms and extends her navel towards another dancer. The bodies of the two dancers may or may not touch.
Rogerio Caetano is a Brazilian musician, arranger, musical producer and composer. Bachelor of Music in Composition by the University of Brasília, he is an awarded virtuoso and international reference in 7 string guitar. Using a revolutionary language, within the choro and samba music genres and mixing jazz elements, he represents a new school for this instrument.
Skylab & Tragtenberg, Vol. 2 is a collaborative album between Brazilian musicians Rogério Skylab and Lívio Tragtenberg. The second installment of a trilogy, it was self-released on December 20, 2016, and is available for digital download/streaming on Deezer, the iTunes Store and Spotify, as well as on Skylab's official website.
Skylab & Tragtenberg, Vol. 3 is a collaborative album between Brazilian musicians Rogério Skylab and Lívio Tragtenberg. The final installment of the Skylab & Tragtenberg trilogy, it was self-released on July 11, 2018, and is available for digital download/streaming on Deezer, the iTunes Store and Spotify, as well as on Skylab's official website. The track "Bocetinha de Cocô" previously appeared as a teaser on Skylab's EP Skylab, released the year prior.
The Kalunga Project was a project initiated by the Angolan government to reconnect with those of the diaspora within Brazil. This tour was not only political but also a social commentary connecting Brazil and Angola through music as well as through pop-culture. Brazilian performers were invited to tour Angola, performing as an act of solidarity to the communist party during the Angolan Civil War. The tour took place in the cities Luanda, Lobito, and Benguela. All of the more than 60 performers and artists supported the MPLA in their fight for independence; many singing about anti-colonial struggles through Semba.
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