Deciding between Semba and Kizomba is very often ground for confusion. What is the difference between Semba and Kizomba in regards of dancing or music.
First I want to clarify one thing, when I say Kizomba, I mean Kizomba. The dance originating for Angola and other PALOP (African Countries with Portuguese as official Language) countries. I don’t mean Urban Kiz or Fusion or anything else. There is no good or bad in this topic. It is every bodies own personal choice what to like or to dance. We just need be clear in naming, so we speak about the same thing and have a proper conversation.
When I first realised that I really liked Semba (see my Intro #3 post), it caused a long-lasting confusion about what is really the difference between Semba and Kizomba.
There are two things to consider or to differentiate:
- Music
- and Dance
While mostly the name of the music genre matches the name of the dance (we dance Bachata to Bachata Music), in some cases things get a bit more complicated.
Dance
IMHO; what I have come to understand so far, is that the question about the Dance is the easy one to answer:
There is no difference between Semba and Kizomba Dance… It’s same, same, but different 😉
The difference in the two dances is the energy that the music dictates you. If you can dance Semba and you have a decent sense of musicality, you can dance Kizomba as well. You’ll be dancing Semba steps on a different energy level with a different edge.
It isn’t necessarily the speed; there is slow Semba as there is fast Kizomba
Music is the King of the Dance
Now let’s talk about music a bit, because the Music dictates what and how you Dance. Music is the King:
- Semba is a music genre from Angola
- Kizomba is bit more complicated; t’s the name for Angolan Fusion of Zouk and their native Afro rhythms.
But there is also the Umbrella of Kizomba.
Most of the time at central European Countries the music we hear is Ghetto Zouk and while Ghetto Zouk belongs to the Kizomba Umbrella, it’s not Kizomba.
The energy of Ghetto Zouk to me is very different from Kizomba music. And when dancing very frequently mostly to Ghetto Zouk music our body and muscle memory adapts and accustoms to the energy level. That’s why it seems difficult to many dancers to switch to dance Semba or even Kizomba. Some dancers are surprised when they realise what they called Kizomba is actually Ghetto Zouk music.
When I started to realise this, I decided to mainly focus on Semba.
Why ? If you learn Semba, you get Kizomba for free dude…
Which ever style you prefer, I strongly recommend to visit any musicality classes if you have the chance to visit any. Understanding the different music styles is just gonna give you more knowledge and understanding. And knowledge is power.