Lambada is a Latin dance whose sensual movements and celebration of vitality has been historically contentious, and which today continues to provoke accusation and misconception. Although opinion varies as to when Lambada first came into being, some place its origins as far back as the nineteen-fifties in Brazil, where it was widely condemned by the Catholic authorities and danced with blasphemous vigour in the parades of the Bahian Carnival. Today the dance is shaking off its turbulent history, and working to re-affirm itself as an artform that allows for the vivid expression of individual sensuality. In this feature we hear from Lula, one of the first teachers and performers to bring the dance to the international scene in the early nineties, as he depicts the history of the dance and the subsequent emergence of Lambada/Zouk in the last decade. While Lula turns back to the dance’s heady past, Solange Dias, one of the most prominent dancers and promoters of Lambada in this country and sister of Berg Dias, gives us her angle on the way in which Lambada is ridding itself of an unfairly sleazy reputation, invoked by the commercial hype that surrounded the dance during its hey day in the late eighties and early nineties. Solange tells us of Lambada’s return to its essence, in an effort by the Lambada community today to re-channel its focus once more on the intimate relationship between the dancer and the dance.
Lambada has its origins in the Carimba, a Brazilian dance taking influence from the neighbouring Caribbean and dating back to Brazil’s history as a Portuguese colony. The name ‘Lambada’ refers to the wave-like motion induced in a whip, and is said to allude to the flowing motion of the dancers’ bodies, a crucial feature distinguishing Lambada from other Latin two/four-beat dances such as the Salsa. As a close, sensual partner dance, often characterised by a soft fluidity of style and the use of the whole body, not just the legs, Lambada plays strongly upon the masculinity of the male partner, and of course the femininity of the woman. While all traditional partner dances are male lead, Lambada can give a greater sense of the woman abandoning control to her partner, as there is an emphasis on looseness in the body, characterised most strongly by the rolling motion of the woman’s upper body, especially her neck and head. While the dance was once performed to Lambada music, in the last decade dancers have begun using the French-Caribbean Zouk musical style. Its often been said that Lambada can induce a trance-like feeling in its dancers, due to the emphasis on spinning and rolling movements, and its telling that the dance is now making use of a musical style with its roots in the music of Haiti.
Marisa, of the Lambadmecrazy teaching team, appreciates the fertile ground from which the dance has sprung, enriched by the influences of Haitian Compas, as well as Vodou music. She believes the powerful partner dynamic in Lambada, with its demands and ultimate rewards, is crucial to the psyche of the dance.
‘At first its very difficult for the woman to give control to the man. Some women find it a bit restrictive and like to break away from their partner from time to time for a bit of freestyle apart. That’s the beauty of the dance for the women though, at moments you can be completely controlled by the man and just let yourself surrender to him and at other times you’re apart and can be free to experiment with your moves, as long as you keep contact with your partner through eye connection.’
Watching Lambada as an outsider, it’s all too easy to presume that desire must play a role in such an intimate, consuming dance. After all, this has been the historical assumption, from the dance’s inception amidst condemnations by the Catholic authorities, to the accusations by some that Lambada in the late eighties and early nineties was too racy and sensationalist (more on this from Solange). Marisa admits freely that many of the dance couples she teaches now are in relationships as a result of their love for Lambada; she herself met her co-teacher and partner Gary through their joint passion for the dance. However, it’s important not to forget the dancer’s highly individual and instinctive relationship to the dance. Claudia, who runs the Amsterdam school Brasazouk, describes Lambada as her ‘second nature’, seeing the dance above all as a vehicle for personal expression. Solange and Berg Diaz, as siblings that have grown up together as a dance couple, are a reminder of the subtly in the relationship between partners, a connection deeply misunderstood when viewed in the context of a sophisticated ‘pulling tactic’. When I mention this assumption, Solange shrugs, with a subdued smile, ‘Yes, people think Berg and I being partners is strange at first’, she pauses, ‘but then they see us dance.’
Where is Lambada heading? It seems the dance will always raise temperatures - today the debate is around the development of Zouk/Lambada, and the controversial argument that the original dance has been altered so extensively since the introduction of Zouk music that the name ‘Lambada’ itself is now redundant. Perhaps, however, the resolution of the dispute around naming is less important than the interest stirred up by the debate and new incarnations of the dance, notable forms of which are being called Zouk/Lambada, Lamba-Zouk, or simply Zouk. Dance capitals around the world are developing their own distinctive styles, prompting the question as to whether the top dancers in Madrid, New York or Tokyo need make the pilgrimage to the origins of the dance on the streets of Brazil. Claudia, of Brasazouk, believes no such journey to the ‘home-land’ is necessary: ‘There are Brazilian dancers all over (the world) carrying the spirit of the dance with them’, she says. The diversification we’re witnessing today, with different forms and styles embraced worldwide, reveals the soul and vital force behind Lambada as a dance celebrating the individual, and encouraging the vigorous expression of personal sensuality. Such an artform will necessarily prompt controversy, equally it will always draw new converts to its boldness and capacity to invigorate.
Lambada is such a beautiful and free dance, which is constantly evolving and developing with time. – Marisa of the Lambadamecrazy Team, London.
I can only think of Lambada in a wonderful and positive way, since I only see the dance grow and grow – Claudia of Brasazouk, Amsterdam.
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