Which Type of Kizomba Should I Choose?

Kizomba is truly taking the dance world by storm! You might well have seen people dancing kizomba at dance socials alongside salsa and bachata, although it isn’t a Latin dance. If you haven’t yet seen anyone dance kizomba, take a look at this video of a full-on kizomba lady styling shot in Odessa, Ukraine.

If that dance style doesn’t pique your interest, then nothing will! As soon as you start looking into kizomba, however, you will discover that there are a few different types. So which is the one for you?

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Which type of kizomba should I choose?

Traditional/classic kizomba

This is the original kizomba dance style that was developed in Angola. It is characterised by grounded footwork with bended legs. The lead partner keeps their leg between the legs of the follow, the top part of the body is kept relatively still with little to know isolations, and all of the movement is created in the hips and the legs.

It is danced to a 4/4 beat and danced in a circle, with each leg lifted alternately on the beat and the hips shaking side to side or forward to back. It is a sensual dance that is always danced closely connected to your partner.

Kizomba fusion

While many people appreciate traditional kizomba dancing, others have a desire to be able to add some different elements to the dance. And this is where kizomba fusion comes in. With kizomba fusion, dancers retain the grounded nature of kizomba dancing but are free to add movements from other dance styles, such as bachata, tango, salsa, or hip hop. This is the style of kizomba you are most likely to see being danced at socials.

Urban kiz

Urban kiz is similar to kizomba fusion but the fusion is more closely connected and integral to the dance style. Specifically, it is kizomba fused with hip hop dancing. It tends to be danced slightly further apart than traditional kizomba, which gives the dancers more of a chance to get creative with their styling. It is also danced more on the tip-toes and less grounded, is danced forward and backwards rather than in a circle, and is characterized by fast rhythm changes.

Lady styling and men styling

Kizomba was originally a couple dance but both lady styling and men styling have become popular where men or women perform the dance alone or in a group with everyone facing the same direction. Today’s video is a great example of kizomba lady styling.

The bottom line

One of these styles of kizomba may have jumped out at you, or maybe you fancy giving all of them a try. There’s no reason why you have to stick to one style and one style only so go right ahead if you want to learn all of them! There are more and more kizomba classes popping up all over the world and even more tutorials and classes available online for you to use at home so there has never been a better time to give kizomba a try.

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