Lundu (dance)
Lundu (also spelled landu or landum) is a style of Afro-Brazilian music and dance<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> with its origins in the African Bantu and Portuguese people.
History
The interconnectedness of Lusophone countries dates back to the Atlantic Slave Trade, between Portugal, Brazil and regions of Africa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the 15th century, the Portuguese were the primary exporters of African slaves to the Americas, and with slaves came their musical traditions.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a massive Brazilian presence in Angola, enabling a cultural exchange between the two Portuguese colonies.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This exchange enabled subtle amalgamations of musical styles between Angola, Brazil and other African slave trade countries.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The establishment of a creole population in Brazil led to further cultural developments in language, religion and art.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1859, French journalist Charles Ribeyrolles described Afro-Brazilian free practices on a fazenda in Rio de Janeiro province:
Dissemination
Records from the inquisition of the 18th century reveal that the Europeans initially considered gandus and lundus to be witchcraft.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Many slave-owning Europeans in Brazil tolerated the dance in an attempt to avoid slave rebellion.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Eventually, the style became attractive to Europeans in Brazil for its sexualized quality and its believed effectiveness in reversing witchcraft.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> de Mattos was disgruntled by the blurring by dance and drums of strict racial and cultural boundaries in Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Gradually, the lundu style grew in popularity among the elite population in Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1749, Brazilian musician Manuel de Almeida Botelho immigrated to Lisbon, bringing with him the modinha and lundu musical styles.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> By the 19th century, lundu had become the music of choice for the Luso-Brazilian bourgeoisie.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Historians have even called the style the “…most characteristic late 18th century [genre] of dance and song in Portugal and Brazil”.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Style
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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.