Kuduro Underground: A brief History of The Dance

Kuduro dance has 3 main branches under the overarching Kuduro umbrella: 1) Kuduro Underground 2) Kuduro Classico and 3) Afrohouse

Kuduro Underground started in the 80s in Luanda, Angola. In the earlier years, the dance was called Underground, which took its name from the underground parties where Luandense were gathering in secret to dance and express themselves.

In the 80s, the main dance and music influence was American Pop and European Electro. Locals attempted to imitate the moves they saw in American and European music videos, and music producers attempted to recreate the electronic sounds they were hearing. These interpretations of both American dance (80s hip hop and pop) and European electronic music gave rise to a unique Angolan sound and forms of movements. As this new music and dance gained popularity, the locals started to refer to it as “Underground” and so the name came into being.

The interpretation of American and European dances gave rise to new moves that became recognized as core underground movements. As time went on, dancers continued to push their creativity by incorporating local elements into their interpretation of American and European dance. These local additions are what helped to shape Kuduro dance. Dancers began incorporating character expressions in their dance. That is, they began dancing and acting out specific characters in their dance: the injured war veteran, the drunk dancer, the street vendor, the marching soldier, the Kangaroo hop and on and on. The dance became an expression of daily life, a place where dance and character were fused into one.

By the 90s, a new style of dancing was emerging in the upper scale clubs of Luanda. Popularize by the choreographer and musician Tony Amato, he called his dance Ku Duro. His inspiration for the name came from 90s Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, where he saw Van Damme flexing and dancing on screen. The name caught on and eventual what was originally 2 words became 1 word: Kuduro, which literally translates to: hard ass.

Tony, invited dancers from the Underground to join forces and together with Tony’s signature moves and the moves of the Underground, Kuduro Underground was born.

Kuduro Underground is the foundation of Kuduro dance, and its influence continues to this day, most notably in Afrohouse—the present day evolution of Kuduro. The energy, speed, crazy antics and character expression dances of Afrohouse are all elements carried over from underground Kuduro dance. Afrohouse dances like Partir Cama (by Scro Que Cuia) which mimics breaking the bed during sex; Tipo Pato (by Os Negrinhos) which mimics walking like a bird, are some examples of character expression dances—-taking elements of normal life and creating dances around them, something common in Kuduro Underground that shows up today in the dances being created under the Afrohouse label.

We will continue to explore Kuduro Underground by capturing the history of the dance, and how it has manifested itself today some 30 years after coming into existence.

In the meantime checkout below our first documentary on Kuduro Underground. We hope you learn the history of this amazing dance, and identify its connection to how Angolan urban styles are currently danced.

Love Kuduro? Try out these foundation moves in our tutorials below