Maxixe (dance)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The maxixe (pronounced ma-shi-sh), occasionally known as the Brazilian tango, is a dance, with its accompanying music, that originated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in the 1870s, at about the same time as the tango was developing in neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay.
Like the tango, the maxixe travelled to Europe and the United States in the early years of the twentieth century.
The music was influenced by various other forms including the tango, lundu, polka and habanera, and is danced to a rapid 2/4 time.
The maxixe was one of the dances that contributed to the samba and lambada.
Vernon Castle said of the maxixe in his 1914 book Modern Dancing, "The steps themselves are not difficult; on the contrary, they are childishly simple; it is the easiest dance of all to do, and I think the hardest of all to do well."[1]
