Lambadamy
Format
Composer's Club Concerts
Faculty Mentor Department
Music
Abstract/Artist Statement
Lambada is an Afro-Brazilian dance developed by Africans brought to Brazil as a result of the slave trade. It’s a partner dance that involves: 1) Stepping from side to side with arched legs while simultaneously swaying and twisting the hips, and 2) Wearing as few clothes as possible In the late 1980’s, Lambada grew wildly popular, in part due to the success of a song by the French pop group Kaoma entitled “Lambada”. And just like with everything else foreign to America, Hollywood grabbed hold of it, made the dancers wear even less clothes, labeled it exotic, and shamelessly attempted to capitalize on its popularity. Two low-budget Dirty Dancing clones about Lambada were released on the same day, March 16th, 1990, to audiences as scant as the clothes worn by the actors. The two films, Lambada and The Forbidden Dance, only brought in $6 million dollars between them – but what more could one expect from the same studios that brought us the horrific Masters of the Universe and the criminal Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The title of this unpitched percussion piece (if it wasn’t already clear) is a blend of the word “Lambada” and the word “Lobotomy”. I debated writing out a history of the barbaric practice of lobotomy, but I don’t want to bum anybody out. Although I wasn’t intending this piece to be programmatic, it actually kind of formed a program when I came up with the title after I finished composing. That’s what Bob Ross would have called a happy accident. I like to imagine that the music is sort of a lobotomized version of Lambada – say that five times fast. The cymbal effects at the beginning are the sounds of the lobotomy surgery taking place. Then, when the hand percussion enters, it’s kind of groovy and almost danceable, but there’s just something that’s a little bit off about it. I hope you enjoy it. And by the way, there’s an article on theweek.com by Eric Snider that chronicles the production of the two Lambada movies, and it’s actually pretty hilarious – you should totally check it out … oh, but please, not during the performance.
Location
Faye Spanos Concert Hall
Start Date
4-5-2016 7:30 PM
End Date
4-5-2016 9:00 PM
Lambadamy
Faye Spanos Concert Hall
Lambada is an Afro-Brazilian dance developed by Africans brought to Brazil as a result of the slave trade. It’s a partner dance that involves: 1) Stepping from side to side with arched legs while simultaneously swaying and twisting the hips, and 2) Wearing as few clothes as possible In the late 1980’s, Lambada grew wildly popular, in part due to the success of a song by the French pop group Kaoma entitled “Lambada”. And just like with everything else foreign to America, Hollywood grabbed hold of it, made the dancers wear even less clothes, labeled it exotic, and shamelessly attempted to capitalize on its popularity. Two low-budget Dirty Dancing clones about Lambada were released on the same day, March 16th, 1990, to audiences as scant as the clothes worn by the actors. The two films, Lambada and The Forbidden Dance, only brought in $6 million dollars between them – but what more could one expect from the same studios that brought us the horrific Masters of the Universe and the criminal Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The title of this unpitched percussion piece (if it wasn’t already clear) is a blend of the word “Lambada” and the word “Lobotomy”. I debated writing out a history of the barbaric practice of lobotomy, but I don’t want to bum anybody out. Although I wasn’t intending this piece to be programmatic, it actually kind of formed a program when I came up with the title after I finished composing. That’s what Bob Ross would have called a happy accident. I like to imagine that the music is sort of a lobotomized version of Lambada – say that five times fast. The cymbal effects at the beginning are the sounds of the lobotomy surgery taking place. Then, when the hand percussion enters, it’s kind of groovy and almost danceable, but there’s just something that’s a little bit off about it. I hope you enjoy it. And by the way, there’s an article on theweek.com by Eric Snider that chronicles the production of the two Lambada movies, and it’s actually pretty hilarious – you should totally check it out … oh, but please, not during the performance.