Cafuzos do Lundú

Lundu is an Afro‑Brazilian dance‑song that emerged in colonial Brazil, blending Bantu‑derived rhythms with Portuguese melodic and harmonic practices. Typically set in 2/4 with marked syncopation and a swaying groove, it was both a circle dance (often featuring the playful umbigada gesture) and a sung genre accompanied by guitar and hand percussion. In its urbanized, salon form of the late 18th and 19th centuries, lundu became a fashionable entertainment in Brazil and Portugal, sharing space with the modinha. Its music commonly features strophic verses with a recurring refrain, call‑and‑response, and light, flirtatious texts. Instrumentation ranges from voice and violão (6‑ or 7‑string guitar) or cavaquinho to pandeiro, atabaque, and handclaps.