The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Habanera form · 1803–1910

Rio maxixe takes the habanera bass — dotted-eighth + sixteenth + two eighths — as the urban couple-dance ostinato, billed locally as tango brasileiro.

Influence
Lundu genre · 1780–1910

Maxixe takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian 2/4 body-dance into a close-hold Rio couple dance.

Influence
Polka form · 1830–

Rio maxixe takes polka’s duple couple-dance floor — close hold, strain page, salon 2/4 — and syncopates it.

Influence

Maxixe

genre · 1870–1920

Also called Brazilian tango, tango brasileiro

Late-nineteenth-century Rio couple dance, often billed as tango brasileiro: habanera bass, close hold, and urban salon heat (Gonzaga, Nazareth). It hears Habanera for the written bass, Lundu for the Afro-Brazilian 2/4 body-dance, and Polka for the European duple floor. It already gives Samba the urban dance floor samba displaces after Pelo telefone. Not Argentine Tango. Waltz leftover as a salon repertory neighbor. Choro leftover as a sibling instrumental school on the same Rio floor.

Listen

  1. Corta-jaca Chiquinha Gonzaga (1895) YouTube · Spotify
  2. Gaúcho Chiquinha Gonzaga (1895) YouTube · Spotify
  3. Maxixe Rio popular dance tradition (c. 1900) YouTube
  4. O maxixe Ernesto Nazareth (as tango brasileiro) (c. 1910s) YouTube
  5. Brejeiro (as tango brasileiro) Ernesto Nazareth (1893) YouTube

Passed on

Samba genre · 1910–

Early Rio samba takes maxixe’s urban dance floor: close-hold 2/4, carnival heat, and the published tango-brasileiro page, then names itself samba around Pelo telefone (1917).

Influence

Habanera → Maxixe

rhythmmeter and groovefunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus1870–1910notationdanceoral

Mechanism

Rio maxixe takes the habanera bass — dotted-eighth + sixteenth + two eighths — as the urban couple-dance ostinato, billed locally as tango brasileiro. Strength high for the cell. Argentine Tango is a different reception of the same cell (habanera tango). Samba later displaces maxixe on the floor (maxixe samba).

Evidence

Gonzaga and Nazareth tangos brasileiros; published maxixes that still write the Cuban bass (McGowan, Grove).

Debate

How much of maxixe is habanera versus lundu body-dance. Consensus: the written bass is habanera; the close hold and syncopation are Rio’s.

Mediators

community: Rio dance halls; artist: Chiquinha Gonzaga

Lundu → Maxixe

meter and groovefunction and contextmelodystrength: highscholarly consensus1870–1900oraldancenotation

Mechanism

Maxixe takes lundu’s Afro-Brazilian 2/4 body-dance into a close-hold Rio couple dance. Strength high. habanera maxixe is the written bass hop; this edge is the older song-dance parent. Samba later displaces maxixe on the same floor.

Evidence

Nineteenth-century lundu into Rio salon and street; McGowan and Grove on lundu in the maxixe ancestry.

Debate

Whether habanera already carries the job. Habanera is the published bass; lundu is the Afro-Brazilian dance-song maxixe creolizes.

Mediators

community: Rio dance halls

Polka → Maxixe

meter and grooveform and structurefunction and contextstrength: mediumscholarly consensus1870–1900dancenotationoral

Mechanism

Rio maxixe takes polka’s duple couple-dance floor — close hold, strain page, salon 2/4 — and syncopates it. Strength medium. Habanera supplies the bass cell; lundu supplies the Afro-Brazilian body; this hop is the European ballroom chassis.

Evidence

Published tangos brasileiros beside polkas in the same Rio books; McGowan on the salon mix.

Debate

Whether waltz or schottische is the real European parent. Polka is the duple match; waltz leftover as a repertory neighbor.

Mediators

community: Rio salon dancers

Maxixe → Samba

meter and grooveform and structurefunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus1910–1917danceoralrecording

Mechanism

Early Rio samba takes maxixe’s urban dance floor: close-hold 2/4, carnival heat, and the published tango-brasileiro page, then names itself samba around Pelo telefone (1917). Strength high. Lundu remains the older Afro-Brazilian song parent; habanera remains maxixe’s bass donor, not a direct samba parent.

Evidence

Maxixe as the pre-1917 Rio couple dance; Donga and the first samba records; McGowan on samba succeeding maxixe.

Debate

Whether samba is maxixe renamed. The percussion lattice and roda/escola jobs are new; the urban floor is this hop.

Mediators

community: Rio dance halls and carnival; artist: Donga