# Maxixe (dance)

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Not to be confused with [Maxixe (gemstone)](/source/Maxixe_(gemstone)) or [Cucumis anguria](/source/Cucumis_anguria) or [Maxixe, Mozambique](/source/Maxixe,_Mozambique).

The **maxixe** (maˈʃiʃi), occasionally known as the **Brazilian tango**, is a dance, with its accompanying music (often played as a subgenre of [choro](/source/Choro)), that originated in the [Brazilian](/source/Brazil) city of [Rio de Janeiro](/source/Rio_de_Janeiro) in 1868, at about the same time as the [tango](/source/Tango_(dance)) was developing in neighbouring [Argentina](/source/Argentina) and [Uruguay](/source/Uruguay). It is a dance developed from [Afro-Brazilian](/source/Afro-Brazilian) dances (mainly the [lundu](/source/Lundu_(dance))) and from European dances (mainly the [polka](/source/Polka)).

Like the [tango](/source/Tango_(dance)), the maxixe travelled to [Europe](/source/Europe) and the [United States](/source/United_States) in the early years of the 20th century.

The music was influenced by various other forms including the [Spanish tango](/source/Tango_(dance)), [lundu](/source/Lundu_(dance)), [polka](/source/Polka) and [habanera](/source/Habanera_(music)), and is danced to a rapid 2/4 time. Pianist [Ernesto Nazareth](/source/Ernesto_Nazareth) composed many Brazilian tangos; he was known for blending folk influences into his tangos, polkas and waltzes. He resisted using folk terms for his compositions; he preferred *Brazilian Tango* to *maxixe*.[1]

The maxixe was one of the dances that contributed to [samba](/source/Samba_(Brazilian_dance)) dance styles (such as [samba de gafieira](/source/Samba_de_gafieira)) and [lambada](/source/Lambada).

[Vernon Castle](/source/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."[2]

[Troy Kinney](/source/Troy_Kinney) (1914) wrote the following about the Maxixe:[3]

This is, virtually, a revival of the [Two-step](/source/Two-step_(disambiguation)), plus certain [Tango](/source/Tango_(dance)) steps and *enchainements* (step sequences). Instead of the Tango's touch-and-turn-in of the foot, it employs a device of resting the heel on the floor, the foot pointed upward, while the body assumes a bent-over posture not particularly attractive.

## See also

- [Corta Jaca](/source/Corta_Jaca_(ballroom_Maxixe))
- [Chiquinha Gonzaga](/source/Chiquinha_Gonzaga)
- [Ernesto Nazareth](/source/Ernesto_Nazareth)
- [Tango (music)](/source/Tango_(music))
- [Samba](/source/Samba)
- [Polka](/source/Polka)
- [Lundu](/source/Lundu_(dance))
- [Choro](/source/Choro)

## References

1. [Ernesto Nazareth's Polkas and Tangos.](http://www.bn.br/fbn/musica/enzpolca.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070529110516/http://www.bn.br/fbn/musica/enzpolca.htm) 2007-05-29 at the Wayback Machine

1. [Castle, Vernon "Modern Dancing" (1914) pg 107 - Accessed at the Library of Congress.](http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/musdi:@field(DOCID+@lit(M24045)))

1. [Troy Kinney](/source/Troy_Kinney), [Margaret West Kinney](/source/Margaret_West_Kinney) (1914) "The Dance: Its Place in Art and Life" ([public domain](/source/Public_domain), digitized by [Google](/source/Google))

## External links

- [Example of dance in YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpM_OgByaE)
- [The Maxixe](http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/maxixe.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Maxixe (dance)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxixe_(dance)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxixe_(dance)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.