The Birth of Semba

A unique and comprehensive course designed to help you understand how the semba movement originated in the middle of 20th-century Angola. This will be a fun learning journey into the genesis and evolution of what Angolan call MPUA (Angolan Popular Urban Music) from the colonial era to modern-day times.

The main focus of the discussions will be on semba as a music genre while dissecting the socio-political and cultural setting in which it was born and consolidated.

The 4 sessions will be delivered via Zoom with moderation by Rui Djassi Moracén, founder of the University of Kizomba e-learning initiative. The key speaker will be the distinguished Prof. Marissa Moorman who teaches African History & Cinema Media Studies at Indiana University and authored the must-read book "Intonations: A Social History of Music & Nation in Luanda, Angola from 1945 to Recent Times."