Semba Entrada

ConteoSemba 2/4 meter. The entrada occupies a two-measure phrase counted 1-2-3-(hold): leader steps left on count 1 (measure 1, beat 1), right on count 2 (measure 1, beat 2), settles left on count 3 (measure 2, beat 1), holds on count 4 (measure 2, beat 2). Follower mirrors with opposite feet: right (1), left (2), settle right (3), hold (4). There is no rebound break; the movement is forward-continuous travel into close hold.

Tiempo musicalSuited to the full social semba tempo range, approximately 90–130 bpm; most easily established at moderate tempos (100–115 bpm), where partners have time to settle the embrace fully before the next phrase. At faster tempos (120–130 bpm), the pause on count 4 compresses and demands crisp, committed foot placement from both partners.

• Semba posture and hold (postura e abraço)
• Semba basic step (passo básico)

• ✕Leading with the arms rather than the torso: the leader reaches the arms forward instead of stepping the whole body forward, producing an arm-extended reach that fails to establish body-to-body closure.
• ✕Follower resisting the back step: the follower does not commit the right foot fully rearward on count 1, preventing the leader from entering and collapsing the embrace before it is formed.
• ✕Rushing the settle: both partners lock into close hold on count 2 rather than allowing the embrace to develop through count 3, removing the figure's breath and its alignment with the musical phrase.
• ✕Posture collapse: the leader or follower tilts the torso forward instead of stepping the feet forward, producing spine compression rather than spatial closure and disrupting the shared center.
• ✕Phrase-entry errors: beginning the entrada at a mid-phrase point rather than at the opening of a two-measure musical sentence, which disconnects the figure's arrival from the music's 2/4 phrasing logic.

• ≠Semba saída ('exit'): the directionally opposed companion figure that opens partners out of close hold; where the entrada contracts the partnership space, the saída expands it. Confusing their sequential role disrupts the logic of semba phrasing.
• ≠Kizomba entry: superficially similar — the leader steps toward the follower to initiate close hold — but kizomba is performed at slower tempos (typically 60–90 bpm) with a continuous body-wave quality and a distinct musical feel; the technical tone and timing of the approach differ substantially.
• ≠A traveling forward step without embrace intention: the footwork of the entrada (left foot forward) also occurs in transit passages with no partnering purpose; the entrada is distinguished by the declarative, mutual quality of the approach and the hold that follows.

• Angola (Luanda, origin scene)

  entrada

  Standard Portuguese term; the source designation used in Angolan semba instruction and social practice

• Portugal (Lusophone diaspora)

  entrada

  Same Portuguese term retained throughout Lusophone diaspora communities in Lisbon and Porto

• France (Paris diaspora scene)

  entrada

  Diaspora and international festival teaching in Paris uses the Portuguese term without translation

• International kizomba-semba festival circuit

  entrada

  Universally adopted as the standard designation across international semba instruction; the term crosses language communities untranslated