The Bossa Nova was first heard in small clubs and Cafe's in the beachfront districts of Rio de Janeiro* around 1958. In its home of Brazil*, the Bossa-Nova can be translated as "the new beat". Antonio Carlos Jobim is credited as naming the Bossa Nova to describe João Gilberto's new musical style. Gilberto made a few albums and played Bossa Nova's at out door concerts in Rio de Janeiro. Although prior attempts at changing Brazils music happened before, None ever caught on except Gilberto's. Charlie Byrd credited WMAL Radio Personality Felix Grant for introducing the Bossa Nova over the radio via Paulo Santos (Brazillian DJ).

    The roots of the Bossa Nova music were created by young Brazillian musicians looking for a new way on an old theme ... The Samba, they added Jazz to it. All roads point to Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), all three are musician / Composers who wrote the first Bossa Nova "A felicidade" for the 1958 (1959) film "Black Orpheus," Sidney Frey brought the music to the United States while Elvis Presley and songs like the "The Girl From Ipanema" made it a somewhat popular music. The Music is likened to a subtle Jazz-Samba.

The term Bossa Nova is slang for the ''new thing" or "new wave" or ''new feeling."

"1962 VARIETY Magazine" has suggested that the record industry may be trying to develop a dance to go with bossa nova. One record publisher was quoted as saying that "a new beat has to have an accompaning Dance. Songwriters tried to create a dance for the Bossa Nova like days gone by. Vocalist Edie Gormé recorded the pop tune "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," a song in which the style is depicted as a dance is a good example. The dance was said to be going to replace the Twist, and other dances, however it did not.

   The dance originated around 1960 and was somewhat popular by 1963 as people were trying to dance to the Bossa Nova, however the music was much more popular than the dance due to it's hasty commercialism of releasing the music without a dance to go with it. In a Newspaper poll of Teenagers in 1963, they said they liked the music but hated the dance. They explained it was "to fast for slow dancing and to slow for fast dancing". Others said they liked the dance ... but the general consensus is the dance was not very good... People for some reason thought of the Bossa Nova as a listening or concert type music rather than a dancing music overall which may have been the result of the White House and Carnegie Hall concerts shown on TV as well as not having a dance to dance it.

    Pacific Stars and Stripes Newspaper wrote: "Dance studios (Fred Astaire) have come up with versions of the Bossa Nova dance step which seems to be modifications and combinations of the Twist, Mambo, Samba, Conga and Rhumba." Some of the pattern names were Knee Rock, the Walk, the Serpentine, Peeling the Banana and other descriptive terms.

   The dance is basically the opposite steps of the rumba, (Slow-Quick-Quick) with a subtle Samba flair, very similar to today's much slower Nightclub Two-step. The dance can be done in couple or solo form. Joe Lanza says (but not verified) that he choreographed the first "Bossa Nova Dance" to "Bossa-Nova Music." Lenny Dale is also credited to have created the First Bossa Nova dance in Rio. There are about 20 reported people who have made the claim of inventing the dance from California to New York and over-seas ... However it was most likely created by Fred Astaire Dance Studios as they are the most reported to have worked on the dance in the first year of its musical release and most likely the ones who had the power to deliver the dance nation-wide (In one intervies Arthur Murray studios said it was working on a dance and in the same interview Fred Astaire was already offering lessons in a Samba/Mambo version c.1/1962 they created).

Birth Place

Creation Date

Creator

Dance Type

Los Angeles

1960

Fred Astaire Dance Studios

Latin/ Samba

Rio de Janeiro

1958

João Gilberto (the Music)

Jazz-Samba

Posters, Lobby Cards

Sheet Music Covers

Music Titles

n/a

Bossa Nova Baby

$ 1959 - Black Orpheus Soundtrack

Girl From Ipanema

$ 1963 - Bossa Nova Baby

1969 - Orfeu Negro (Samba)

Amazon Bossa Nova (the Cals)

Balanco No Samba

$ Blame It On The Bossa Nova (Gormé)

$ Desafinado (Jobim)

Dream Bossa Nova

$ Girl From Ipanema

Goza Goza

Hello Dolly

La Chica de Ipanema

Melancolio

$ Samba De Una Nota (aka One Note Samba)

So Danco Samba

The Victors

Night Clubs

Television

Locations

1961 - Carnegie Hall (Lanza)

Brazil

Black Hawk Club (San Fran)

Chili

Portugal

Rio de Janeiro

USA

Bossa Nova Related Films

Ballets / Stage

$ 1959 - Black Orpheus (Jobim)

1968 - Brasiliana (Askanasy)

1959 - Pista de Grama (Jobim)

1959 - Pistoleiro Bossa Nova

1960 - Esse Rio Que Eu Amo (Jobim)

1961 - Quiero morir en carnaval

Newspaper Publications

1962 - Copacabana Palace (Bonfá)

1962 - Porto das Caixas (Jobim)

1963 - Deadly Affair (BN Music)

1964 - Bossa Nova (Documentary)

1964 - Get Yourself a College Girl (Getz, Astrud Gilberto)

1964 - Santo Módico, O (Jobim)

1965 - Man Outside (Jobim)

1965 - Pluft, o Fantasminha (Jobim)

1967 - Garota de Ipanema (Jobim, Eca)

1970 - Adventurers, The (Jobim)

Magazine Publications

1985 - Um Filme 100% Brasileiro (Luiz Eça)

1963 - Ebony Magazine

$ 1996 - Bossa Nova: Music & Reminiscences

$ Chega de saudade: a história e as histórias da bossa nova

$ 1999 - Bossa Nova [DVD] (Amy Irving)

$1998 - Stan Getz: Bossa Novas

$1998 The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa etc.

$1999 - Bossa Nova, Samba: History, Lyrics...

$2000 - Best of the Bossa Nova's

$ 2000 - Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian
Music That Seduced the World

$2000 - Jobim: the Art of the Bossa Nova w/ CD

$2000 - Jobim: The Best of Bossa Nova

$2003 - The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots

Other Related Dances of the time...

Bop

Cha-lypso

Mambo

Rumba

Swim, the

Carioca

Danzon'

Merengue

Samba

Twist

Calypso

Hully Gully

Night Club or Disco Two Step

Watusi

Cha-Cha

Dancers, Choreographers etc.

Political

"Killer Joe" Piro

n/a

Ann Margaret

Elvis Presley

Gene Navarre ( 1962 Instructor)

Racquel Welch

Books, Magazine Articles on the dance...

Title

Author

Date

Publisher

Dancing Step by Step

Coles

1978

n/a

Ballroom Dance Rhythms

Heaton, Alma

1971

Original Musicians / Singers / Composer

Singers

$ Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim (1927-1994)

Astrud Gilberto [b.1940] (Wife of Joao. with Getz)

$ Cannonball Adderley (1928-1975)

$ Charlie Byrd (1925-1999)

Elvis Presley (1935-1977)

Dick Farney (E Seu Quarteto de Jazz Jam-1956)

Edie Gormé (b.1931)

Herbie Mann

$ João Gilberto (b.1931)

$ Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001)

$ Luizinho Eça (1936-1992)

$ Mario Reis (1907-1981)

$ Os Gatos

Roberto Baden Powell de Aquino (8/6/1937-9/26/2000)

Roy Eldridge (1911-1989)

$ Si Zentner

$ Stan Getz (1927-1991)

Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches

Bailes

Jazz Samba

Garota de Ipanema

Beatniks

samba-canção

Jovem Guarda

Bop / Jazz

Desafinado

Tamba

the Clave

Mulatto

Basic Step:

Other...