Cuban Dancing Background
In the everyday life of a Cuban, dance is a very large factor. It is incorporated in the culture and it is embedded in the story and history of their dance and life. Mixed into this are elements of Iberian and African aspects that are closely linked to the cuban religions and background due to the history of the Cubans. In relation to couple dancing, a lot of dance styles with these components fed into a dance of partnership rather than individualism as the Cubans had started to develop their dance further due to said influences. With their peculiar but interesting way of dancing and styles that were noticeably distinguished. These influences crossed over in the mid-18th century when even Western styles started to adapt their dance and culture (roh.org, p)
Dancing in Cuba originally developed even further before and around its colonization. With the arrival of the Spanish, there came with them the slaves that were brought over from African nations such as Benin and Nigeria. Following along closely were introduced into the nation an Afro-Cuban influence that subsequently assisted in developing the cuban dance and music into the styles of today. Additionally, it can be more clearly shown today in the city of Santiago de Cuba. (anywhere.com/cuba, p)
On a lighter note, the Spanish also brought with them the arrival of instruments such as the guitar and violin. This influence assisted the production of different melodies that were out of the norm for Cubans. With the interaction of Spanish music mingling with the newly Afro-Cuban cultures, types of punto campesino, which is also known as peasant dances, were emerging. With their lack of movement in the times of colonization and slavery, there came about different dances where for the first time, couples in Cuba were able to touch one another. These dances included the Danzón, the yambu (which is todays Cuban rumba), and the zapateo (which assisted in the development of today's mambo). More specifically, as of the 19th century, Cuba made its official dance the danzon due to its attractiveness in its slow and elegant progressions (anywhere.com, p).
In more detail, there were also many other influences due to a few external environments that assisted in shaping the dances Cuban couples would use. Examples of this are seen during the period between 1791-1804, the Haitian Revolution, where the cuban dances produced the Tumba. Its influences were a portrayal of the stories of the Haitian refugees’ rebellion as they emigrated to the eastern side of the island of Cuba. Even further into the 19th century, the Europeans had decided to introduce the contredance that was a couples, french based dance. Due to this influence, there came the contradanza. This version was considered a more sensual configuration created by the Cubans when the slaves were mimicking the Europeans. Following that in the 1930s, the more well known Mamba was invented. Developed by Arsenio Rodriguez, the style was born in Havana by this native artist. This sensual and fast dance started to get picked up by the Americans around the time it got popular. In this time it was noticed that the Americans could not actually follow along with the style and rhythm due to its intricacies. Thus, the Cubans and their orchestras had noticed and created what is referred today as the Cha Cha Cha. This was an impersonation of the steps made by the Americans dancers (hiplatina, p).
Cha cha
Cha cha is originally known as Cha cha cha. It gained popularity in 1984. Cha cha cha was developed from Mambo which is another Cuban dance form. How cha cha cha was popularized is quite interesting. A professional dance teacher and dancer from England who introduced Latin American dances to Britain visited Cuba in 1952. His name was Monsieur Pierre. While staying in Cuba, he realized that Rumba was danced with extra beats. Enrique Jorrin was the one who introduced this new innovation in 1948 which combined two Cuban dances, the “Danzon” and the “Montuno”. Inspired from Enrique Jorrin’s innovation, Monsieur Pierre returned to Britain and began to teach these steps as a separate dance.
People began dancing on the distinct sound in the music of the slow Mambo Tempo and named the step as “Triple” Mambo. Eventually it became a completely different dance form named today as Cha cha cha.
Cha cha cha consists of three quick steps and two slow steps on the one beat and two beat. It is danced at approximately 120 beats every minute. There is a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beat in between when we take steps on the beats. The weight is supposed to be kept forward and forward steps are taken with flat toes. There are also upper torso movements while taking the steps.
Rumba
Rumba is another well-known Cuban dance form. The exact meaning of rumba differs island to island. The word rumba is taken from the work ‘rumbear’ which means going to parties, dancing and having a good time.
The rumba mainly originated in Cuba. Although it was also sourced from Spanish and other African dances. The “Rumba influence” came in 16 the century when black slaves were imported from Africa. The native Rumba dance is sex pantomime and danced extremely fast with exaggerated hip movements and with a sexually aggressive attitude by males and women had a defensive attitude. Rumba is danced on Staccato beat with strong expressive movements of the dancers. During second world war, the ‘Son’ was a popular dance of middle class Cuba. Slowly, it was refined into a new dance form called Rumba.
The American Rumba is the modification of the ‘Son’. ‘Lew Quinn’ and ‘John Sawyer’ in 1913, attempted to introduce the Rumba to the United States. After 10 years, band leader Emil Coleman imported some rumba musicians and a couple who danced Rumba in New York. In 1935, in the movie named ‘Rumba’, George Raft played the part of a Suave dancer. Pierre and Lavelle introduced the actual ‘Cuban Rumba’ which was finally established after much argument, as the official recognized version in 1955. Rumba is the spirit and soul of Latin American music and dance. The fascinating rhythms and bodily expressions make the Rumba one of the most popular ballroom dances.
Danzon
In the beautiful country Cuba, dancing is this countries lifestyle. The people there enjoy every minute of it. Cuba’s national dance is called Danzon. It is a ballroom dance for couples, but can be danced alone as well. There are different musical versions to dance to, such as, danzonete and danzon-cha which are up-tempo. Danzon originated in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba. This dance has an African rhythmic and dance styles, it originated in 1879. In this dance one must choose a partner and begin dancing on the dance floor The dancers must listen to the beat, to know when to start and stop dancing. In the beautiful country Cuba, dancing is this countries lifestyle. The people there enjoy every minute of it. Cuba’s national dance is called Danzon. It is a ballroom dance for couples, but can be danced alone as well. There are different musical versions to dance to, such as, danzonete and danzon-cha which are up-tempo. Danzon originated in Havana and Matanzas, Cuba. This dance has an African rhythmic and dance styles, it originated in 1879. In this dance one must choose a partner and begin dancing on the dance floor The dancers must listen to the beat, to know when to start and stop dancing. The dance Danzon starts off with 4 bars that are repeated and are followed by 16 bear melody. The dance first part of the dance must be repeated before the second melody is played. People must choose another partner or stay with the remaining partner and start dancing. The fourth beat of bar is very hard to miss. When the beginning of the dance repeats again, people stop dancing and instead greet their friends but dancers must listen closely to know the right time to start dancing again. (danzon.com p)
http://www.danzon.com/eng/history/cuban-music.htm
Bolero
Bolero is another dance that originated in Cuba. It is a graceful dance, that can be danced with a partner or by one’s self. The Bolero dance evolved in the city of Santiago which is in Cuba. The dance Bolero started in the 19th century. Bolero is a mixed with a lot of the popular dances and classical ballet. The Bolero dance can be dance with music from a guitar or singing. This dance is more fit for performance, theatres and shows, not big parties or festivals. There are many variations of the Bolero dance such as international ballroom and American rhythm. The Bolero, is danced to a slow tempo and consists of three verses, that last 36 bars. These verses are made up of 2 parts, which consist of the slow steps having two beats and the quick steps with one beat. One must have good posture and be strong. At the end of the dance it is finished with a “parada’ then the complete verse is finished with a pose or what they call a ‘bien parado’. (innovateus.net p)
http://www.innovateus.net/innopedia/what-are-steps-bolero-dancing
Terry Chen Salsa Dance
The salsa is an extremely popular dance throughout the world. It is danced on a regular basis, in Latin clubs, ballroom dancing and even taught in schools. The salsa originated in the mid 1950’s in Caribbean. It began to popularize around the world, but mainly in Europe. Americans named it “Salsa” and formed it into several different styles, some being the Cuban style, podor style, New York style and Los Angeles style, the list goes on and on. This dance is different from any other dance, not only professionally in dance competitions but it also allows people to have fun, make friends and enjoy music while doing so.
For decades, the Salsa was sweeping the world at an alarming rate, including the 50 states in America. Each American state held a salsa conference each year. Every year, the infamous conference in New York and Los Angeles will attract tens of thousands salsa fans and different style salsa dances around the world. In Europe, almost every country such as Bruttium France and Italy will have a salsa meeting. These meetings are held for multiple different reasons, one reason being to attract different people from around the world to participate but it also acts as a window to promote the city to the world. Salsa is an art that combines music and dance together, which leads to promote the Latin culture and improve relationships between countries in a magnificent way.
Cuban style salsa has different characters, such as the men who are the leaders and the females who follow. The first steps is called “Guapea” which is a simple and direct push and pull movement, the dancers mutually push each other in the gap. The main focus is on the position of the hip which is referred to as the “Cuban action”. The world “salsa” originated from the Spanish food, being chili sauce. The foundation of the dance is established in mambo dance and it follows the structure of son music. The rhythm for each song is usually six to eight beats and the essential action is the prominent waist hip “8” swaying.
From the Latino’s professional dance, people are getting more pressure. Whereas in the U.S culture, salsa dancing is much more relaxed and pleasurable, they tend to be more fun and make it enjoyable for most people. As salsa has widely spread across the world, in order to make the relationship between people closer. In salsa dance, there is no discrimination of race, gender, ethnicity etc. Everyone is closely held together by the dance and tend to enjoy their life.
Back in the day, there was no place for people to learn salsa completely, so the only place they could go to learn salsa is in nightclubs. Nightclubs were the place people would learn how to dance naturally by the effect of those dancing around them. Most people tend to be more relaxed in the nightclub setting, as a result they learn the steps faster. Although, nightclubs are a great place to start learning the dance, not all dancers are generous enough to teach the others.
Africans have contributed the polycentrism/rhythm in salsa dance which changes the colonialism’s dance style. In salsa dance, polycentrism/rhythm allows dancers to follow the music. This type of music focus on the lower body, and the upper body will move along it. On the body, the rib will sway forward and backwards in both directions to the hips which makes the arms go along with the flexed elbow and the waist. This action is called Cuban motion, U.S ballroom dance studio and it is an extremely popular movement in salsa, but it is one of the hardest movement to learn because it requires a high level of immersion.
The salsa dance in New York combines the culture of Colombian and U.S, it allows people to be more open minded. At this point, men allow themselves to be the followers and let the females learn how to lead. It also gives men confidence to identify their self as heterosexual and women are also allowed to dance together.
In conclusion, salsa is one of the most important dance in the world because it promotes happiness and freedom. It allows people to know the world better and keep relationships between countries and citizens closer. Salsa is also an extremely health activity which helps people meet new friends.
Citation:
Renta, P. (2004). Salsa Dance: Latino/ a History in Motion. Centro Journal, XVI (2), 138-157.
Salsa舞. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://baike.baidu.com/item/Salsa舞/2741040?fr=aladdin
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a well-known dance in the Cuban culture, there is a lot of rich history behind it and how it came to Cuba. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico. Reggaeton evolved from the ragamuffin which is a mixture of reggae and hip hop. This dance has a very distinctive beat which comes from the military drum which was popularized by a Jamaican artist, who made the song "Dem Bow" which is used in Cuban Reggaeton and has been ongoing for 20 years. Over the years, people have brought their own flare and style to it but it has stayed pretty consistent in rhythm and style overall. Reggaeton came from urban youth, and mainly grew within the underground malls and slums. Cuban reggaeton and reggaeton in general has been an ongoing popularized Cuban dance, for over decades upon decades. Over the years, people have brought their own flare and style to it, but it has stayed pretty consistent in rhythm and style overall. (Padron, 2015)
Some of the music creators who have achieved great fame and success from being the first reggaeton artist, include Puerto Rican Daddy Yankee, Vico C, Nando Boom etc. In 1993-1994 Vico C starting rapping with Jamaican music, from that point on it became extremely popular and spread like wildfire through different countries, such as; Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama and finally to Cuba. Finally, Reggaeton arrived in Cuba extremely late due to the fact that Cuba has cultural censorship, which causes lyrics to be filtered due to the vulgarity, another reason is because there is a lack of media in Cuba, which in general causes a huge decrease in any sort of media representation. In Cuba, the most popularized dances are the salsa and son. When Cuban reggaeton made an appearance, it created a lot of good change it brought soca, calypso and dance hall, it allowed the Cuban culture to have different perspectives and possibilities when it came to dancing, which we know the Latin culture is very much passionate about. (Padron, 2015)
Lastly, reggaeton is a great way to create new relationships and a positive atmosphere. Even in today's society you see many people dancing soca, calypso and dancehall in clubs together. This is definitely a dance style that can be used amongst many different cultures. Mostly all Cuban dances involve a female dance partner, and the reggaeton is no different, this dance creates a steaming atmosphere between the male and female, it also brings out good positive vibes, between everyone around you. The reggaeton dance, is certainly one of the most popular style Cuban dances, it brings its own flare unlike any style of cuban dance. (Padron, 2015)
Tango
The tango was originated in Buenos Aires, and became extremely popularized throughout the world. The tango took inspirations from African and European cultures, and was influenced by Cuban habanera dance. The tango was mainly danced by the lower class areas of Buenos Aires. The tango arrived in Havana in 1920, because it was influenced by the cuban habanera, the tango was always an island favourite. The tango use to be a solo style dance which was always danced by just women, this then changed and started to incorporate men, leading it to be a couples dance.
The tango is mainly danced in Havana, and there is many different classes and cities in Cuba that teach the tango, this dance was came from the candombe ceremonies of former slave people, which shaped the modern day tango. There have also been multiple different festivals in Cuba, where popular dance teachers from Argentina come to teach cubans free of charge different styles and the history of the tango.