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Painting by Sue Matthews |
Jose Barroso and Yismari Ramos |
RUMBA: The music
Dr. Olavo Alen Rodriguez writes,
Rumba is a secular dance/ music and vocal style that was created by the working class and poor black Cubans in Matanzas and Havana during the late 19th century. Social gatherings on the docks and in the communal living spaces called solares produced rumba. The explosive energetic drumming and sensual body movements of rumba spread all over Cuba and now is fundamental element of Salsa. Rumba has three distinct styles: yambú, guaguancó and Columbia.
According to Dr. Olavo Alen Rodriguez,
“The instruments usually used were the side of wardrobe or an empty drawer turned upside down. The steady beat (repiquetear) was carried by striking a couple of spoons together or by using them to beat on a frying pan to achieve a polyrhythmic beat…From the wardrobes, drawers and frying pans rumba-players went on to use crates of different sizes…Besides the crates, there is a solo vocalist who also played the claves to stabilize the polyrhythmic nature of the general beat.
RUMBA: The dance
Yambu, the oldest and slowest form of rumba dance, is performed by a man and a woman. Yambu imitates the movements of the frail elderly( like mimicking walking with cane) The dance is danced in couples or women alone but in yambu, the man does not perform the vacanao.
Guanguanco, a faster dance than yambu, is performed by couples and involves the symbolic sexual flirtation between the man and woman climaxing with a pelvic thrust known as a vacunao executed by the male dancer. Guaguanco is known as the dance of the rooster and the hen. Since the vacunao is a common element of other African derived dances, the guaguanco may have developed from the yuka (a dance of the Bantu people).” (Vernon Boggs 1992)
Columbia is faster than guaguanco and is performed primarily by men. The dancer’s quick, acrobatic movements converse with rhythms of the quinto dancer (the highest pitched drum used for solos). Columbia inspires spontaneity and creativity of the dancers and drummers. and lively competition between the dancers.
References
Rodriguez, Olavo Alen, Boggs, Vernon Salsiology From Afrocuban Music to Salsa |
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