Rumba
Rumba: The "Dance of Love"
In Cuba, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated
dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Spanish colonizers
as well as Africans brought to Cuba as slaves.Rumba developed in the Cuban provinces
of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century. As a energetic Afro-Cuban dance,
Rumba was often suppressed and restricted because it was viewed as dangerous and
lewd.Afro-Cuban rumba is entirely different than Ballroom Rumba, or the African
style of pop music called rumba. Rumba developed in rural Cuba, and is still danced
in Havana, Mantanzas and other Cuban cities as well as rural areas, especially those
with a significant or predominant African community, although now it is infused
with influences from Jazz and Hip hop. A Cuban Rumba song often begins with the
soloist singing meaningless syllables, which is called 'diana(s)'. He then may proceed
to improvise lyrics stating the reason for holding the present Rumba ('decimar';
span.: to make ten-line stanzas), or instead tunes into a more or less fixed song
such as: "Ave Maria Morena" (Yambú, Anónimo), "Llora Como Lloré"
(Guaguancó, S. Ramirez), "Cuba Linda, Cuba Hermosa" (Guaguancó, R.Deza),
"China de Oro (Laye Laye)" (Columbia), "Malanga (Murió)" (Columbia)".
Cuban Rumba can be broken down into three types: Yambú, Guaguancó and Columbia.
Ballroom Rumba
American style rumba is characterized by the Cuban hip motion or hip sway arising
from the bending and straightening of the knee, as opposed to Latin hip motion stepping
on a straight leg, which is used in international style rumba.
Additionally, the same move in terms of footwork often goes by a different name
in American versus international.
