RumbaEssay Preview: RumbaReport this essayRumbaThe Rumba is an exciting, sensual dance with several influences responsible for it’s evolution throughout the years. African soul has a stronger presence in the Rumba than any other Latin American dance. It originated in its present form in poor districts of Havana and Matanaza, not long before slavery was abolished in Cuba around 1880. But, surprisingly, it actually first began around the time of the arrival of the first African slaves back in the 16th Century. The original rumba rhythm is the Yambĺ, which can be traced directly back to ancient West African dances. Only percussion from several different kinds of drums, gourds, and claves were used for the music.
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\p[display:blockquote type=”http://www.pandabagroup.com/publications/rumbareports/RumbaThe_Rumba%20The%20Rumba%20The%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%20Rumba%22#” , { ‘published’: ‘2016/09/17’, ‘url’: ‘https://archive.is/7x8w1’, ‘description’: ‘The official Rumba Report document by Rumba, Cuba, with translations, background information, and interviews conducted by Dr. Martin J. De Castro as well as some other experts
There are some similarities between the Rumba and the ‘Slavery’ of the early South American colonies. The Rumba makes a statement of the great powers of mankind, but it is more concerned about the problems of all nations, no matter how large, and the problem itself is rather the question of the power of an entire world in total. One may have to ask if there is a general idea behind the idea with which the Rumba is concerned or if it is a specific statement of a specific country that the Rumba and its fellow dancers say. In the ‘Federation Dance’ of Stila, the Rumba expresses some common ideas – especially in respect to the emancipation of slaves, as it was said that slaves had the right to their freedom after being freed for many generations. The Rumba is the first Latin American dancer to perform music or performance with an original rhythm.
The origins of the ‘Rumba’ have been found in the late 19th century, when the Rumba dances were performed in Spain, and many of them had a more modern and refined
The rumba was originally a sexual, erotic courting dance, and is actually more of a generic term for different rhythms like Yambu (which is the original rumba rhythm, and can be traced directly back to ancient West African dances), Columbia, Son, Bolero, Guaracha, Guagira, Naningo, Mambo, Beguine and Guaguanco (which is the most popular of the rumba rhythms today.) Despite its African origin, the rumba is the slowest of the Latin American dances.
“Rumba” means “party” or “dance”. Like the blues did for slaves in the South, and rap music does for musicians in some urban areas, and even like Tango does for dancers and musicians in Argentina, the rumba helped the people to express their social conditions. It wasn’t until the 1920’s and 1930’s that the rumba became commercialized and adapted to the listening habits of Europe and North America.
An artist named Pierre Margolie played a huge role in the sculpting and spreading of Rumba. He really started to further develop the rumba after World War II. Early on, he spent most of his time in Paris dance halls, where he met Cubans, Argentineans, Brazilians, and Spaniards who danced to their own music. In the mid 1920’s, Pierre opened a dance studio in London.
Around this time, Alcedes Castellanos, a bandleader from Cuba, moved to Paris. In the late 20s, he brought the rumba to Europe for the first time, and it took off. When Pierre heard about this, he immediately returned to Paris, to learn the new dance. However, Pierre felt the basic step of the dance seemed too limited, and offered little in the way of opportunity to expand. He kept working on the rumba, trying to make it more accessible and versatile.
As Pierre travelled to Havana with his partner in 1947, the “Son” was popular among the middle classes, as was the “Danzon” among the upper classes. Pierre worked with Cuban dance champions, Pepe and Suzy Riviera. He wrote down many of today’s rumba figures, put them into a system, and named them. This really helped the rumba to grow as one of the world’s favourite social dances.
Pierre called the Rumba “Cuban Bolero”, “Son” or “Baile de Salon”. The original