Danza: Classic Cuba

 


I 

Unit: Classic Cuba

Theme: Danzas


Introduction

La danza cubana, or Cuban danza, owes to Ignacio Cervantes its origin and development. In its foreword, Barreiro (2006), mentions how Cervantes' danzas represent the "popular melodic and rhythmic unity" that was harvested in music academies. Barreiro, borrowing from Dana (1859), describes the danza as "a rondo of constantly returning melodies." Even though, as expressed by Carpentier, Cervantes respected the binary form established by his predecessor Manuel Saumell, his romanticism gave the contradanza (what later became known as the habanera), its final classical touch.

 

II

Learning Objectives

  •  Understand the main characteristics of the danza
  • Explain relationship between the contradanza and danza 
  •  Gain an awareness of the classic aspect of the danza
  • Experience dancing the danza 

 

 III

Main Lesson

 

1

 The Danza

General Notes (Based on Carpentier 2001, 212)

  1. There is a continuity with the classically rooted tradition, which is that of highly esteemed Cuban musical nationalism.
  2. He composed from 1875 to 1895 his twenty one published danzas which are the equivalent to Grieg's Norwegian dance or Dvorak's Slavic dances in terms of their nationalist character.
  3. Cervantes takes the Cuban contradanza's form and adjusts himself to it without breaking its framework. 
  4. He takes some of the contradanza's fundamental rhythms (tango, conga), but those rhythms never comprise a rhythmic constant. Instead, they are just elements of style.
  5.  He poses the question of a national character as a problem that can only be solved by the peculiar sensibility of the individual composer.
  6. He was one of the first musicians in Latin America to see nationalism as resulting from idiosyncrasy.  

     Question 1

    Which would you say is the main characteristic of the danza?


2

Danza composed by José Rocca and published in Boston on or before 1847.

https://youtu.be/yjcYdXB8pIo?si=Y-rCiLjubOPAirjG

 

3

Dos Danzas de Ignacio Cervantes

https://youtu.be/UukYuHL2HLI?si=rfapWtQEmK9KbhMM

 

4

Danza Lucumi de Ernesto Lecuona

https://youtu.be/RYC4Kor5PoU?si=40s5QR3JfVISLV1j



 
 Question 2

What is the difference between contradanza and danza?

Question 3

 Why would you considered the danza a classic dance?
 
 
 
IV
A Note to Remember
 
 Cervantes works with his own ideas owing nothing to the city or the country side.(Carpentier 2001, 2012).
 
 
V
 Case Studies
 

Pianist Jorge González Buajasán was trained partly in France and has appeared around Western Europe as well as in his native Cuba. In this video he performs Cuban dances “Ilusiones Perdidas” by Ignacio Cervantes. A program recorded on July 2 at the Théâtre de l'Alliance Française and presented by Clément Rochefort.


 
Marcos Madrigal (piano) interprète Danzas cubanas al estilo del siglo XIX : V. A la antigua de Ernesto Lecuona. Extrait du concert Générations France Musique, le Live, enregistré le 19 janvier 2019.
 
 
Question 4
 
What is Carpentier's idea about the origin of the danza?
 
5 

 Cecilio Tieles's blog
 
 
Question 5
 
What is the influence of Afro-Europeans in the origin of contradanza and danza?

 
VI

Activity

Students learn the steps of the danza.
 
 
VII 
 
Glossary
 
 
VIII
 
Journaling
 
 
IX
 
Sources
 
Barreiro, Elias (2006). Danzas Cubanas de Ignacio Cervantes. Mel Bay Publications, Inc. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Danzas_Cubanas_of_Ignacio_Cervantes/l5V8Q8-xjp8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Danzas+clasicas+cubanas,+Carpentier&printsec=frontcover

Carpentier, Alejo (2001). Cuban Music. University of Minnesota Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Music_in_Cuba/s0A0lw8uCnAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cuban+Music,+Carpentier&printsec=frontcover

 
X
 
Students' Work

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