African Influence: Rumba Complex, White Rumba & Ballroom

 

https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2015/09/01/73624/ruta-de-la-rumba-arriba-santiago-de-cuba

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Unit: African Influence

Theme: Rumba Complex, White Rumba & Ballroom

Introduction

 

Cuban dance is an element of Cuban culture that when put together with Cuban music find a common goal depending on the context. Cuba’s dance genres are many; among them we have studied: areito, zapateo, contradanza,  danza, danzón, and comparsa. Today, we are going to explore the rumba complex, the first African dance created  in Cuba. We will also explore the white rumba, a commercial version of the rumba used by Cuban rumberas who made of it a career through Mexico's golden era cinema. Eventually, rumba gained notoriety when it became one of the ballroom Latin dances. They are all part of our Caribbean cultural and embodied memory.

 

 

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Learning Objectives 

• Understand rumba as an expression of African diasporic history
• Explain the differences between yambu, guaguanco and columbia
  
• Gain an awareness of how rumba was and has become an element of  the society of the spectacle
• Experience the three rhythms of the rumba complex
  

 III

 

Main Lesson 

 

 The Rumba Complex: Yambu, Guaguanco and Columbia

 

1

 

 ·      Yambú

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUj3fUPqWys

 

The yambú is a dance done by older couples, dancing apart in the African style.

The word yambú derives from Kikongo; it’s the singular of the word for which mambo is the plural, meaning: word, song, law, important matter. According to Jesús Blanco, the yambú appeared after slavery's end in the solares or tenement squares of Matanzas, in a social milieu where blacks and whites mingled more freely than before. Moliner and Gutiérrez say it was established in Havana and Matanzas by the end of the 1870s. Others have argued for an earlier date.

The yambú is the slowest-tempo dance, and the least aggressive, of the three basic styles of rumba. It is also the least commonly danced of the three in social situations today, though it is part of every folkloric group's repertoire. The yambú was traditionally played on cajones or box-drums – household implements, such as drawers and shipping crates, that circumvented early-20th-century prohibitions on drums. Florencio Calle, who co-founded the rumba group Los Muñequitos de Matanzas in 1952, recalled, "the rhythm was marked by the beating of two spoons. The first time I saw a pair of claves was in a chorus which used them" (lameca.org).

The movements of the yambú mimic the movements of an older couple; they are relatively soft-edged, and sensual rather than sexual; the slower the tempo, the greater the rhythmic tension.

Question 1

 What is the main characteristic of the yambú?

 

 2

 

·      Guaguancó

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rJX1fpyMos

 

Jesús Blanco dates the first appearance of the guaguancó -- the form by which the rumba is best known -- emerged around 1880, in Matanzas.

From 1880 the guaguancó began to be heard in the city of Matanzas, interpreted by the Creole Negroes of the cabildo or congregation Congo Musundi . . . among them were Anselmo y Matías Calle, players and dancers of yambú and organizers in 1884 of the chorus La Lirita in the barrio of Simpson, the first group of its type organized in that city.

That would make the guaguancó and the danzón exact contemporaries, in the same part of town. Blanco goes on to state specifically that the guaguancó was brought to Havana in 1896-97 – that is, during the War for Independence, though given the closeness of the two cities, it would seem reasonable to suppose that someone was playing guaguancó in Havana as quickly as in Matanzas.

Though the guaguancó typically uses tumbadoras or congas instead of cajones, Esteban Lantri "Saldiguera", founding member of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, recalled: "the guaguancó... began to be played in Cuba with box-drums and spoons, and it was born from the yambú" (lameca.org).

 Question 2

After watching the video above, what is the difference between the yambú and the guaguancó?

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·      Columbia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHPvP7BUw68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVxt776zywk

 

The columbia is a virtuosic solo dance, generally, though not always, performed by males. Israel Moliner Castañeda and Gladys Gutiérrez Rodríguez believe it appeared in the second half of the 1880s. It seems to have originated as a cane-field dance, with the name columbia apparently coming from a railroad weighing station called Columbia (with a "u", an English spelling) in Matanzas province. The columbia makes use of numerous props, called tratados, prominent among which are the cane-field tools of machete and knife; other tratados include bottles, full glasses of water, chairs, plates, and staffs.

The dance of the Columbia is acrobatic, mimetic, and competitive; one dancer follows another, each trying to outdo the rest. The columbia is the most virtuosic showpiece for the rumba dancer, with a wide vocabulary of movements that can include gestures from Abakuá, Congo, or Yoruba dancing; tumba francesa from Oriente, the Cuban province facing Hispaniola. This makes us think that columbia may have Domingan and Haitian influence. It may also have been influenced by Spanish dancing; pantomimes and mini-dramas that can involve boxing, household tasks, or memories of slavery days; and moves from later genres like tap or break-dance.

In the columbia, the high-pitched, sharp-cracking drum, called the quinto, underlines the dancer's steps, even becoming at times a competition between the quintero or quinto player and the dancer as each tries to surprise the other.

 Question 3

After watching the video above, what makes the columbia different from the other two dances in the rumba complex?

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Rumba Mulata : Celeste Mendoza

https://youtu.be/yrCDRg9qygQ?si=D1y0VRxIIhJKZRpt

https://youtu.be/RY6sYlAYvGM?si=5cpe2rpVj93I2-bN 

 

Question 4

How does rumba still emerge through this transitional adaptation of a more performance oriented rumba in the voice of Mendoza?

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Rumba Blanca

Lecuona Cuban boys " Rumba blanca " 1937

https://youtu.be/fecOO5RkC6s?si=1eBlSQGqBwb28NUR

 

No hay que ser un negro lucumí

Ni tampoco un esclavo ya

Para sentir ansias de gozá

Cuando resuena un bongó

Que tanto alegra el corazón

Solo ardiente sangre hay que tené

Y bella ilusión hay que llevá

Venga ritmo sabrosón

Vamos todos a escuchá

De la rumba blanca su soná

 (Coro)

Rumba blanca

Es tu canto

Alegre cual espuma

De mar tropical

 Fue tu luz

La que alumbró mi alma

¡Qué feliz ayer!

(Coro)

Lleva siempre

 Los recuerdos

De verdes palmares

Y mi cielo azul,

Rumba Blanca,

Cuánto quiero

A mi Cuba bella

 Translation

You don't have to be a black lucumí

Nor a slave anymore

To feel a desire for enjoyment

When a bongo resonates

How happy the heart is

There is only burning blood that I have

And there is a beautiful illusion that you have

Come on tasty rhythm

Let's all listen

From the white rumba its sound

 (Choir)

white rumba

It's your song

Happy as foam

From tropical sea

 It was your light

The one that illuminated my soul

How happy yesterday!

(Choir)

Always carry

 The memories

Of green palm groves

And my blue sky,

White Rumba,

how much I want

To my beautiful Cuba

See again.

 

Question 5

What does the lyrics of the  Lecuona Cuban Boys' Rumba Blanca imply in terms who has the right to feel, sing and enjoy rumba?

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Lucy Ricardo and Ricky Ricardo perform Cuban Pete

 https://youtu.be/sQZ6vOQYdcs?si=k6y-1LPoiygDW3mB

 &

Desi Arnaz- Rumba Matumba

 https://youtu.be/m_SxLOh_0p4?si=4KFW3ZoQHwgd50jW

 

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 Question 6

How do these Americanized versions of rumba add to its development as a world's rhythm?

 

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 Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rumba/aek7fmzOnu4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=rumba 

 Pages 17-18

 

Question 7

What can you say about the origins of rumba according to Daniel's description on page 18?

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Los hijos blancos de los dioses negros: blanquidad, negritud y africanía

 Perla Massó Soler y Calixto Massó Bizet

https://www.revistatabularasa.org/numero45/los-hijos-blancos-de-los-dioses-negros-blanquidad-negritud-y-africania/

Abstract

This article investigates the intersections between ethnoraciality—with whiteness and Afro-Cuban as key analytical categories—and popular religiosity in Cuba, referring to magical-religious practices of African origin, with emphasis on Santería or the rule of Ocha. We start from the analysis of the Afro-Cuban as a theoretical and cultural object constructed by white intellectual elites, where narratives from whiteness operate as an exclusive definition of blackness and its place in Cubanness. From this background we approach the phenomenon of growing affiliation to Afro-Cuban religions of people, inside and outside the island, who consider themselves white. How is whiteness constructed and situated in a context of religious practices that have historically been associated with black communities? We consider that the promotion of the former "poor black religions", with emphasis on Santería or rule of Ocha-Ifa, as a new banner of Cuban identity requires an approach centered on the subjects that guarantee the survival of these practices. 

 Keywords: Santeria, Afro-Cuban, whiteness, Cubanness.

Question 8

Following the line of thought of the writers in the Abstract, how is white rumba, as seen in the case studies bellow, constructed and situated in a context of a dance practice historically associated with black communities?

 

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Rumba as an aesthetic statement 

Sonia Calero & Luis Carbonell

https://youtu.be/WqZ-3pu5GQ0?si=CPZqmcWJDJJLN8uV 

Duo de la Escoba

https://youtu.be/9YOe7c6ACrQ?si=izXcxqwigNTGbSPW

Film

https://youtu.be/AEZIKaVuiqs?si=0XIjB7CsgzeNb1Tg 

Stylization of Rumba 

https://youtu.be/WZbJMCuiUMM?si=yKP76nH6ZW66I5Ez

(0:51 - 0:58)

 

Ballroom

https://youtu.be/Tx498hIGaXE?si=3WaBKmeAngQMxyCH

https://youtu.be/cK9XaqbfPyQ?si=QfPTrXRbxlK9F9jZ 

 When searching for the word rumba via internet, one gets the following definition given by Britannica:

Rumba, ballroom dance of Afro-Cuban folk-dance origin that became internationally popular in the early 20th century. Best known for the dancers' subtle side to side movements with the torso erect, the rumba is danced with a basic pattern of two quick side steps and a slow forward step. Three steps are executed to each bar. The music in 4/4 time, has an insistent syncopation.

Question 9

Based on what you have seen and read in today's class, what would be your assessment of Britannica's definition of rumba? Explain why.

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 A Note to Remember

Rumba was and is associated with African communities in the Americas.

 

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Case Studies 

 

 Mexico's Golden Age Cinema

Amalia Aguilar

https://youtu.be/iCu9F6_-6W0?si=_Y73Eb6q3bFj5Wrc

Maria Antonieta Pons

 https://youtu.be/bWPUUue8WL0?si=jijGV_QiLAVdt9xQ

Rosita Fornes

https://youtu.be/ZarlKeRrIoA?si=9s5UjbV0Yb7WKUk5

Lilia Prado

https://youtu.be/6V-lvJytS-E?si=fSGEz46Ujon8xZbj

Blanquita Amaro

https://youtu.be/qfTtpxhfO1U?si=1BPDJXk_P93oVaZ4

el triste final de las actrices del cine de rumberas | el día que dejaron de bailar para siempre

 https://youtu.be/N0FTQrjUaXE?si=3PzJMolec1tr7lq6

 

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Activity

Students learn the rumba steps

VII

Journaling

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Glossary

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Sources

Massó Soler, Perla and Massó Bizet, Calixto (2011). Los hijos blancos de los dioses negros: blanquidad, negritud y africanía. https://www.revistatabularasa.org/numero45/los-hijos-blancos-de-los-dioses-negros-blanquidad-negritud-y-africania/

Daniel, Yvonne (1995).  Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba. Indiana University Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rumba/aek7fmzOnu4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=rumba

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Students' Work