Rumba (dance)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rumba Colombia, one of the Afro-Cuban rumbas

Rumba is a dance term with two quite different meanings.

In some contexts, "rumba" is used as shorthand for Afro-Cuban rumba, a group of dances related to
the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. The most common Afro-Cuban rumba is the guaguanc.
[1]
The other Afro-Cuban rumbas are Yambu and Colombia.
In other contexts, "rumba" refers to ballroom-rumba, one of the ballroom dances which occurs in
social dance and in international competitions. In this sense, rumba is the slowest of the five
competitive International Latin dances: the paso doble, the samba, the cha-cha-cha and
the jive being the others. This ballroom rumba was derived from a Cuban rhythm and dance called
the bolero-son; the international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the prerevolutionary period.

Cuban rumba[edit]
The Afro-Cuban rumba is entirely different from the ballroom rumba, both in rhythm and dance.
See guaguanco.

Rumba outside Cuba[edit]

The ballroom rumba derives its movements and music from the son, just as do
the salsa and mambo. The Peanut Vendor was the first recording of Cuban music to become an
international hit:[4] it was incorrectly described on the label as a rumba, perhaps because the
word son would not be understood in English. The label stuck, and a rumba craze developed
through the 1930s. This kind of rumba was introduced into dance salons in America and Europe in
the 1930s, and was characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern
ballroom rumba.

Early American rumba[edit]

This kind of rumba was introduced into American dance salons at the beginning of the 20th century,
characterized by high tempo, nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom rumba, typical examples
being the tunes The Peanut Vendor and Siboney.

Ballroom rumba[edit]
International style[edit]
The modern international style of dancing the rumba derives from studies made by dance
teacher Monsieur Pierre (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle), who partnered Doris Lavelle.[5][6]Pierre, then
from London, visited Cuba in 1947, 1951 and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing
at the time.[7]
The international ballroom rumba is a slower dance of about 120 beats per minute which
corresponds, both in music and in dance to what the Cubans of an older generation called
the bolero-son. It is easy to see why, for ease of reference and for marketing, rumba is a better
name, however inaccurate; it is the same kind of reason that led later on to the use of salsa as an
overall term for popular music of Cuban origin.
No social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is scarcely
noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba. [8] In general, steps are
kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any rise and fall. This style is authentic, as
is the use of free arms in various figures. The basic figures[9] derive from dance moves observed in
Havana in the pre-revolutionary period, and have developed their own life since then. Competition
figures are often complex, and this is where competition dance separates from social dance. Details
can be obtained from the syllabuses of dance teaching organizations and from standard texts. [2][10][11]
American style[edit]

Rumba box figure

There is also a variant, commonly danced in the U.S.A., with box-like basic figures.

Rumba
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Afro-Cuban music and dance rhythms. For other uses, see Rumba
(disambiguation).

Rumba
Stylistic origins

Afro-Cuban music

Cultural origins

Cuba

Typical instruments

congas

Derivative forms

Columbia -yambu[disambiguation needed]

Fusion genres

son montuno guaracha mambo Afro-Cuban

jazz chachach guajira

Regional scenes

Cuba and rest of the world

Rumba dance pattern.[1]

Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and ballroom dance that originated in Cuba as a
combination of various musical traditions. The name derives from the
Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no religious
connections.[2] People of African descent in Havana and Matanzas originally used the word rumba as
a synonym for party.[3] Olavo Aln states that over time, "rumba ceased to be simply another word for
party and took on the meaning both of a defined Cuban musical genre and also of a very specific
form of dance."[4] The term spread in the 1930s and 1940s to the faster popular music of Cuba (the
"Peanut Vendor" was a classic), where it was used as a catch-all term, rather like salsa today. Also,
the term is used in the international Latin-American dance syllabus, but in reference to a slower

dance based on the bolero-son. Ballroom rumba, or rhumba, is essentially son as opposed to the
older folkloric rumba. Similarly, the African style of pop music called African Rumba orsoukous is
also son-based.
The term is also used today for various styles of popular music from Spain, as part of the socalled Cantes de ida y vuelta, or music that developed between both sides of the Atlantic. Flamenco
rumba is a genre that is entirely different from Cuban rumba.

Cuban rumba[edit]

Rhythmic structure[edit]

Rumba clave in duple-pulse and triple-pulse structures

Cuban rumba is played in both triple-pulse (12/8, 6/8) and duple-pulse (4/4, 2/2) structures. In
Columbia, triple pulse is the primary structure and duple pulse is secondary. In yamb and
guaguanc duple-pulse is primary and triple-pulse is secondary.[5] The three conga (or tumbadora)
parts are known as salidor, segundo, and quinto (the lead drum). The parts have other names too.
Rhythmically, rumba is based on the five-stroke guide pattern called clave and the inherent structure
it conveys.[6]

History[edit]
David Pealosa states: "... the history of rumba is filled with so many unknowns, contradictions,
conjectures and myths which have, over time been taken as fact, that any definitive history of the
genre is probably impossible to reconstruct. Even elders who were present at historic junctures in
rumbas development will often disagree over the critical details of its history." [7]
The Africans brought over to be slaves had a history and culture that later merged with the other
cultures they had been pushed into. The African origins of rumba can be traced to two secular
dances of the Bantu origin: the yuka and makuta.[8] There are also other African influences in
rumba. Rumba combines music, dance, and vocals, where all three elements interact with rhythmic
improvisation.[9]
By most accounts, rumba first emerged in Cuba during the 1880s, at the time when slavery was
finally abolished on the island. We know that the Congolese-based progenitors of rumba existed in

the slave barracones (barracks) during the early nineteenth century. It is therefore highly probable
that various types of proto-rumbas were danced prior to the first rumba references made by
contemporary chroniclers. Initially the musical instruments of rumba consisted of regular household
items: the side of a cabinet functioned in the role of the present-day tumba or salidor (the primary
supportive drum), while an overturned drawer served as the quinto (the lead drum) and a pair of
spoons played the cscara part on whatever was available.[10]
Several types of rumba emerged, some of which have been lost to time, or are extremely rare today.
These include the taona,[11] papalote,[12] tonada,[13] jiribilla and resed.[14]
The great Matanzas rumbero Chach Vega states: I was born in the neighborhood called Simpson.
You had rumba for lunch and rumba for dinner . . . so, you had to learn rumba . . . Young and old,
with great respect, and consideration. It was a whole way of life. [In other words, were born with the
rumba] and we will die with the rumba.[15] As an energetic Afro-Cuban dance, rumba was often
suppressed and restricted because it was viewed as dangerous and lewd. Because of this, when it
first emerged it was done in private. This includes a smooth combination of music, dance and poetry
to produce a unique sound and dance [8] While the syncopated rhythms, and call-and-response
singing are clearly of African origin, the song framework is largely based in the music traditions of
Spain. The various styles of rumba songs derive their melodies, patterns and instrumentation
from seguidillas, copla, peteneras, jotas, soleares, malagueas, isas, folas and their related dances.
A Cuban rumba song often begins with the soloist singing meaningless syllables called the diana.
The male dancer and singer 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" (Annimo), "Llora Como Llor" (S. Ramirez), "Cuba Linda, Cuba
Hermosa" (R.Deza), "China de Oro (Laye Laye)", and "Malanga."

Guaguanc, yamb, columbia[edit]

The three main forms of rumba today are yamb, guaguanc, and Columbia. The differences
between them are in the choreography and the pace.
Guaguanc is a couple dance of sexual competition between the male and female. The female
seductively moves her upper and lower body in contrary motion, and holding the ends of her skirt,
opens and closes it in rhythm with the music. The male tries to distract her with fancy (often
counter-metric) steps, accented by the quinto, until he is in position to surprise her with a single
thrust of his pelvis. This erotic movement is called the vacunao (vaccination or injection), a gesture
derived from yuka and makuta, symbolizing sexual penetration. The vacunao can also be expressed
with a sudden gesture of the hand or foot. The quinto often accents the vacunao, usually as the
resolution to a phrase spanning more than one cycle of clave. The female reacts to the vacunao by

quickly turning away, bringing the ends of her skirts together, or covering her groin area with her
hand (botao), symbolically blocking the injection. A male dancer rarely succeeds in surprising his
partner. The dance is performed with good-natured humor.[16]
The term guaguanc originally referred to a narrative song style (coros de guaguanc) which
emerged from the coros de claves of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rogelio Martnez Fur
states: [The] old folks contend that strictly speaking, the guaguanc is the narrative." [17]
Yamb is a couple dance like guaguanc but much slower. Vacunao is not used; the phrase en el
yamb no se vacuna, "in yamb there is no vaccination", is commonly heard during yamb
performances.
Columbia is a fast and highly acrobatic solo male dance. [8]
Rumba is now most commonly performed at informal fiestas. The musical ensemble is made up of
percussions and vocal sections.[8] This African derived rumba dance and music also inspires poets
who in turn inspire the dance and chants. Some poets, including Carmen Cordero and Maya Santos
Febres, have said that a poetic portrayal of dance maintains its meaning as a vehicle of resistance.
This could be taken as pushing for change and acceptance [18] These ideas go well with the
expression associated with the rumba when it first emerged and when it became more widely
accepted by all Cubans.
Carlos Vidal Bolado (better known simply as Carlos Vidal) was one of the first to commercially record
authentic folkloric rumba (Ritmo Afro-Cubano SMC 2519-A and 2520-B, circa 1948).[19] Guaguanc
can be heard in salsa songs such as "Quimbara" by Celia Cruz.

Cuban rumba
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rumba
Stylistic
origins

African-based dance and

drumming, Spanish music

Cultural

Late 1800s in Cuba

origins
Typical

conga, claves, guagua,shaker

instruments

(percussion)

Subgenres

yamb - columbia - guaguanc

Regional scenes

Matanzas, Havana

Music of Cuba
General topics

Related articles

Genres

Abwe
Afro-Cuban jazz
Bat and yuka
Bat-rumba
Boogaloo
Bolero
Chachach
Chang
Charanga
Comparsa
Conga
Contradanza
Criolla
Cubatn
Danzn
Descarga
Filn
Folk
Guaguanc
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Guaracha
Habanera

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Hip hop
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Punto guajiro
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Son montuno
Songo
Timba
Trova
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National anthem

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Virgin Islands

In Cuban music, rumba is a genre involving dance, percussion, and song. There are three main
forms: yamb, guaguanc, and Columbia. Rumba is an amalgamation of several transplanted
African dance and drumming traditions, combined with Spanish influences. People of African
descent in Havana and Matanzas originally used the word rumba as a synonym for party. Olavo Aln
states: [Over time] rumba ceased to be simply another word for party and took on the meaning both
of a defined Cuban musical genre and also of a very specific form of dance.

Structure[edit]

Rhythm[edit]

Rumba clave in duple-pulse and triple-pulse structures

Rumba is played in both triple-pulse (9/8, 3/4) and duple-pulse (2/4, 2/2) structures. In Columbia,
triple pulse is the primary structure and duple pulse is secondary. In yamb and guaguanc duplepulse is primary and triple-pulse is secondary.[2] The three conga (or tumbadora) parts are known as
salidor, segundo, and quinto (the lead drum). The parts have other names too. Rhythmically, rumba
is based on the five-stroke guide pattern called clave and the inherent structure it conveys.[3]

Song[edit]
Yamb and guaguanc songs often begins with the soloist singing meaningless syllables, which is
called the diana. According to Larry Crook, the diana is important because it also contains the first
choral refrain. The lead singer provides a phrase or motive for the choral sections, or they may

present new but related material. Parallel harmonies are usually built above or below a melodic lie,
with thirds, sixths, and octaves most common.[4] Therefore, the singer who is presented with singing
the diana initiates the beginning of the rumba experience. 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" (yamb, Annimo), "Llora
Como Llor" (guaguanc, S. Ramirez), "Cuba Linda, Cuba Hermosa" (guaguanc, R. Deza), "China
de Oro (Laye Laye)" (Columbia), or "Malanga (Muri)" (Columbia)".
Rumba songs consist of two main sections. The first, the canto, features the lead vocalist,
performing an extended text of verses that are sometimes partially improvised. The lead singer
usually plays claves.[5] The first section may last a few minutes, until the lead vocalist signals for the
other singers to repeat the short refrain of the chorus, in call and response. This second section of
the song is sometimes referred to as themontuno.

History[edit]

Pre-revolution[edit]
David Pealosa states: "It should be mentioned at the outset that the history of rumba is filled with so
many unknowns, contradictions, conjectures and myths which have, over time been taken as fact,
that any definitive history of the genre is probably impossible to reconstruct. Even elders who were
present at historic junctures in rumbas development will often disagree over the critical details of its
history."[6]
African slaves first arrived in Cuba in the 16th century with the early Spanish settlers. Due to the
reliance on sugar as an export during the late 18th and early 19th century, great numbers of slaves
were brought to work on the sugar plantations. Where large populations of slaves lived, African
religion, dance, and drumming were clandestinely preserved from generation to generation. Cultural
retention among the Bantu, Yoruba, Fon (Arar), and Efik (Abaku) had the most significant impact
in western Cuba, where rumba was born. The consistent interaction of Africans and Europeans on
the island brought about what today is known as Afro-Cuban culture. This is a process known
as transculturation, an idea that Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz brought to the forefront in cultural
studies like Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. Cuban transculturation melds Spanish culture
with African cultures, as with the seamless merging found in rumba. Ortiz saw transculturation as a
positive social force: "consecrating the need for mutual understanding on an objective grounding of
truth to move toward achieving the definitive integrity of the nation."[7]
By most accounts, rumba first emerged in Cuba during the 1880s, at the time when slavery was
finally abolished on the island. We know that the Congolese-based progenitors of rumba existed in
the slave barracones (barracks) during the early nineteenth century. It is therefore highly probable

that various types of proto-rumbas were danced prior to the first rumba references made by
contemporary chroniclers. Initially the musical instruments of rumba consisted of regular household
items: the side of a cabinet functioned in the role of the present-day tumba or salidor (the primary
supportive drum), while an overturned drawer served as the quinto (the lead drum) and a pair of
spoons played the cscara part on whatever was available.[8]
Several types of rumba emerged, some of which have been lost to time, or are extremely rare today.
These include the taona,[9] papalote,[10] tonada,[11] and the jiribilla and resed.[12]
Rumba served as an expression to those who were oppressed, thus beginning a social and racial
identity with rumba. The synthesis of cultures can be seen in rumba because it "exhibits both
continuity with older traditions and development of new ones. The rumba itself is a combination of
music, dance, and poetry."[13] During slavery, and after it was abolished, rumba served as a social
outlet for oppressed slaves and the underclass which was typically danced in the streets or
backyards in urban areas. Rumba is believed to have grown out of the social circumstances of
Havana because it "... was the center for large numbers of enslaved Africans by the end of the
eighteenth century. Rebellion was difficult and dangerous, but protest in a disguised form was often
expressed in recreational music and dance."[14]
Even after slavery was abolished in Cuba, there still remained social and racial inequality, which
Afro-Cubans dealt with by using rumba's music and dancing as an outlet of frustration. Because
Afro-Cubans had fewer economic opportunities and the majority lived in poverty, the style of dance
and music did not gain national popularity and recognition until after the effects of the 1959 Cuban
Revolution institutionalized it.

Post-revolution[edit]
After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, there were many efforts by the government to institutionalize
rumba, which has resulted in two different types of performances. The first was the more traditional
rumba performed in a backyard with a group of friends and family without any type of governmental
involvement. The second was a style dedicated to tourists while performed in a theater setting.
Two institutions that promoted rumba as part of Cuban culture thus creating the tourist
performance are the Ministry of Culture and the Conjunto Folklrico Nacional de Cuba ('Cuban
Nacional Folkloric Company'). As Folklrico Nacional became more prevalent in the promotion of
rumba, the dance "shifted from its original locus, street corners, where it often shared attention with
parallel activities of traffic, business, and socializing, to its secondary quarters, the professional
stage, to another home, the theatrical patio."[15]Although Folklrico Nacional aided in the tourist

promotion of rumba, the Ministry of Culture helped successfully and safely organize rumba in the
streets.
In the early post-revolutionary times, spontaneous rumba might have been considered problematic
due to its attraction of large groups at unpredictable and spontaneous times, which caused traffic
congestion in certain areas and was linked with fights and drinking. The post-revolutionary
government aimed to control this "by organizing where rumba could take place agreeable and
successfully, the government, through the Ministry of Culture, moved to structurally safeguard one of
its major dance/music complexes and incorporate it and Cuban artists nearer the core of official
Cuban culture."[16] This change in administering rumba not only helped organize the dances but also
helped it move away from the negative connotation of being a disruptive past time event.
Although this organization helped the style of rumba develop as an aspect of national culture, it also
had some negative effects. For example, one of the main differences between pre- and postrevolutionary is that after the revolution rumba became more structured and less spontaneous. For
instance, musicians dancers and singers gathered together to become inspired through rumba. In
other words, rumba was a form of the moment where spontaneity was essentially the sole objective.
However, post-revolutionary Cuba "led to manipulation of rumba form. It condensed the time of a
rumba event to fit theater time and audience concentration tie. It also crystallized specific visual
images through... [a] framed and packaged... dance form on stages and special performance
patios."[17] Yvonne Daniel states: Folklrico Nacional dancers . . . must execute each dance as a
separate historical entity in order to guard and protect the established representations of Cuban
folkloric traditions . . . by virtue of their membership in the national company, the license to elaborate
or create stylization . . . is not available to them. [18] As official caretakers of the national folkloric
treasure, the Conjunto Folklrico Nacional has successfully preserved the sound of the midtwentieth century Havana-style rumba.[19]
True traditional or folkloric rumba is not as stylized as the theatrical presentations performed by
professional rumba groups; rather, "[i]t is more of an atmosphere than a genre. It goes without
saying that in Cuba there is not one rumba, but many rumbas."[20] Despite the structure enforced in
rumba through the Folklrico Nacional and the Ministry of Culture, there will always exist traditional
forms of rumba danced at informal social gatherings which hold the true spontaneity of rumba and
Cuban culture.
In the 1980s Los Muequitos de Matanzas (founded 1952) greatly expanded the melodic
parameters of the drums, inspiring a wave of creativity that ultimately led to the modernization of
rumba drumming. Freed from the confines of the traditional drum melodies, rumba became more an
aesthetic, rather than a specific combination of individual parts. The most significant innovation of
the late 1980s was the rumba known as guarapachangueo, created by Los Chinitos of Havana,

and bat-rumba, created by AfroCuba de Matanzas. See: Guarapachangueo demonstrated by Los

Chinitos. See: Bat-rumba performed by Folkloyuma. Bat-rumba initially was just a matter of
combining guaguanc and chachalokuafn, but it has since expanded to include a variety of bat
rhythms.

Styles[edit]
There are three main types of rumba: yamb (the oldest and slowest style), Columbia, and
guaguanc (the most popular style, which can be heard in salsa songs such as "Quimbara" by Celia
Cruz)". In all three, there is a gradual heightening of tension and dynamics, not simply between
dancers but also between dancers and musicians and dancers and
spectator/participants. [21] Regardless of which type of rumba is being performed, the dancers have
connections not only with themselves but also with the musicians and singers. [22]

Yamb[edit]
Yamb is older than guaguanc, and is sometimes called the old people's rumba. It uses the slowest
tempo of the three rumba styles and incorporates movements feigning frailty. It can be danced alone
(especially by women) or by men and women together. Although male dancers may flirt with female
dancers during the dance, they do not use the vacunao of guaguanc. In Matanzas the basic quinto
part for yamb and guaguanc alternates the tone-slap melody. The following example shows the
sparsest form of the basic Matanzas-style quinto for yamb and guaguanc. The first measure is
tone-slap-tone, and the second measure is the opposite: slap-tone-slap. [23] Regular note-heads
indicate open tones and triangle note-heads indicate slaps.

Basic Matanzas-style quinto part for yamb and guaguanc.

Guaguanc[edit]
Main article: Guaguanc
The term guaguanc originally referred to a narrative song style (coros de guaguanc) which
emerged from the coros de claves of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rogelio
Martnez Fur states: [The] old folks contend that strictly speaking, the guaguanc is the
narrative."[24]

Guaguanc is a couple dance of sexual competition between the male and female. The male
periodically attempts to catch his partner with a single thrust of his pelvis. This erotic movement is
called the vacunao (vaccination or more specifically injection), a gesture derived from yuka
and makuta, symbolizing sexual penetration. The vacunao can also be expressed with a sudden
gesture made by the hand or foot. The quinto often accents the vacunao, usually as the resolution to
a phrase spanning more than one cycle of clave. Holding onto the ends of her skirt while seductively
moving her upper and lower body in contrary motion, the female opens and closes her skirt in
rhythmic cadence with the music. The male attempts to distract the female with fancy (often countermetric) steps, accented by the quinto, until he is in position to inject her. The female reacts by
quickly turning away, bringing the ends of her skirts together, or covering her groin area with her
hand (botao), symbolically blocking the injection. Most of the time the male dancer does not
succeed in catching his partner. The dance is performed with good-natured humor.[25]
Vernon Boggs states that the woman's "dancing expertise resides in her ability to entice the male
while skillfully avoiding being touched by his vacunao."

[26]

See: Guaguanc performed by Los

Munequitos De Matanzas. Arcata Theatre, Arcata, CA 21 July 1992.

Cuban music group Vocal Sampling has performed an all-vocal version of rumba guaguanco on the
song "Conga Yambumba".

Columbia[edit]

Rumba Columbia performance: Washington DC, 2008

Columbia (not "Colombia") is a fast and energetic rumba, in a triple-pulse (6/8, 12/8) structure, and
often accompanied the standard bell pattern struck on a guataca ('hoe blade') or a metal bell.
Columbia originated in the hamlets, plantations, and docks where men of African descent worked
together.

According to Cuban percussionist, singer, composer, and historian Gregorio 'el Goyo' Hernandez,
who became widely recognized as a specialist in Cuban rumba after his album La Rumba Es
Cubana: Su Historia,[27] Columbia originated from the drum patterns and chants of religious
Cuban Abaku traditions. The drum patterns of the lowest conga drum is essentially the same in
both Columbia and abaku. The rhythmic phrasing of the abaku lead drum bonk enchemiy is
similar, and in some instances, identical to Columbia quinto phrases.[28] The following abaku bonk
phrase is also played by the quinto in rumba.

Abaku bonk phrase which is also played by the quinto in Columbia.

In Matanzas, the melody of the basic Columbia quinto part alternates with every clave. As seen in
the example below, the first measure is tone-slap-tone, while the second measure is the inverse:
slap-tone-slap.[29]

Basic Matanzas-style Columbia quinto part.

The guagua (cscara or palito) rhythm of Columbia, beaten either with two sticks on a guagua
(hollowed piece of bamboo) or on the rim of the congas, is the same as the pattern used in abaku
music, played by two small plaited rattles (erikundi) filled with beans or similar objects. One hand
plays the triple-pulse rumba clave pattern, while the other plays the four main beats.

Abaku erikundi and Columbia guagua pattern.

The fundamental salidor and segundo drum melody of the Havana-style Columbia, is an
embellishment of six cross-beats.[30] The combined open tones of these drums generate the melodic
foundation. Each cross-beat is "doubled," that is, the very next pulse is also sounded.

Havana-style Columbia salidor and segundo composite melody

Columbia quinto phrases correspond directly to accompanying dance steps. The pattern of quinto
strokes and the pattern of dance steps are at times identical, and at other times, imaginatively
matched. The quinto player must be able to switch phrases immediately in response to the dancers
ever-changing steps. The quinto vocabulary is used to accompany, inspire and in some ways,
compete with the dancers' spontaneous choreography. Yvonne Daniel states: "The columbia dancer
kinesthetically relates to the drums, especially the quinto . . . and tries to initiate rhythms or answer
the riffs as if he were dancing with the drum as a partner."[31]
Men may also compete with other men to display their agility, strength, confidence and even sense
of humor. Some of these aforementioned aspects of rumba Columbia are derived from a colonial
Cuban martial art/dance called El Juego de Man which shares similarities to Brazilian Capoeira.
Columbia incorporates many movements derived from Abaku and Congo dances, as well as
Spanish flamenco, and contemporary expressions of the dance often
incorporate breakdancing and hip hop moves. In recent decades, women are also beginning to
dance Columbia.

Quintessence of Cuban rhythmic sensibility[edit]

A way of life[edit]
In 1985 the Cuban Minister of Culture stated: "Rumba without Cuba is not rumba, and Cuba without
rumba is not Cuba."[32]
As Matanzas rumbero Esteban "Chach" Vega Bacallao (1925-2007) recounts: I was born in the
neighborhood called Simpson. You had rumba for lunch and rumba for dinner . . . so, you had to
learn rumba . . . Young and old, with great respect, and consideration. It was a whole way of life. [In
other words, were born with the rumba] and we will die with the rumba. [33]
Another famous Matanzas rumbero, Francisco Aguabella (19252010) similarly reminisces: The
first thing you hear when you wake up in the morning is the drums. Its a national sport, as important
as baseball. You see a bunch of guys on the street, and someone will start clapping his hands, or
tapping out a rhythm on a Coke bottle with the bottle cap. Then theyll be pounding on wooden
crates, or a wall, or splashing in the puddles of water dripping out of an old air conditioner, or
playfully tapping on somebodys head. You cant escape the rumba. [34]
The Havana-born rumbero Armando Peraza (b. 1924) remarked that when he returned to the island
in 2002 (he moved to the U.S. in 1949), one of the things he found most surprising was the degree
to which rumba had further integrated into everyday Cuban life. Peraza recalled: "Whether people

met me for the first time or if I was with my family, nobody wanted to see me play drums but they did
demand to see how I danced rumba. It was a challenge thrown to me to prove that I was still Cuban .
. . to prove that I still had my Afro-Cubanismo. By the way, I passed every test! [35]

Influence on transplanted African traditions[edit]

Rumba has influenced both the transplanted African drumming traditions and the popular dance
music created on the island. In 1950, Fernando Ortz observed the influence of rumba upon
ceremonial bat drumming: "The drummers are alarmed at the disorder that is spreading in the
temples regarding the liturgical toques ['bat rhythms']. The people wish to have fun and ask
for arrumbados, which are toques similar to rumbas and are not orthodox according to rites; the
drummers who do not gratify the faithful, who are the ones that pay, are not called to play and if they
do not play, they do not collect.[36]
The bat rhythms chachalokuafun and ongo in particular have absorbed rumba aesthetics. Michael
Spiro states: When I hear ongo played by young drummers today, I hear rumba." [37] In
chachalokuafun the high-pitched oknkolo drum, usually the most basic and repetitive bat,
improvises independently of the conversations carried on between the other two drums (iy and
ittele), in a manner suggestive of rumba.
The contemporary style of lead drum accompaniment for the cheker ensemble known as agbe or
guro, is played on the high-pitched quinto, instead of the lower-pitched tumba as was done in earlier
times. The part has evolved away from the bemb caja (lead drum) vocabulary towards quinto-like
phrases.[38]
Rumba has had a notable influence on cajn pa los muertos ceremonies. In a rare turn of events,
the secular yamb was adopted into this Afro-Cuban religion