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LOS AFORTUNADOS:
ABOUT THE MUSIC AND DANCE Since the 1930's, music has
been Cuba's hottest and most welcome export. Cuban groups and recordings traveled and were
distributed around the world; and their rhythms, dances and instrumentation were globally
adopted and adapted. Puerto Rican and Dominican musicians, whose traditions derive from
the same roots, were most strongly influenced; and the contemporary forms of Salsa and
Merengue can be traced to these same sources. Cuban-style music is found everywhere. It is
sung with lyrics diverse as Spanish, English, French, African languages and even Japanese
and Finnish. Cuban music continues to be a catalyst and a resource in the ongoing
evolution of Jazz and Rock. |
Cuba and Latin America's Hispanic traditions were composed of many
different influences: European (French, German and Celtic), North African (Moorish) and
Gypsy. When Spanish settlers from this variety of traditions came to the new world, they
absorbed, incorporated and assimilated each others music, dances, instruments and rhythms.
Some of their musical forms include: zapateado, zarzuela, religious and processional music
and songs. The colonists and the Africans adapted their instruments to materials available
for their construction and also incorporated Native American instruments.
European dance styles evolved from folk, court and social traditions
which featured intricate footwork, partnering and step patterns. The African dances were
derived from ritual ceremonies and folk traditions in which the whole body moves in
syncopated rhythms with steps and gestures used to imitate forces of nature or to
dramatize the stories of deities and historical events. The combined forms which evolved
in Cuba (Rumba, Son, Mambo) incorporate partnering, intricate footwork patterns,
syncopated rhythms and uninhibited body movements.
Despite many obstacles, African cultural traditions survived in Cuba.
Some were passed on and practiced in secret. Some were reintroduced or revitalized by new
arrivals from Africa and other Caribbean islands. The African cultures most prevalent in
Cuba include:
- LUCUMI
- From the Yoruba people of Nigeria. In these traditions music and dance play
a central role in ritual context in which the drum is a voice which communicates with
deities known as Orishas. These drums, called BATA, are a family of three-double headed
drums which carry on complex poly-tonal and polyrhythmic conversations. Other instruments
which are used for this music include shekeres (beaded calabash rattles) and various types
of bells.
- KIMBISI AND MAYOMBE
- From the Congo and Bantu people of Central Africa. Drums and
hand rattles are the major instrumentation for this music which is dedicated to spirit
beings known as Nkisis. The songs and chants, often in a hybrid combination of Spanish and
Bantu words, play a central role in the rituals of Palo. Music of this tradition has had a
strong influence on popular music forms like Rumba, Son and Mambo.
- ABAKUA
- From the Calabar region of West Africa. These special songs and drums are
derived from all-male secret societies. These traditions retain many of the elements of
African mystical ritual practice.
- ARARA
- From the Fon people and the Arada kingdom of the Dahomean region now known
as Benin. Although of Dahomean origins, these rhythms, songs and dances were introduced
into eastern Cuba through Haiti, where many of those rituals and ceremonies are still
being practiced.
Over centuries of interaction and intermarriage, African and European
music and dance merged into new combinations and forms. The most popular of these is the Rumba;
a word which describes both the art form and its joyous, festive-style performance. The
lyrics address romantic and topical themes, and the singer, backed up by a chorus (which
sometimes includes the whole audience) improvises on controversial subjects. The rhythm,
and the wooden sticks on which it is played, is called Clave: this is the
rumba's heart beat. There are several varieties of rumba:
- YAMBU -
This urban music is often played on cajones or boxes that were used during
the periods when Africans were prohibited from playing drums. Its tempo is the slowest of
the rumba forms, and is danced in slow, sensual movements by a male and female dancer.
Claves and achere (small hand shaker) are the other instruments used.
- GUAGUANCO -
This form of rumba is played with three conga drums (tumbadora, tres
golpe and quinto), claves and guagua (woodblock or log played with sticks); and is more
rapid in tempo than Yambu. The songs begin with a wordless melody (diana); followed by a
verse or verses (decima); and end in a rapid call and response of soloist and chorus
(montuno). The male and female dancers exchange flirtatious, often erotic gestures
(vacunao) .
- COLUMBIA -
This oldest and fastest tempo rumba has rural origins associated with the
all-male Abakua societies. Its dances, traditionally danced only by men, are solos of
aggressive, competitive, acrobatic movements that sometimes include daring thrusts with
sticks and knives. The choruses often employ African dialect chants; usually dedicated to
warrior deities.
- BATA RUMBA -
This most recently developed style incorporates the songs and
instruments of Lucumi and Bantu traditions with the other rumba styles and instruments. As
a still evolving form, it can be used in many innovative and improvisational combinations.
- CONGA Y COMPARSA
- This is the music of carnival that evolved from traditional
church processions. Numerous conga and bass (bombo) drums, bells (gangaria) and often
trumpets are played. In towns and cities, people take to the streets to celebrate and
dance in a step the world knows as a conga line.
- Electronic mail
- acw_AT_afrocubaweb.com [replace _AT_ with @]
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