Afro-Cuban rumba

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The term rumba originally referred to, like milonga , bachata or timba , a social gathering that also includes music. As a complex of dance , song and percussion , it was created in the 19th century in the black quarters of the Cuban port cities of Havana and Matanzas , but was also practiced in the sugar cane plantations . It is a purely secular genre, the drum accompaniment and melody of which are nourished from African roots, while the lyrics, apart from sprinkles in Yoruba, especially in the Abakuá strongholds, are written in Spanish, sometimes even in the form of the Spanish décima espinela . Their unity of song, dance and instrumental music is not unknown in African music , but also refers in particular to flamenco , whose rumba is one of the cantes de ida y vuelta , as the root. According to the well-known and grammy-winning rumba percussionist Mongo Santamaría , the guagancó was created when Afro-Cubans tried to sing flamenco music . The older Guaguancó songs are also known as Guaguancó del tiempo de España (Guaguancó from the Spanish period), a category that refers to the Spanish colonial period in Cuba.

In November 2016, the rumba was added to the list of intangible cultural heritage as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

occupation

Voices: a mixed choir, often identical to the audience, and a soloist.

Instruments: in the basic line-up three congas or cajons , claves and another sharper-sounding percussion instrument ("palitos", spoon or a stick on the body of a conga). The largest and deepest of the drums is called tumba and lays a one-bar foundation, the middle one, segundo, a two-bar pattern, each with variations. The highest, quinto, is completely free and reacts to these variations and the third element of rumba, namely one or two dancers depending on the subgenre.

shape

Often the claves begin, which are gradually followed by the drums. But it can also be that the singer and choir sing a title line ahead and the percussion instruments begin together.

The singing begins with nonsense syllables from the solo singer, called "Diana". Some traditional Dianas include an answer by the choir, which can also consist of text.

The lead singer now sings traditional, improvised (the occasion of the festival is a popular theme) or self-written texts: octosillabic quatrains or decimas.

At the end the choir is given a line to repeat. This then alternates with improvisations by the soloist, and the dancers join in.

Genres, dance

There are three traditional genres in rumba, which differ in tempo, the clave used and the dance.

Yambú

The dancers in the Yambú, male and female, imitate old people. The basic rhythmic structure is a son clave. Although the Yambú is the oldest form of rumba, there is the saying “En el yambú no se vacuna” (for example: “With Yambú there is no pimper”), which refers to the guaguancó.

Guaguancó

The guaguancó is also a pantomime dance. Man and woman embody rooster and hen, with the man making advances on the genitals of the woman by flapping his wings or puffing up dust, who protects herself with her skirt, a cloth or simply turning away. The dance culminates in “vaccinating” the woman (“vacunao”) with appropriate hip movements.

Columbia

The Columbia is 6 / 8 ¯ clock, and the corresponding Clave. Instead of man and woman, it is the (typically male) solo dancer and the quinto player who enter into dialogue with one another. Fast, sometimes acrobatic and with influences from other abakuá dances.

Performers

  • Alberto Zayas (1908–1983) recorded a rumba, El vive bien , for the first time in 1957 for Panart .
  • Los Muñequitos (de Matanzas) . In contrast to the other groups from Havana, they represent the Rumba dialect of Matanzas.
  • Los Papines . Founded in 1957 by the brothers Luis, Alfredo, Jeus and Ricardo Abreu.
  • Conjunto de Clave y Guaguancó . Founded in the 1960s by Mario Alán with Agustín Piña, Andres Gutiérrez Malanga and Miguel Ángel Mesa and is now managed by Amado Dedeu. Originally only used cajons.
  • Rumberos de Cuba . An all-star band led by Rodolfo Chacón Tartabull. The members are or were associated with the Conjunto de Clave y Guaguancó or the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Belgian beer culture becomes a world cultural heritage. Die Welt, November 30, 2016, accessed March 20, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Cinco nuevas inscripciones en la Lista representativa del patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la humanidad. UNESCO, November 30, 2016, accessed March 20, 2017 (Spanish).