Cuba-+Music

**Music in Cuba** ** One type of music that comes from Cuba is called Rumba. Rumba is a rhythmic dance with Spanish and African elements, originating in Cuba. According to the history of Rumba, its believed that rumba originated from the African Negros imported to Cuba as slaves. The dances of these Negros put emphasis on the movement of the dancer's body and not the feet. The rumba tune was considered to be less significant than the intricate cross rhythms offered by striking of bottles, spoons and pots. ** ** Here is the history of Rumba. Actually, the term “Rumba” originated from the name ‘rumboso orquestra’ that referred to a popular dance band in the year 1807. However, the term ‘rumbo’ connotes ‘route’ in Spanish while the term ‘rumba’ connotes ‘heap pile’. ‘Rhum’ on the other hand refers to a popular Caribbean intoxicating liquor or any that were in use deceptively during the time when the rumba dance was formed. **   The history of Rumba dance was initiated in the U.S.A in the early 1930’s as a fusion of the rural rumba with Cuban Bolero, Guachara and the son. George Raft popularized the rumba dance in the year 1935. This he did by playing a part in the ‘Rumba’ movie where he featured as a suave dancer that won an heiress’s heart through dancing. However, Frank Veloz did the main male dance part in the movie.  Accompanying this form of dance are claves that consist of two bars. The first bar is normally hit on 1, 4, 7 beats which are half-beat numbers and the 2nd bar is hit on half-beats of 3 and 5. The full beats correspond to beat 4; half beat prior to 3 and beat 1 found on the1st bar and beats 3 and 2 on the 2nd bar. Preferably, for the clave beats to match, the dancer can take 5 steps on both bars. However, a decision was made on dancing on only one bar for the clave succession. The history of rumba highlights that for the American rumba, one dances to the first clave beat bar. On the other hand, Pierre made a decision on using the 2nd bar while stepping on the 3 and 2 beats then added extra steps to the fourth beat to spice the dance up. Pierre then brought rumba to Britain alongside most of the moves he had learned in Havanna from Pepe Rivera. These moves together with dances on beat 2 become a component of the typical International Cuban Rumba but after heated debates during 1940’s and 50’s.

 The history of rumba reveals that the rumba dance has built up an extremely sensual character owing to the weight transfer from one of the dancer’s foot to the other foot on the famous beat 1 and the lack of a real step on beat 1. A very strong beat for Rumba music is beat 1; however, all moves made on beat 1 are hip moves; therefore, beat 1 puts emphasis on hip dancing. Together with rumba’s slow tempo that is normally 116 beats per minute, the dance stands out to be a romantic one. All steps are normally taken on the 2, 3 and 4th beat. It is during the superseding half beats that turns and weight transfer are carried out. Just like in the Samba dance, the weight should always be kept forward while the dance takes forward steps with a flat toe. Minimal movements are encouraged for the upper torso all through the dance session. The history of Rumba offers one the basics of the rumba dance that has become popular among both the young and old. media type="custom" key="12573538" media type="custom" key="12573636"

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