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Rumba
Rumba is a very beautiful Latin dance. Using slow and quick steps to create the look of staccato fallowed by abrupt and sharp movement. The basic step fro Rumba is a box. The box in Rumba is identical to the box in waltz pattern wise, but when it comes to style and technique these two dances are night and day. The Rumba uses 4/4 timing to accentuate the down beats in the music. Rumba uses a relaxed Latin frame and a machismo posture similar to Cha-Cha. Rumba footwork for a forward step is ball flat, for a side step it is the inside edge of the foot to a flat foot.
The word rumba is a very generic term, describing a variety of names (I.e., Son, Danzon, Guigira, Gauracha, Naningo), for a particular type of West Indian dance. The specific meaning of this may vary from island to island.
The are two main sources of the dances: one of which is Spanish, the other is African. Although the main development of the dance was in Cuba, there were many similar dances developing throughout the Caribbean Islands as well as Latin America in general.
The Rumba got a significant amount of influence from the 16th century with the black slaves imported from Africa. The native Rumba folk dance is essentially a sex pantomime danced very fast with over exaggerated hip movements and a sensually aggressive attitude from the man, and a more defensive attitude from the woman. The music is played with a staccato beat in keeping with the vigorous and expressive movements of the dancers. Some of the other instruments include the maracas, claves, the marimbola, and of course the drums.
About as recently as the second world war, the "Son" was the popular dance of the middle class in Cuba. It is a slower and more refined modification of the natives Rumba. Even slower still was a dance known as the "Danzon", the dance done by the wealthier class of Cubans. Very small steps are used throughout this dance and the woman uses a gentle hip motion created by bending and straightening the knees.
The American Rumba as it is dance today is a modernized version of the "Son". The first real attempt at introducing Rumba to the United States was by Lew Quinn and Joan Sawyer in 1913. About ten years later there was a band leader by the name of Emil Coleman who imported some Rumba musicians and a couple of Rumba dancers to New York. Around 1925 Benito Collada opened the club known as El Chico in Greenwich Villiage and found that New Yorkers did not have a clue about Rumba.
The real interest in Latin music began in 1929. Around the late 1920's, Xavier Cugat formed a special orchestra that only played Latin Music. He opened at Coconut Grove in L.A. and debuted in such movies as "In Gay Madrid". Later on in the 1930's, Cugat played at such venues as the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Near the end of the decade he was recognized for having one of the most outstanding Latin orchestras of the day.
Around 1935, George Raft played the part of a suave dancer in the movie called "Rumba", a relatively superficial musical in which the hero finally sways the heart of the heiress (carol Lombard) through the mutual love of the dance.
In the 1930's the ability of Monsieur Pierre and his partner Doris Lavelle, demonstrated and popularized the dance throughout Europe. The couple also helped bring the dance good publicity in London due their high level of energy and enthusiasm.
Pierre and Lavelle were greatly
responsible for introducing the true "Cuban Rumba" which was finally recognized
after much argument, as the official recognized version around 1955.
Rumba has been and continues to be the spirit and soul of Latin American music and dance. The interesting rhythms and bodily expressions make the Rumba one of the most danced ballroom dances.