Afro-Cuban Music
African music has had a major influence on Cuban culture beginning in the early 1550’s through slave trade. Thousands of slaves were brought to Spain in the 1400’s and eventually migrated to Cuba. Since these “Ladinos” were accustomed to Spanish culture and language, they easily were able to get by in Cuba and even escape slavery. As a result, Slave owners in Cuba brought more slaves directly from Africa. In 1526, a Royal Decree allowed slaves to buy their freedom, resulting in increased interaction and ethnic mixing among Cubans and Africans. All aspects of both cultures began to blend, especially among working class Cubans and Africans. Music became a common bond between the two groups
Dance is just as important and music in Afro-Cuban Culture. The music is made to be danced to, and most of the popular Cuban dances that exist today are of African decent. The most popular are the rumba, danzon, and son. Especially among the working class poor, dancing and music was simply a way to blow off steam and have a good time.
The rumba is a dance and music genre that originated in Cuba in the mid 1800s. It has often been compared with North American blues, as it was a vehicle of protest and expression among the working class poor of places of Cuban and African decent. The rumba is a combination of percussion and vocal ensemble, and was often a community event where many were encouraged to participate.
There are three kinds of rumba, all having a similar rhythm but varying tempos. The Yambu, a couples dance, has a moderate tempo and is danced side-by- side. It is commonly enjoyed by older people due to its slower tempo. A more modern version is the Guaguanco, also a couples dance, with a faster tempo. It contai...
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...en very sexual but also chauvinistic. Cuban men are often labeled of being chauvinists.
Last is the danzon, with more Spanish origin that African. It consists of an orquesta made up of cornets, saxophones, clarinets and percussion. The horns make the danzon easily distinguishable from the rumba and son. In the middle of the danzon there is a percussion break, in which everyone begins to dance. It is a more respectable, less provocative dance with a much slower tempo. It was danced by the more upper class Cubans as opposed to the son and rumba, which were working-class dances.
These three music groups and dances were key in blending the African and Cuban cultures. Many aspects of both cultures have mixed to make not just Afro-Cuban culture, but Cuban Culture. As many Cubans are light skinned, it is easy to forget how slave trade helped to mix the two together.
The tradition still takes place today in many areas of Mexico. However, some parts of Mexico do the dance a little differently. The dance is more common in the central regi...
Ross, Karl. "Bachata: The Other Dance Music - Once Confined to Girlie Bars and Brothels, the Dominican Republic's Bachata Is Making Inroads in the Latin Music Mainstream." Billboard - The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment Apr 28 2001: Sec Latin Music 6,Pack: LM-36. ProQuest. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Merengue and bachata are among the most popular music genres of the Dominican Republic. Merengue emerged as a pan-Caribbean genre in the 19th century. Until the 20th century, merengue was embraced as a national symbol and has then widespread throughout Latin America. Dominican merengue reflects a fusion of African and European elements. The dance moves are African derived esthetic. While, the melodies and ballroom dances are due to European influences Dominican Republic once encounter (3).
The Folklorico group presentation I was honored to observed was the “Grupo Folklorico Juventud” from North Salinas High School. I decided to attend to this presentation because I use to be part of this Folklorico group. I also enjoy watching the dances for the reason that I believe they are beyond beautiful. It is amazing how a simple dance could transmit so much information while representing a region from Mexico. From my observation experienced, I noticed every region has different movements and customs for a reason. While observing the presentation I noticed most women used long skirts to create different shapes. They usually create the eight shape, half a circle or an entire circle which is created when the dancer does an entire spin while holding and moving their skirt. The skirt is also moved in different levels, such as high, medium, and low. The two levels that are used in most of the dances is the high and the medium level. While dancing the men and women usually do the same steps and movements. All the dances include “zapateados” which are known as foot dances or stomps. The “zapateados” are usually done with different parts of the feet such as the toe, heel and the sole of the feet. The dances include “zapateados” with different sections of the feet because every part creates a different sound. Most of the dances also include jumps and turns. It is extremely important for the
The word “samba” is believed to be derived from the word semba, a Kimbundu term, which translates to an “invitation to dance”. The word was also a shared title of dance parties held by slaves in rural areas of Rio. Starting around 1550, the Portugese began trading slaves from the West African and Central African regions of Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Angola, Congo, and Mozambique (Lyons). According to Lyons, Brazil holds an estimated 90 million people of Black origin. The Africans’ cultural traditions eventually merged with Portuguese’s cultural traditions and formed a unique culture of its own.
A type of “transplanted musical traditions” that has been brought to the United States that is from Mexico that I know of is called “Jarabe Tapatio” or also known as the “Mexican Hat Dance.” This type of music and dance is performed by Mariachi and is a tradition that has been preserved by Mexican migrants who have migrated to the United States. The “Jarabe Tapatio” or “Mexican Hat Dance” is known for dancing around the guy’s hat known as “Sombrero.” This dance has been kept in the Hispanic culture and transplanted by doing celebrations on dates that are significant to Mexican migrants.
Bachata originated from the Dominican Republic in the early 20th century. During dictator Trujillo’s rule, Merengue was the official music to the nation. Because many Dominicans did not accept their African roots, their dances and rhythms were oppressed. Bachata, with its African influences, was considered crude and lower class, only played by campesinos- peasants. It was only popular in the rural parts of the Dominican Republic. However beginning in the early 60s, bachata was steady becoming tolerated, and eventually loved. (Pacini)
Carols Quinto created asientos which were contracts which gave people rights to the slave trade. He promoted slave trade for the money that he was able to bring back to Spain. This had a huge impact on the African population in Mexico, by 1553 the African population reached 20,000. In 1646 the African population reached 35,809, at this time there were more Africans in Mexico than there were Europeans up until 1810 (Wycoff, Aug 17th-19th). Africans contributed a lot to Mexico and you can still see this evident in Mexico today. The Africans brought a lot of musical influence, they introduced the mbira, lamellopene, and marimba. The types of music the Africans brought over to Mexico are still being played such as the song La Bamba. (Wycoff, Aug 17th-19th). The Africans also created a corrido, which is a ballad form in which they were able to communicate about slave uprises. The first documented slave rebellion was in 1537. Due to the slave uprises Palenque's (established slave run away communities) were created. In 1822 slavery was abolished by Vicente Guerro, it wasn't until 1829 that slavery was completely gone (Wycoff, Aug 17th-19th). You can see the evolution of African influence by looking at Vincente who was a president in Mexico, he was part African, and Jose Maria Morelose y Pavon, a revolutionary leader, who was also part African. There are many afromexicans now due to the mass population of Africans in Mexico (Wycoff, Aug
Music is a form of communication, letting others knows what is going on in the country, political, social or economic and any other problems the people of the Caribbean faced. With so many different ethnic backgrounds in the Caribbean, they are people with Asians, Indians, and Africans descents. This created a language and culture barrier but each ethnic background shared a common link music. Music bridged the gap between the different ethnicities Music is part of everyone’s culture especially here in the Caribbean. Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in...
All around the world, there are thousands of cultures. Although they are different, every culture partakes in dance. Dancing is something known worldwide. Every culture has traditional cultural dancing they partake in. Mexico has many cultural dances. La danza del venado is one traditional dance from Northern Mexico. La danza del venado, is known as the deer dance.
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