Rhumba

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Rhumba
Stylistic
origins
Cultural
origins

Son cubano, American ballroom

music
East Coast of the United States, early
1930s
Vocals, saxophone, cornet, guitar,
Typical
piano, violin, bass, maracas, congas,
instruments
bongos, timbales, drums
Subgenres
Ballroom conga
Regional scenes
New York
Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared
in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music
with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also conga and rumba. Taking its name
from the latter, ballroom rumba differs completely from Cuban rumba both in its music and
dance. Hence, authors prefer the Americanized spelling of the word (rhumba) to distinguish
between them.[1][2][3]

Contents

1 Music

2 Dance
o 2.1 International style
o 2.2 American style

3 See also

4 References

Music

Rumba rhythm.[4]
Although the term rhumba began to be used by American record companies to label all kinds of
Latin music between 1913 and 1915, the history of rhumba as a specific form of ballroom music
can be traced back to May 1930, when Don Azpiaz and his Havana Casino Orchestra recorded
their song "El manisero" (The Peanut Vendor) in New York.[5] This single, released by four
months later by Victor, became a hit, becoming the first Latin song to sell 1 million copies in the
United States.[6][7] The song, composed by Moiss Simons, is a on-pregn arranged, in this case,
for Azpiaz's big band featuring 3 saxophones, 2 cornets, banjo, guitar, piano, violin, bass, and
trap drums.[8] With vocals by Antonio Machn and a trumpet solo (the first one in the recorded
history of Cuban music) by Remberto Lara, the recording (arranged by saxophonist Alfredo
Brito) attempted to adapt the Cuban son to the style of ballroom music prevalent at the time in
the East Coast.[6]
Soon, Azpiaz's style was followed by other Cuban artists such as Armando Orfiche and the
Lecuona Cuban Boys, which had extensive international tours in the 1930s. Their style has been
often described as ballroom conga, since they used to borrow conga rhythms in songs such as
"Para Vigo me voy".[9] Among their numerous hits were boleros and canciones such as
"Amapola" and "Siboney".[10] This music movement, which also included many American big
bands which covered Latin standards, was dubbed the rhumba craze. Notable bandleaders of
the rhumba craze include Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Dorsey, Nathaniel Shilkret, Leo Reisman and
Enric Madriguera.[6] Rhumba was also incorporated into classical music as exemplified by
symphonic pieces by composers such as George Gershwin, Harl McDonald and Morton Gould.[3]
The kind of rhumba introduced into dance salons in America and Europe in the 1930s was
characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom rumba,
which was developed as a dance in the 1940s and '50s, when the original music movement had
died down. Nonetheless, the rhumba craze would be the first of three Latin music crazes in the
first half of the 20th century, together with the mambo craze and the cha-cha-cha craze.

Dance

American style rhumba box figure.

Two variations of rhumba with opposing step patterns are danced around the world. American
style rumba was imported to America by band directors like Emil Coleman and Don Aspiaz
between 1913 and 1935. The film Rumba, released in 1935, brought the style to the attention of
the general public. American style rhumba is taught in a box step, known for its slow-quick-

quick pattern danced on the 1, 3, and 4 beats of 4-beat music. International style rhumba was
developed in Europe by Monsieur Pierre after he compared the established American style with
contemporary Cuban dancers. International style is taught in a quick-quick-slow pattern danced
on the 2, 3, and 4 beats of 4 beat music, similar in step and motion to the cha-cha-cha.[11] Both
styles were canonized in 1955.

International style
Rhumba is one of the ballroom dances which occurs in social dance and in international
competitions. It is the slowest of the five competitive international Latin dances: the pasodoble,
the samba, the cha-cha-cha and the jive being the others. This ballroom rumba was derived from
a Cuban rhythm and dance called the bolero-son; the international style was derived from studies
of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period.[12]
The modern international style of dancing the rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher
Monsieur Pierre (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle), who partnered Doris Lavelle.[13][14] Pierre, then from
London, visited Cuba in 1947, 1951 and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at
the time.[15]
The international ballroom rumba is a slower dance of about 120 beats per minute which
corresponds, both in music and in dance to what the Cubans of an older generation called the
bolero-son. It is easy to see why, for ease of reference and for marketing, rhumba is a better
name, however inaccurate; it is the same kind of reason that led later on to the use of salsa as an
overall term for popular music of Cuban origin.[citation needed]
All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is scarcely
noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba.[16] In general, steps
are kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any rise and fall. This style is
authentic, as is the use of free arms in various figures. The basic figures[17] derive from dance
moves observed in Havana in the pre-revolutionary period, and have developed their own life
since then. Competition figures are often complex, and this is where competition dance separates
from social dance. Details can be obtained from the syllabuses of dance teaching organizations
and from standard texts.[12][18][19]

American style
There is also a variant, commonly danced in the United States, with box-like basic figures.

See also

Son cubano

Cuban rumba

Conga (music)

Mambo (music) / Mambo (dance)

Cha-cha-cha (music) / Cha-cha-cha (dance)

References
1.
Drake-Boyt, Elizabeth (2011). "Rhumba". Latin Dance. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.
pp. 4346.
Daniel, Yvonne (2009). "Rumba Then and Now". In Malnig, Julie. Ballroom, Boogie,
Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois.
p. 162.
Hess, Carol A. (2013). Representing the Good Neighbor: Music, Difference, and the Pan
American Dream. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 115116, 200.
Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice. p. 28. ISBN 0415-97440-2.
Daniel (2009). p. 156.
Sullivan, Steve (2013). "The Peanut Vendor". Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song
Recordings, Volume 2. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press. pp. 175176.
Giro, Radams (2007). Diccionario enciclopdico de la msica en Cuba, Vol. 4. Havana,
Cuba: Letras Cubanas. p. 147.
"The Peanut Vendor (Victor matrix BVE-62152)". Discography of American Historical
Recordings. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
Moore, Robin (1997). Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubansimo and artistic Revolution in
Havana, 1920-1940. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 255.
Daz Ayala, Cristbal (Fall 2013). "Lecuona Cuban Boys" (PDF). Encyclopedic
Discography of Cuban Music 1925-1960. Florida International University Libraries. Retrieved
October 4, 2015.
Daniel (2009). p. 164.
Lavelle, Doris (1983). Latin & American dances. 3rd ed. London, UK: Black.
Julie McMain's Glamour Addiction notes that Pierre Margolle's professional name was
Monsieur Pierre; he and his partner were commonly referred to as "Monsieur Pierre and Doris
Lavelle"; therefore some writers have incorrectly assumed that Pierre's last name was Lavelle.
Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing 2004. 100 years of nce: a history of the ISTD
Examinations Board. London. p. 62
Lavelle (1983). The introduction tells the story of Pierre's visits to Cuba, but with
inaccurate dates.
Laird, Walter (2003). The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing. International Dance
Publications Ltd. p .9, puts it like this (after taking a step to side) "Transfer full weight to this
foot allowing the pelvis to move sideways and back so that the weight is felt to be near the heel
of the standing foot. The knee of the supporting leg is locked back." This description incidentally
illustrates the difficulty of describing body movements in print.
bronze and silver medals of dance teaching organizations. (Medal examinations (dance))
Laird, Walter (2003). The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing. International Dance
Publications Ltd.

1.

McMains, Juliet E. (2006). Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom

dance industry.

Rumba

Subgenres

Other
"rumbas"

Yamb

Columbia

Guaguanc

Tahona

Bat-rumba

Guarapachangueo

Rhumba (ballroom rumba)

Rumba flamenca

Catalan rumba

Congolese rumba

Cuban styles of music

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