In the blog series “Salsa Leeches” we looked at how some dance types such as Kizomba are often pushed onto the salsa market and promoted as if they were in fact related to salsa. This causes a lot of confusion particularly among beginners who try and find some common ground between these dance types that they are asked to learn together. In reality, however, it is not their lack of musicality or dance ability that prevents them from forming any meaningful synergy between these dance types but the misleading marketing mechanism that paints these entirely different groups of dance with the same brush.
The opposite is equally true. There are many dance types that are closely related to Cuban salsa without being mentioned in a lot of dance classes and which are hardly ever danced at salsa socials. It is hard to come across an event or party where you can even hear Cuban music being played that is not immediately recognisable as “salsa” and the few instructors who are able to teach these non-mainstream dances can usually only offer some taster classes at bigger salsa congresses and events as they would simply not get enough interest to teach group classes regularly.
Out of these type of dances, some of the least common and most misunderstood dance types can be classified under the term "rumba" or also the "rumba complex" as it is more and more frequently referred to by musicologists. The complex consists predominantly of the subgenres Yambú, Guaguancó and Columbia which are seen as the three traditional forms of rumba although other styles and more modern forms are often also included in this category.
Even though the complex is a Cuban product of African origin that has remained popular predominantly on the island with some small success internationally, the so-called rhumba (with an h) aka ballroom rumba has made the name of the complex famous internationally while associating it with a completely different form of dance. The Cuban Ministry of Culture once stated that “Rumba sin Cuba no es rumba, y Cuba sin rumba no es Cuba" – rumba without Cuba is not rumba, and Cuba without rumba is not Cuba. I.e. Rumba is seen as one of the most characteristic dance forms of Cuba and it is therefore all the more lamentable that most people are completely ignorant about this fact and immediately think of ballroom rumba when they hear the term.
