Rueda Hand Signs (Part 30) Setenta Y Cinco

Setenta Y Cinco is one of the four Setenta moves taught at level 3 of the Tiempo España Dance Academy Syllabus. Like all Setenta moves taught in our dance school it starts with a Mini Setenta and ends with an Enchufla Ronde. The key element, however, that makes this move different from other Setenta variations is that at the end of the Mini Setenta, leaders will go to the right hand side of the follower keeping all hands connected. This puts both dancers in a nice position where they are joined together using both hands but without being too restricted and still being able to look at each other. In this position the couple turns clockwise for one 8-count continuing to look at each other before the leader turns out of this position underneath their own right hand.

While this move is not particularly difficult to learn, it looks and feels nice to both followers and leaders. The key element described above, that is introduced in this move, is included in various more difficult variations so it is a good feature to get used to. While social dancing many people may repeat this feature various times due to the fact that it is easy enough to achieve and looks and feels nice as well as giving leaders the time to think about their next moves although it is recommended not to exaggerate the turn as multiple repetitions will quickly become monotonous and less enjoyable for everyone unless they are at least varied by the use of alardes, creative footwork etc.

The move name “Setenta Y Cinco” has no special meaning and is simply a number given to this move to distinguish it from others. I.e. while the move can be translated as 75, the meaning is more like saying “the fifth variation of Setenta”. It is in essence one of the many moves in Cuban salsa where no clever name was invented initially so it simply became known by this number to differentiate it from other moves. That being said, many dance schools and Rueda groups have categorised their own variations of Setenta as Setenta Y Cinco so this move name has become very ambiguous in terms of what is meant by it in the dance community internationally.

The name of the move consists of the hand sign for Setenta, followed by the hand sign of Cinco which is simply the palm-side of the hand being displayed to the Rueda such that the amount of fingers shown signal the number five.

Winter Holidays

It is once again the time of the year where we close down Tiempo España Dance Academy for a few weeks to recharge our batteries and come back with new energy in the new year.

It has truly been a fantastic year for our dance school and we are very proud of how far both our teachers and our students have come. We enjoyed every minute of teaching our students and are particularly impressed with the Rueda quality especially in our higher level classes which has far surpassed most Ruedas we have taken part in before opening our dance school.

It is particularly nice to see how much our dance community has grown and how many friendships have been formed in our classes with many people meeting up multiple times a week.

It has not always been easy making sure that there are no disruptions to our classes and our teachers deserve a special thank you for all the hard work they have put in again this year to make sure that everyone could get a good class. Thanks to all their efforts and dedication we hardly had to cancel any classes again even when multiple people were sick or on holidays.

As usual, we will use the time we are away wisely to review and practice a lot of new material that we will teach in the coming year and given how advanced many of our students have become we are very excited to try out even more complex variations in 2019.

Our last class of the year will be in Leeds on Wednesday 12th of December and our first class next year will be in Selby on Monday 14th January at the usual times. We may not answer queries, emails etc. at the same speed we usually do while we are away but we will endeavour to get back to everyone as soon as possible.

We hope you all have a great winter break and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year when the time comes and we are already looking forward to dancing with everyone again when we are back in January.

Rumba (Part 11)

In 1950 a new musical genre appeared in Spain that originated in Barcelona’s neighbourhoods particularly in Gràcia and Raval. The genre was developed by the Romani community who combined gypsy music, Rock’N’Roll, pop and Rumba Flamenca.

While this musical style has often been wrongly classified as Flamenco, Rock’N’Roll or pop it is a separate musical genre with its own identity that is often seen as one of Catalonia’s most significant cultural achievements of the 20th century. Many Romani have long fought for this musical style to be given the recognition it deserves against the commonplace misclassification of this style as a “Flamenco”. It would be an affront to proponents of this style that has finally achieved international recognition to call it Catalan Rock’N’Roll, Catalan Pop or Catalan Flamenco and all of these titles would be equally wrong in that they would focus on just one musical aspect that influenced this genre rather than recognising it as a new style in its own right. Instead, surprisingly, the term “Rumba” Catalana has become the title of this genre although the terms Rumba Gitana, Rumba Española or simply Rumba have also been used to describe it. All of these terms categorise it as a derivative of Rumba which is factually further from the truth than classifying it as Flamenco or Rock’N’Roll given that the influence of Rumba on this style is tangential at best.

The reason for this deplorable title is that it is seen as closely connected to Rumba Flamenca (another misnomer that should not be referred to as Rumba as discussed in the previous post) but it is not a Flamenco itself. To differentiate the genre from the genre that influenced it “Rumba Flamenca” while illustrating that these genres are connected, the term Flamenca was dropped but the term Rumba remained. The focus was on making sure that people would not confuse different types of Western musical genres but borrowing the title of an Afro-Cuban genre to describe something entirely different was once again not seen as problematic or controversial.

This dilution of the word Rumba meant that with the popularity of Rumba Catalana the word Rumba became more and more associated with musical styles that had next to nothing in common with the original Rumba complex. Particularly in Spain the word Rumba has been used since the end of the 20th century to talk about any derivative of Catalan Rumba such as styles including hip-hop, funk, soul and tecno elements. New titles such as “Rumba Pop”, Tecno-Rumba”, etc. were coined to further differentiate these styles from Rumba Catalana and Rumba Flamenca making the definition of “Rumba” in the Western world increasingly less clear.

Rumba (Part 10)

It is possible that the original Rumba in Cuba as well as Guaracha were influenced to some extent by Flamenco, a dance of Andalusian origin dating back to the 18th century, through the Spanish colonization of Cuba. Spanish colonialists continued to play Flamenco during their entire rule and as well as having an impact on some of the Cuban music and dance elements, eventually the Cuban products that emerged had influenced in turn the Flamenco of Spanish colonists. This type of Flamenco was imported back to Spain, reaching Andalusia in the 19th century where it was referred to as “Rumba Flamenca” or simply “Rumba” by the Spanish to distinguish it from other types of Flamenco.

Rumba Flamenca music is often referred to as a “cante de ida y vuelta” (roundtrip songs) as it is a type of Spanish music that influenced the music in the new world which in turn influenced the Spanish music itself. In this sense the description “Rumba” for this type of music as a reference to the original Cuban Rumba complex is certainly more justified than some of the other western products this description has been used for. However, the specific influence of Flamenco on Rumba is highly debated and minimal at best when comparing it with the influence of Flamenco on other Cuban musical elements. Similarly, while Rumba Flamenca contains some traces of Rumba as well as Son Cubano, musicologists agree that this type of music was predominantly influenced by Guaracha rather than Rumba.

The dance that became known as Rumba Flamenca is essentially of Catalan origin although it is more flirtatious and sexual than other styles of flamenco so this is often seen as the Cuban influence on this style possibly from Rumba.

Whichever way one looks at the history of Rumba Flamenca, the categorization of this music and dance form as “Rumba” is once again regrettable and misleading when it contains at best minor influences from the original Cuban Rumba complex and is more closely related to other Cuban musical and dance styles such as Guaracha. Many Spaniards refer to this genre simply by the term “Rumba” rather than “Rumba Flamenca” adding to the confusion as people quickly believe this form to be the original form of Rumba when they hear it without a modifier. The descriptions gypsy rumba and Spanish rumba may also be heard in this context but this creates further ambiguity as they are more widely used to mean Catalan rumba as discussed in the next post of this blog series.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 29) Ponle Sabor

The move Ponle Sabor can be translated as “Add flavour” or “Put some flavour into it” which may refer to the creative features that make up this move which make some of the basic elements look significantly better. Alternatively, the name may come from the freedom that this move provides for both followers and leaders due to the fact that dancers are connected with only one hand for the duration of the entire move, leaving the other hand free for styling.

Ponle Sabor consists of a Parte El Brazo Con La Mano Derecha followed by the exact same move but with a Ronde at the end which looks and feels nice for leaders and while being very basic by nature is not a feature often observed in other moves.
The move continues with an Enchufla Ronde Con La Mano Derecha leading straight into a Sacala. At the end of the Sacala the leader’s right hand comes over the follower’s head to lead another Sacala which is again a very unusual combination of basic moves but effective and aesthetic in the way these elements are combined.
At the end of the second Sacala leaders turn to the left and then turn themselves into the follower’s right arm. At this point leaders place the back of their left hand onto the follower’s right hand leading a right turn for followers which is however immediately interrupted by the leaders counteracting the motion by leading a CocaCola to finish the move.

It is especially the last part of the move that is quite unusual and can take some time to get used to. It feels like a very quick Coca Cola mainly because the initial follower motion has to be reversed. For followers it is particularly important to keep their hands at least at waist height as this makes it possible for leaders to pick up the free hand and lead the next part of the move.

The hand sign for Ponle Sabor consists of the caller making a circular motion with their free hand in front of their body signalling that they are enjoying some food which is a perfect analogy for the meaning of the move name “Add some flavour” or simply Ponle Sabor.

       

To see a video of the move Ponle Sabor as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/-3GuIUVgzTg

Rumba (Part 9)

As described in the previous post, what most people think of when they hear the word “Rumba” is the dance known more accurately as International Ballroom Rumba. However, especially in North American ballrooms a slightly different style of dance is usually referred to as “Rumba” adding to the confusion surrounding this term. To distinguish this North American version from the international rumba it is often called “American Ballroom Rumba”, “American Rumba”, “American Style Rumba” or sometimes “Box Step Rumba”.

In essence, the history of this dance is much the same as that of International Ballroom Rumba up until the point where Monsieur Pierre started codifying the dance based on his experience in Cuba. This did not catch on in North America to the same degree it became accepted in the rest of the world such that the dance evolved in its own way in North America until it reached its current version but without the distinct characteristics Monsieur Pierre brought back from Cuba.

The most striking difference is that American Rumba starts on beat 1 while the International version has dancers take their first step on the second beat. Other differences include the fact that in American Rumba knees are bent and then straightened whereas In the international style rumba, every step is taken with a straight leg. Moreover, the international basic step is linear with a larger side step on beat 4 whereas the basic step in the American version resembles a square hence the name “box step”. There are of course other differences between the American and the international style such as the speed of the music, the musical articulation, etc. but in essence both the American and international style of Rumba are westernised codified ballroom dances which are connected to historical Cuban dances but have lost most of their recognisable Cuban heritage in the way they are performed today.

To most Cubans who excel at Rumba, Son, Cha Cha, Mambo etc. the modern day Cuban connection to ballroom Rumba, whether it is American or International, is absurd. While there may be an ongoing continuing debate among ballroom aficionados around the smaller subtleties between American and International style Rumba as well as other variations that receive this title, to Cubans it is not the “American” vs. “International” designation that raises any concerns but the overall misclassification of any of such westernised ballroom dances under the general term “Rumba”.

Cuban Salsa History (Part 5) Tumba Francesa

The word Tumba Francesa is often heard in the salsa context and is a common source of confusion among Cuban salsa students. It can refer to a Rueda move, a type of dance, a rhythm, a collection of societies, a title of various songs and albums, a style of drumming, a type of drum etc. It is easy to see why many people get mixed up with this term and do not quite know what to make of it in relation to the dance they are learning.

One of the most influential migrations on Cuban music and culture came from Haiti especially after the Haitian slave revolution of 1791. Haitians came to Cuba from every part of Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was called at the time, as well as areas of Louisiana. They settled all around Cuba although they had their greatest impact on eastern Cuba and Santiago de Cuba in particular. While they comprised of white French, free people of colour and black slaves they were collectively referred to as “los franceses” by the Cubans they met on the island. This was due to the unique culture, skill set and know-how they brought to the island based on the influences of French colonialism that was distinctly different from the Spanish colonialism that had influenced the life of Cubans thus far.
The impact reached from areas such as fashion, music and philosophy to changes that would permanently affect the landscape and economy of Cuba such as the introduction of coffee, cotton and indigo plantations by French planters.

One of the greatest influences on Cuban music and dance that arose from this period was the formation of mutual aid-societies among former Haitian slaves who had made it to Cuba. These societies were very similar to other cabildos that already existed in Cuba since the 16th century with the key difference being that the Africans belonging to these societies had mixed their original African traditions with French-Haitian culture thus creating distinct societies in Cuba with their own set of culture, music and dance.

The word tumba is believed to come from the Bantu language where it means drum. When the newly formed societies referred to both their dances and drums by the word “tumba”, Cubans described this as “tumba” danced and played by French people or simply “tumba francesa”.

Mozambique

Pedro Izquierdo or Pello el Afrokán was born in Havana in the Jesús María neighborhood in 1933. He is the creator of the rhythm of Mozambique and its associated dance. Pello’s musical background started with his family, with his father who was a percussionist in Belisario López’ band and his cousin Mongo Santamaría who was a famous jazz musician. He worked in the docks of Havana while playing as a musician on the streets of Havana. In 1945, at the age of 12, Pello performed at the Martí Theater with his brothers Gilberto and Roberto. He started his career writing commercial “jingles” for the radio station CMQ.

Pello created his first conjunto in 1959 and played at the famous nightclub Tropicana at a time where many new international composers, performers and artists were dominating the musical scene. The influence of pop music had also spread to Cuba where the youth were keen to dance to and listen to the new trends around the world. This was at odds to the philosophy of the state under Fidel Castro who was trying to revive the traditions of Cuba and placed importance on its African roots. Interestingly, Pello is said to have composed a song “Bailando Mozambique me voy a cortar caña” based on a composition by Juanito Márquez after Fidel Castro urged him to write an inspirational song that would encourage volunteers to help with the sugar harvest in Cuba. It was under these conditions in 1963 that Pello unveiled his new rhythm, which he named Mozambique. It was said to be one of the first music genres to be created after the Cuban revolution, with the rhythm being a fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms from Yoruba, Conga, Abakuá amongst others, having a chorus-response structure similar to rumba. The original conjunto of Pello was made up of twelve congas, two bombos, three bells, a sárten, five trumpets and five trombones.

Mozambique was first premiered on a Cuban television show called Ritmos de Juventud in July 1963 and continued to be featured for a period of four years. It became a dance craze in Havana, where it was danced by those of different social classes and backgrounds at celebrations, parties and carnivals. The dance is characterised by the bending of the knee by the dancer as they lower their body while the foot is advanced. The foot is then replaced with the body returning to its original stance.

Pello travelled to many parts of Europe and Russia performing. It was said that his rhythm caused a sensation in Paris’ Olympia Theater in 1965 where he played with el Gran Music Hall de Cuba. In 1979 he played in the Carnegie Hall in the United States and Japan. Many established musicians such as Carlos Santana and Eddie Palmieri recorded cover versions of his song “María caracoles”, Carlos Santana infusing rock with the original Afro-Cuban rhythm.

Sadly, Pello passed away in September 2000 but his contribution to Cuban music is recognised far and wide. Rafael Lam in his book “Los reyes de la salsa” alludes to how Mozambique was one of the important precursors of modern timba. Famous compositions by Pello include “Ileana quiere chocolate”, “Camina Como Cómico”, “María Caracoles”, “Nace en Cuba el Mozambique” amongst others.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 28) Ochenta Y Ocho

This move effectively consists of a Sombrero, a Coca Cola and an Enchufla. When broken down into its elementary parts it does not seem like a very complicated move but the main feature that makes this move hard to pick up initially is the Coca Cola part which contains some rather unusual characteristics. I.e. while it is possible to lead a full Coca Cola during this move, most leaders and followers will turn slightly less on their final step to make it easier to go into Enchufla straight away.

The main factor that makes this move interesting and is the de facto signature of this move is the fact that leaders will drop only the right hand after their first Sombrero and pick up the follower’s right hand again straight away but behind the follower’s left hand. This part is quite awkward to get used to initially and takes a lot of practise to be able to execute it smoothly especially when leading a Coca Cola from this position but it is a very nice visual effect that also features in some more complicated moves. It is important that leaders raise their hands at the right time and high enough for the followers to do their Coca Cola as it is easy to bump into each other if the Coca Cola is not prepared and signalled perfectly.

The name Ochenta Y Ocho meaning “eighty-eight” comes undoubtedly from the shapes the hands make when executing this move. The key feature that is specific to this move is when the leader’s hands change from the initial Sombrero into the Coca Cola starting position described above. It is at this point that the hands form a figure of eight at the end of sombrero followed by the leader dropping the follower’s right hand and picking it up again behind the follower’s left hand which creates another figure of eight. Therefore, the key feature of the move looks like an eight followed by another eight when looking at the hands and arms of the dancers, hence the name eighty-eight.

The signal of the move consists of the cantante using the thumb, index and middle fingers of their free hand to form the number eight. While forming this signal they should show it to the rest of the dancers and shake their hand to signal “eighty”, followed by showing the exact same signal again but without shaking it to signal the word “eight”.

To see a video of the move Ochenta y Ocho as well as the hand sign, please click on: https://youtu.be/h_ltRJ9Brr0