Like most Cuban dance forms, it is a standalone dance that can be learned, taught and danced independently of salsa. However, it has influenced salsa in a myriad of ways such that most non-Cubans only hear about it by trying to add new elements into the way they dance salsa. Pilón is not only a dance style but also a musical form which is often attributed to Pacho Alonso y sus Bocucos particularly following the success of their famous song "Rico Pilón". However, the first Pilon (“El Bajo KunKún) was created by Enrique Bonne. The dance and music were named after the town Pilón in the Granma province of Cuba.
Little is known around the origin of the dance but legend has it that it was born in the coffee or sugar plantations with the dance gestures simulating a mortar pounding coffee or crushing sugar cane. The name Pilón for the music and dance style is borrowed from the mortar which is to this day known as a Pilón in rural areas of Cuba. The dance originated in Cuba in the late 1950’s and contains some Iyesà dance elements. Pilón as a rhythm became very popular in Cuba around 1965 particularly in the carnivals of Santiago de Cuba and reached its peak in the late 1970s.
In Pilón as a dance there is one basic step which is confusingly sometimes itself referred to as Pilón. The dance is usually danced separately but can also be performed in a group of dancers so the concept of leader and follower is not quite the same as observed in Casino dancing for example and everyone will start their basic step on their right foot. However, dancers will still make connections with other dancers by eye contact and mirroring each other’s movements so this can still be perceived as a couple dance.
