Tresillo (Part 5)

In the Western world Tresillo can be traced back to ancient Greece where it is believed to have entered European music and where it first appeared under the name dochmiac rhythm aka dochmius. It was originally a metric element that first appeared in the works by Aeschylus. It soon became a widespread rhythmical structure that rose to such popularity as to be considered a signature rhythm by the time Renaissance music was developed.

Through its historic relationship with Cuba, tresillo rose to popularity in New Orleans in the 1800s where it eventually helped to form ragtime with its subsequent influence on American music. It helped to shape jazz syncopation, lent itself to R&B music and became so popular in New Orleans music that the famous musician Wynton Learson Marsalis considers it to be the New Orleans "clave".

In terms of modern Cuban music, the rhythmic pattern has become particularly important in salsa songs as it denotes the 3-side of the son clave pattern. As such it is inherent to the vast majority of salsa songs whether it is played out or implied. It is the tresillo pattern that creates tension in the clave and is therefore referred to as the strong side of the clave irrespective of whether the clave pattern is 2-3 or 3-2. By comparison, the two side of the clave is often called “debil”, meaning the weak side of the clave which has the function of releasing the tension created by tresillo.

Moreover, tresillo is also the rhythmic basis of the bass and the conga drum in Afro-Cuban music which led to its use as the rhythmic pattern in son montuno, mambo and salsa dubbed “tumbao”. Sometimes the tumbao pattern is played by carrying the last beat over to the next measure leading to a rhythmic structure where only the two offbeats of the tresillo pattern are sounded. In this form the pattern is often called the bombo-ponche tumbao with bombo referring to the first off-beat and ponche referring to the second off-beat. While there are many variations on the tumbao rhythm based on the tresillo structure two main categories of this rhythm have emerged: Tumbao that coincides or emphasises the clave tresillo pattern is called clave aligned whereas a tumbao rhyth that does not fulfil this condition is usually referred to as clave neutral.

Rueda Hand Signs (Part 31) Setenta Complicado

The move Setenta Complicado is one of the most common Setenta variations taught internationally. Contrary to most other Setenta moves it is taught and performed relatively consistently internationally with only minor variations being added or removed for styling purposes.

The move is in no way among the most difficult Setenta moves but it received the qualifier complicado simply to distinguish it from the standard Setenta version. While the first 8-count of this move is identical to the standard Setenta move, leaders bring their left hand over their head on beat 7. What makes this move more difficult than the standard version is that for the second 8-count leaders lead the Enchufla behind their back (before they do a Ronde Moderno) which is a very common element found in many other moves but dancers usually experience this element for the first time when learning Setenta Complicado.

In order to execute the Enchufla behind your back, an easy way to get used to this initially is for leaders to try and look at their follower by turning their head towards their left hand side which will automatically puts them into the correct position. It does feel slightly more natural initially for leaders to look at their follower by turning their head to their right, however, this will make it impossible for them to complete this move and it is one of the most common issues new dancers have when trying this out.

Like most other Setenta variations the ending is a simple Enchufla, which can be embellished by Alardes, Ganchos, Styling etc. As usual at Tiempo España Dance Academy we finish Setenta Complicado with an Enchufla Ronde which can of course be changed when social dancing but it keeps things consistent when performing Setenta Complicado in a Rueda.

The hand sign for this move is the hand sign for Setenta followed by the sign for Complicado which involves the caller forming a fist with their free hand and knocking it against their head. It is irrelevant how many times the fist is knocked against the head, it is simply meant to convey that it hurts your brain to figure out this move i.e. because it is complicated.
Other hand signs are also sometimes observed for this such as making a circling motion next to your head with your index finger. However, this sign is also used for the modifier “loco” which is used to describe a different set of moves so we use the former sign at Tiempo España Dance Academy to avoid ambiguity.

Rumba (Part 12)

It should be clear by this point that the term Rumba has become one of the most ambiguous descriptions in dance. While there are many forms of dance and music that are described by this term they often have little in common other than the title “Rumba” which distracts from their individual characteristics as well as diluting the original Cuban Rumba complex internationally. It is not the aim of this series to go into details about every musical reference that includes the term Rumba but rather to clear up some of the most common misunderstandings when any of the Cuban Rumba dances are discusses outside of Cuba where an entirely different meaning of the term Rumba may be more prevalent. That being said, a few additional Rumba references will be mentioned in this post as they are relatively common and often better known in certain territories than the original Cuban dances.

Galician rumba is a term used to describe songs and dances that emerged in Galicia in the 19th century mixing Spanish and Cuban musical elements. They are often described as “cantes de ida y vuelta” similarly to Rumba Flamenca as some of the Spanish influences on Cuban music were brought back to Galicia to form Galician rumba. While some of the Rhythms in this musical genre may also be characteristic of the original Cuban Rumba music, Galician rumba was equally influenced by other Cuban genres such as Guaracha and Habanera not to mention the European aspects that dominate this form such as the inclusion of bagpipes.
The song names of Galician rumbas are usually attributed to their author if known (i.e. Rumba de Pucho) or to the region where they were collected (i.e. Rumba de Vergara).

La Rumba Criolla is the name given to a category of various dance forms in Colombia that developed in the Tolima region, particularly in Fresno. It was influenced by such musical genres as Rumba Flamenco, Bambuco and the original Cuban Rumba complex and was developed at the start of the 20th century. Over time different types of Rumba Criolla emerged according to their meter and the culture surrounding the area in Colombia where they emerged such as Rumba Antioqueña, Rumba Cundí and Rumba Criolla Tolimense.

During the 1940s some Afro-Cuban songs and musicians became popular in Congo thanks to Radio Congo Belge playing Cuban music. Congolese bands started to create their own versions of what they heard on Radio singing in French or Lingala adding their own musical and cultural influences to the new sounds they had discovered. Despite the fact that the songs they tried to emulate were predominantly Son Cubano, the new music that was created became known as Congolese Rumba or Rumba Lingala. This style of music in turn became popular in various African countries and later led to the development of Soukous creating yet another point of confusion as to what is understood by Rumba internationally.

Conga (Part 1)

A conga is a barrel shaped hand drum that originated in Africa but was developed in Cuba. It is believed to have been derived partially from the Makuta drums used in Congo although it is likely that various drums influenced the development of congas. The name conga is also used to describe a rhythm, various music groups, a type of music as well as a dance but it is mostly used when referring to the instrument.

Conga drums appeared in Cuba in the 18th century where they were first referred to as tumbadora, a name that is still often used today. Since they were heavily used in conga groups playing conga music, these drums eventually became associated with the term conga even though they were used in other genres as well such as Rumba.

Today, congas are widely used in various musical genres internationally such as salsa, merengue, rock, jazz, etc. While it was originally customary to play one conga at a time, it is now common to see conga players with a set of drums playing on multiple congas. Moreover, it is an ideal drum to be played in a group and can often be seen as part of drum circles. A percussionist playing congas is usually referred to as a conguero and they may choose to play these drums while seated or standing.

The description conga is used to describe drums of different sizes. While the terminology applied to each size may differ even in Cuba, generally speaking the following classification applies:

• Supertumba (confusingly this is sometimes also called tumba or salidor by some sources like the terminology given to the second category. Other than that it is also known as super tumbadora): Diameter – 31.8cm to 35.5cm
• Tumba (aka tumbadora, salidor): Diameter – 30.5cm to 31.8cm
• Conga (aka segundo, segunda, tres dos, tres golpes, tres, rebajador): Diameter 29.2cm to 30.5cm
• Quinto (aka primero): Diameter around 28 cm
• Requinto (aka super quinto): Diameter around 24.8 cm
• Ricardo (aka niño): Diameter around 22.9 cm

The supertumba is therefore the drum with the largest diameter producing more resonance than the other drums as well as creating the deepest sound. As the diameter sizes decrease from suptertumba to ricardo, the sound that is produced becomes higher such that a ricardo drum produces the highest sound. Out of the above types of congas it is rare to see drums used in practice outside of the three primary types which are tumba, conga and quinto.

Danzón (Part 1)

Danzón is the name of a Cuban dance which evolved from Contradanza towards the second half of the 19th century. This dance was developed from the French Contredanse which itself is a derivative of the English Country Dance. The term Danzón is also used to describe a Cuban musical genre which is defined by its elegant characteristics using no singers or improvisations and using a clearly defined structure and similar instruments although there is some variation comparing earlier versions with later versions of Danzón. The most well known Danzón song is Almendra by Abelardo Validez.

Danzón is one of the main influences of Son Cubano both in terms of dance as well as music which in turn influenced Salsa music and Casino. While influencing modern Cuban music and culture indirectly through genres like Son, Cha-Cha-Chá, Pachanga and Mambo many contemporary Cuban artists have also been directly inspired by Danzón and have incorporated some of its elements into their work. It is therefore a very important genre for any Casino dancer to get used to as it is one of the key historical genres that have influenced the salsa music and dance of today.

While the predecessor to Danzón in Cuba was called Danza which significantly influenced Son Cubano, the word Danzón is not a portmanteau of Danza and Son contrary to a common misconception regarding its etymology. Rather, the word Danzón is an amplification of the word Danza which is believed to reflect the fact that Danzones are usually longer in duration than Danzas.

Danzón is a a couple dance being slower than its predecessor Danza containing more Afro-Cuban elements. That being said, it lost some of its African elements as it became a symbol of Cuba after it gained independence and became “whitened” by the upper-class white elites who wanted to make the dance more socially acceptable. Thus a dance that was first viewed as utterly scandalous where races mixed easily was changed over time to become immensely popular by Cuba’s white population and at some points almost exclusively danced by the white upper class. An article in La Voz de Cuba published in November 1879 clearly shows the initial attitude towards this dance by the following statement: “Because I love my country, it hurts me to see danzón at gatherings of decent people. But if there is no way around it, if this blindness continues, then I beg of you, at least don’t play danzón and don’t dance it, when foreigners are around”.

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.