The dance itself which started off as a modified version of a slow fox trot danced to “peanut vendor” style music went through a period of Americanisation by simplifying Cuban dance elements for American consumption until it became known as American rumba in the 1940s. However, Americans did not hold a monopoly on rumba and disagreements emerged as early as 1931 between Germany, France, England and America on how Rumba should be danced and which rhythm should be adopted. While many teachers advocated their Rumba as a closer interpretation of the Cuban model, in essence, no country achieved in assimilating a dance that resembled any of the actual Cuban dances. I.e. the rhythm of rumba became heavily debated with various schools citing eye witness accounts of Cubans dancing “off-beat” vs. “on-beat” but failing to capture the essence of concepts such as a tiempo and contratiempo.
It has to be noted at this stage that while the history of International Rumba is marked by mistakes and ignorance there were certainly some genuinely interested aficionados who travelled to Cuba and studied the music and dance in an attempt to accurately reflect Cuban dances abroad. Even in today’s world this is not an easy task to achieve given the lack of documentation and language and culture barriers that surround Cuba but in the early 20th century before the advent of modern technologies such as easily accessible recording devices, this was an even harder task to accomplish. Adding to that the fact that even Cubans, today as well as in the past, disagree in many aspects on how certain dances are supposed to be performed and there are many regional differences that make it impossible for foreigners to agree on a common systematic guide that describe any one of the Cuban dances in its entirety.
