Rumba Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In this essay we explore the following subjects: In the Cuban punto and zapateo we can already find rhythmic elements of African origin; The Cuban décima and zapateo do not seem to have come from Canary Islands, as it is commonly believed... more

In this essay we explore the following subjects: In the Cuban punto and zapateo we can already find rhythmic elements of African origin; The Cuban décima and zapateo do not seem to have come from Canary Islands, as it is commonly believed in Cuba, but from Andalusia; The micrometric displacement of the measure subdivisions and its relationship with the Cuban concept of sandunga; The first rhythmic elements from African origin didn’t come from Africa but from Spain; The Son de la Ma Teodora is a sesquiáltera song-dance and not a “copy of a romance from Extremadura” as it was affirmed by Alejo Carpentier; The binarization of the ternary rhythm song-dances and the new genres of the Latin American music; The Cuban guaracha, a song-dance of new binary rhythm style; Why and how the new style song-dances went from Cuba to Spain; How the African style elements gradually pervaded the European musical generic patterns; The Black Curros and their importance within the process of transculturation that originated the Cuban music; The rumba prototype and its derivative: the Cuban guaracha; The utilization of the terms rumba and guaracha with the purpose of denominating the same genre; The rumbitas campesinas (peasant rumbitas) that emerged during the second half of the 19th century were a manifestation of the rumba prototype, as well as the primeval seed of the son; The precursor genres of the son or proto-sones don’t appear just in the eastern region of the island, but throughout the entire country; The rumba de cajón is not the “legitimate rumba”, as some scholars seem to believe, but just another manifestation of the rumba prototype; There is evidence that the contradanzas that were played in Havana, during the second half of the 19th century, showed an early form of the characteristic montuno of the son; It was in Havana were all the elements of style that constituted the son came together.

This article addresses social and symbolic differences in contemporary Kinshasa as these are expressed in and mediated via widely watched music television shows such as Bana Léo (‘The Children of Léo[poldville]’) and Sentiment Lipopo... more

This article addresses social and symbolic differences in contemporary Kinshasa as these are expressed in and mediated via widely watched music television shows such as Bana Léo (‘The Children of Léo[poldville]’) and Sentiment Lipopo (‘The Feeling of Lipopo’), both of which have become extremely popular in Kinshasa (‘Léopoldville’ as the city was called during colonial times, or affectionately ‘Lipopo’) since the early 2000s. Recorded in local nightclubs, these programmes show elderly people performing cha cha cha, merengue, polka piquée, bolero, rumba, and other international dance styles to Congolese rumba music dating from the late colonial and early postcolonial periods. Intimately tied to the emergence of a new category of elderly people in Kinshasa, these shows clarify the boundaries between the ‘urban elderly’ and (a) the younger generations and (b) the ‘elders from the village’. A ‘practical nostalgia’ is performed that aims at restoring value to, and the esteem of, elders in the African city. The Bana Léo genre thus illustrates the ambiguity of the production of difference in the cultural domain. While generational differences may be expressed in the space of this genre, it simultaneously articulates a cultural attempt to overcome that distance and to create conviviality among the generations.

Bien plus qu’une forme de divertissement, la musique populaire congolaise est une source d’inspiration et un objet de fierté nationale. Les habitants de la République démocratique du Congo sont fiers de leur musique, et à raison si l’on... more

Bien plus qu’une forme de divertissement, la musique populaire congolaise est une source d’inspiration et un objet de fierté nationale. Les habitants de la République démocratique du Congo sont fiers de leur musique, et à raison si l’on considère son impact au-delà des frontières du pays. En effet, pour Johannes Fabian, la musique populaire congolaise est le cadeau le plus précieux que le Congo ait fait aux peuples africains 1.
Et pourtant, ce style musical typiquement africain comporte son lot de paradoxes. Ainsi, malgré son succès spectaculaire dans une grande partie de l’Afrique subsaharienne, cette musique demeure presque inconnue en Occident.

Overview The idea Footscan appeared to be a potentially useful tool in measuring the trajectory of the centre of balance in latin/ballroom dancing as it travels through our feet during various steps. The Method 4 dancers, 1... more

RESUMEN: La producción cultural de la clase obrera española ha recibido escaso reconocimiento histórico en España, país que presenta un modelo social que liga las prácticas artísticas a las clases media y alta. A partir de 2011, tras el... more

RESUMEN: La producción cultural de la clase obrera española ha recibido escaso reconocimiento histórico en España, país que presenta un modelo social que liga las prácticas artísticas a las clases media y alta. A partir de 2011, tras el movimiento político 15M, la crítica ha iniciado un tímido proceso de recuperación y revalorización de prácticas culturales que han sido consideradas de mal gusto o marginales en virtud del origen social de sus artífices y de su audiencia. La rumba suburbana de Los Chichos y Estopa es un ejemplo de cómo prácticas musicales de gran impacto y repercusión social han quedado relegadas en la reconstrucción de la memoria cultural e histórica de la España postfranquista. Este artículo documenta la falta de reconocimiento que la rumba suburbana ha recibido para reflexionar después, a través del análisis de la letra de temas representativos de los grupos antes mencionados, sobre el imaginario y la experiencia de la clase obrera.
ABSTRACT: The working-class cultural production has received little recognition in Spain, whose society places artistic practices in the domain of the middle and upper classes. After the 15M movement in 2011, cultural criticism has slowly started to retrace and value practices that had been previously considered tacky or marginal due to their blue-collar origins and audience. The suburban rumba of Los Chichos and Estopa is a clear example of how musical practices of extensive social impact have been left out of the historic and cultural reconstruction in post-Franco Spain. In this article we document the lack of recognition that suburban rumba has endured in order to analyse, through representative lyrics of the two abovementioned groups, how it represents the working-class values and experiences.

This article presents an analytical and cultural reading of the 1932 song ‘Der Onkel Bumba aus Kalumba tanzt nur Rumba’ by the German vocal group the Comedian Harmonists. It incorporates Erving Goffman’s stigma theory to propose an... more

This article presents an analytical and cultural reading of the 1932 song ‘Der Onkel Bumba aus Kalumba tanzt nur Rumba’ by the German vocal group the Comedian Harmonists. It incorporates Erving Goffman’s stigma theory to propose an alternative interpretation of performances of commercial rumba and jazz by members of a Weimar cosmopolitan youth culture that pushes beyond paradigms of appropriation and exoticism. The author argues that songs seemingly exoticizing an Other could rather serve as a means of articulating concerns of an Othered Self in the context of the rise of National Socialism. The article contrasts a close reading of the Comedian Harmonists’ performance of the song with performances by Leo Monosson and the Melody Gents and incorporates the contrasting experiences of the lyricist Fritz Rotter with those of the Comedian Harmonists to show how ‘Der Onkel Bumba’ presented jazz/rumba as an indicator for both utopian idealism
and looming dystopian horror.