Dancing on the cube name. Cuban dance training
Cuba is home to magnificent noisy carnivals under the hot tropical sun, fragrant cigars, rum and, of course, fiery Cuban dances.
Sparkling and sensual, sexy and flirty, they are rapidly striding across the planet, winning the hearts of more and more new fans. To be able to dance Cuban dances is today a sign of excellent taste, especially since you can start mastering them at any age.
Most Cuban dance schools teach various styles. Salsa, rumba, pachanga, mambo, cha-cha-cha - all these dance styles will become available after attending Cuban dance lessons and classes with professional dancers. Each of these styles is unique and has a special charm that makes you strive to master them to perfection.
Salsa
The name of this dance, which is business card Cuban dance, translated as "sauce". Uninhibited, passionate, cheerful and fulfilled various combinations, fully lives up to its name. This enchanting dance is a complete improvisation, providing an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the dancers' skills.
Any Cuban dance school teaches two main types of salsa: circular and linear. Each of them has certain nuances that are extremely important for those who decide to become a real salsero.
Circular salsa, or salsa casino, is not very difficult to perform, but is incredibly fiery and energetic. The partner's movements are dominated by dynamic elements performed with the hands, feints and turns. And the skill of a partner lies in the ability to feel and follow every action of her man.
A variety of this dance is the wonderful rueda de casino - a direction in which dance steps are performed simultaneously by several couples, following the instructions of the cantor - the leader. His responsibilities include ensuring that all pairs have time to complete a given element and announce the start of a new movement on time.
Linear salsa is distinguished by its dynamic and swift musical accompaniment, variety of combinations, clarity of execution and a certain amount of acrobatic elements, captivating the views of those present.
Rumba
It is impossible to imagine Cuban dance lessons without rumba - an incredibly erotic, emotional and dramatic dance that perfectly demonstrates the nuances of gender relations. The leading role in it, oddly enough, is played by a woman.
Trying to attract the attention of a man, she flirts and plays with him, beckons, bewitches, and having achieved what she wants, she immediately loses interest in her partner and begins to flirt with another. The dance is characterized by many smooth movements of the body and hips. It is quite slow, but at the same time delightfully soulful and sensual.
Cha cha cha
This is one of the types of Cuban dances, the development of which is closely related to rumba. At the time of its execution, the partners should not be at a distance of more than 15 cm from each other. The task is not as simple as it seems. But it can be successfully mastered at a Cuban dance school.
All movements are accompanied by energetic movements of the hips, striking with the clarity and purity of the execution of the elements. magnificent with the passion, audacity and a bit of sass on display.
Pachanga
You can start learning to dance Cuban dances with pachanga, which is a sparkling mixture of conga and. The steps performed by the dancers imitate the clatter of horse hooves - this is the main difference between pachanga. Over time she dance moves were replenished with elements of other dances, making pachanga more expressive and rich.
Mambo
And how can one not mention mambo among Cuban dances, considered one of the most complex dances in Latin style. It is incendiary, sparkling, fast and implies the presence large quantity acrobatic elements, which requires a certain endurance of the dancers.
Initially it simple moves over time, they have been enriched with unique elements, giving the mambo a unique splendor, especially evident during the performance of the slow version.
Learning to dance Cuban dances is a great opportunity to unwind and become freer, to follow your desires and feelings, conquering and delighting the world.
Posted on: 17.12.2015 /
Categories: Uncategorized
Music and dance are the national wealth of Cuba, which they are happy to share with everyone. It was “Freedom Island” that gave the world the largest number of dance genres, which later became international, such as danzón, mambo, rumba, cha-cha-cha, casino and others. Dance tours to Cuba have not yet been invented, but he recommends not to miss this opportunity - to learn at least a couple of hot rumba steps, so that you can later trump somewhere with your exclusive knowledge of Cuban dances.
are inseparable concepts. For example, Rumba was born as a result of mixing spanish singing and African rhythms. Danzón and Son appeared when elements of the music of campesinos (farmers of Spanish origin) were combined with African rhythms and percussion instruments. If you add elements of Rumba to Son, you get Cha-cha-cha, then Mambo and, finally, Salsa, which later turned into Timba - a new original movement in dance music.
Dancing is in the blood of Cubans. At least, that’s what every tourist thinks, looking at how the locals are rocking it in clubs and at parties. Looking at this, your legs ask to dance. The fact is that Cubans are so fiery people that they can start dancing just on the street after hearing their favorite melody. This is how they show their emotions. By the way, young ladies skillfully use this. Girls who practice Cuban dancing amaze men with their sexuality, flexibility, and the passion they radiate.
So, where can you learn the basics of Cuban dances? If you are in Havana, you will find yourself in the kingdom of Salsa. She is in every bar, club and discos. already talked about nightlife Havana. Look for dance adventures in the described hot spots.
Cuban salsa is incredibly popular all over the world. social dance. In addition to the crazy mixture of energetic rhythms and emotions, Cuban salsa amazes with its plasticity, which is characteristic of all Cuban dances.
Merengue
Hot, fiery merengue dance appeared in Dominican Republic, but almost immediately won the respect of the Cubans. Erotic hip movements, flirting and elements of improvisation are all an integral part of the real Cuban soul. According to legend, this dance was invented by slaves, but now it helps you feel truly free.
Rumba
Everyone in Cuba knows how to dance rumba. This is the most interesting Cuban dance, which has nothing in common with ballroom rumba. Real Cuban rumba is a religious dance, its movements imitate either harvesting or sun worship. Each movement is named after a patron God. At external simplicity, this is one of the most difficult Cuban dances. If you are choosing between a fitness room or a Cuban rumba, feel free to make a choice in favor of the rumba - the result will not be long in coming.
Reggaeton
A relatively young dance of Cuban youth. The dance became popular due to its wild energy and sexuality. If bachata and merengue leave some understatement between partners, then in reggaeton anything is possible. It was reggaeton that gave birth to the famous twerk. It is performed both in pairs and solo.
Bachata
So hot and passionate dance could have originated, perhaps, only in an equally hot and passionate country of snow-white beaches and azure sea. Bachata is a dance of love with which you can express all your feelings.
Cuban cha-cha
According to one version, cha-cha originated in Georgia during the reception of a delegation of Cuban communists at a winery. Wine and chacha flowed like a river and soon the guests began to dance. And the more they drank, the faster they danced. Very soon, the sensual salsa and bachata developed into the energetic, passionate cha-cha, which is now danced all over the world.
Guaguanco
Guaguanco is a type of Cuban rumba. When Cubans talk about rumba, they mean this dance. This is a kind of competition between a man and a woman. The man tries to distract his partner and give him a vacunao, which literally translates as “injection” or “vaccination.” In dance, the wacunao symbolizes sexual intercourse. Externally, a vacunao looks like an unexpected sharp gesture with a hand, a foot, or a wave of a handkerchief directed towards the partner. The partner must flirt and interest the man, but not allow herself to be “pricked.”
Salsaton
It's a wild mix of reggaeton and salsa that was popular in Cuba. Incendiary dance, which once united Cuban youth, quickly lost its popularity due to low musical value. But in Cuba you can always meet someone who will happily dance the salsaton with you!
Dream
This is one of the oldest and most famous Cuban dances. Most new dance styles who appeared in Cuba came out of their sleep. An important part of this dance is interaction with your partner. And you definitely won’t be able to fall asleep!
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Cuban dance cha-cha-cha, Cuban rumba... how often do we hear these phrases from the lips of teachers and tournament hosts. What does the Latin American program have in common? sports dances and true Caribbean Latina? How did your performance technique change after flying across the ocean? What do the Cubans themselves think about our dances?
Retro cars, colonial architecture, the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and the magnificent Caribbean Sea, smiling but somewhat intrusive people, and, of course, catchy rhythms - this is what a person who finds himself on Liberty Island first encounters.
The extraordinary color of this socialist country scares some and attracts others. Conspicuous poverty coexists with excellent free education and medicine. Shops for the local population are significantly different from supermarkets for tourists: while in the former you can only buy eggs and canned goods (the assortment is not very rich), then in tourist places there is almost everything that we are used to.
The fact is that in Cuba there are two currencies: the non-convertible peso and the convertible peso. Locals They receive salaries in non-convertible currency, which blocks them from going to shops with bright windows, and tourists are given convertible pesos at every exchange office. This is precisely what is associated with some of the intrusiveness of the local population - many try to please the traveler in every possible way (give a tour, sell rum or cigars, etc.) so that they can reward him with more valuable money. The US embargo and the collapse of the USSR left their mark on the lives of local residents.
But despite everything, people dance everywhere here, merging with the music. This is why Cuba is important for all those who love dance.
STREET RHYTHMS
Dancing workers at a construction site, setting their own rhythm, street singers performing, if not “Сomandante Che Guevara,” then at least something familiar to any dancer - the atmosphere, frankly speaking, is not at all conducive to a serious working mood, even in the capital Havana . However, it's quite Big city, but the new areas are still not as colorful as the streets of Old Havana.
Havana can truly be called not only the capital of Cuba, but also the capital of salsa. Many ballroom dancers underestimate salsa: it is a social dance that is not included in the competitive Latin American program and, as a result, does not deserve close attention, and the steps there, in principle, are not very difficult. But this opinion is largely deceptive - salsa can rightfully be considered the grandmother of the competitive Latin American program.
Surprisingly, salsa has much more in common with our competitive samba than with the Brazilian samba, which we talked about earlier. To such hits as “La vida es un carnaval”, “Moliendo café” and other songs that we often hear at tournaments Latin American program, in Cuba they dance salsa. Of course, using the example of other compositions, you can see that the rhythm of samba and salsa is still different, but very close.
In addition, salsa, unlike Brazilian samba, is much more often danced in pairs, which also brings competitive samba and Cuban salsa closer together. Salsa music comes from a Cuban style called sleep. The dream has a slower tempo, the result of a synthesis of the music of Spanish farmers and the rhythms of African slaves. Over the 350 years of Spanish colonization, more than a million Africans were brought to the island, which greatly influenced ethnic composition, and on the culture of Cuba.
As for salsa, over time other rhythms emerged from it, including the cha-cha-cha.
If salsa is the queen of Havana, then outside the capital in many cities other rhythms already dominate. It’s worth driving 250 km southeast of Havana, and we find ourselves in the very nice city of Cienfuegos, located on the coast Caribbean Sea. In 1819, it was founded by French emigrants and made it different from other Cuban settlements symmetrical arrangement streets. “One Hundred Lights” is how the name of this city is literally translated from Spanish.
And another 100 km from the calm and fairly clean Cienfuegos is perhaps one of the most colorful cities on the island - Trinidad. This is a real museum city, which for a long time remained isolated from the rest of the island, thanks to which it retains cobblestone streets, as well as houses built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Calm, poor, atmospheric - these are the words most suitable to describe this city, but most importantly, in Trinidad there is cha-cha-cha playing on every corner! It is no coincidence that even the traditional local drink is consonant name- kanchanchara. There are much fewer dancers, street and professional, here than, for example, in Havana. But here there is its own “Casa de la musica” (House of Music), where you can get acquainted with local creativity and make sure that not all cha-cha-cha melodies have made it to the competition floor.
LATIN AMERICAN CABARET
Latin American cabaret - this format of performances is very popular on Liberty Island. Look at professional dancers possible in almost every city. Spectacular in a carnival style revealing outfits, beautiful girls and young men - this dance format, frankly speaking, is not to the taste of all viewers. Sometimes the excessive frankness and not always appropriate level of skill of the artists of some institutions produces a double impression. This is what Latin culture is like!
However, even with the naked eye it can be noted that most dancers have a choreographic education, thanks to which they combine elements of classical choreography with national dance movements.
The most famous Cuban cabaret is Tropicana. It was discovered back in 1939 and gained enormous popularity in the 50s, when Cuba was actually under US rule. "The dancers are plumper, sexier compared to the American ones, their wide hips would block their path to the American stage. The dances are not as carefully worked out as in American shows, but real Latin American dance has much more energy,” said American spectators. They say that even the famous gangster Al Capone specially came to Havana to attend this show. After the revolution, the cabaret continued to exist and it still works.
It is worth noting that these days Tropicana is exclusively a tourist pleasure. A ticket to the show costs at least $70. With an average Cuban salary of $15, it is not difficult to guess that Cubans have fun in other establishments.
To see how the locals relax, we went to one of the decent clubs by local standards. Even before the fun began, young people began to arrive; the young man who came to the club in our “six” with tuning in the latest Cuban fashion enjoyed particular success with the girls. But this is not the main thing, our task is to watch how they dance.
The evening's program began with a frank performance by dancers and singers, after which general fun began. It was here that one could see stunning pairings, compact dancing, interesting impromptu combinations, and extraordinary ease of movement. The Cuban soul does not dance in public, but only in close contact, as if there is no one around. You can’t live in Cuba and not know how to dance - it’s in the blood of the entire local population.
In addition, almost every establishment, be it a cafe or a hotel, most often has its own musical group, which performs famous Latin American hits in its own arrangements and also sells CDs. Thus, even in Havana alone you can hear more than a hundred versions of “Сomandante Che Guevara,” let alone on the entire Island of Liberty.
One evening, when we joined the dancers, we were literally overwhelmed with questions from Cubans and vacationers from Colombia - they simply could not believe that in Russia you could learn to dance Latin American dances! The system of competitions in dance sports is unknown to them, and if you show them a video of, for example, a competitive cha-cha-cha, they will not immediately recognize this dance.
HER MAJESTY TECHNOLOGY
One can talk and argue about the similarities and differences for a very long time: on the one hand, competitive Latin and traditional Latin American dances are very similar, on the other, they are very different.
First of all, the difference in the technique of execution is striking, and it is the motor skills of the movements that are different. From childhood, ballroom dancers learn to straighten their knees in a cha-cha-cha, stretch their feet, and hold their hands beautifully. Cubans dance differently - they take almost all steps on a slightly softened knee, which allows them to increase the range of movement of their hips. Each movement seems to follow from the previous one; here in cha-cha-cha there are practically no sudden movements.
Nobody tries, for example, to do a figure eight with the knees off or unnatural but effective crunches in the body. Maybe this is why many Cubans dance until old age, without knowing problems with the menisci, spine, etc.? The sports component and the desire for beauty and purity of lines are what distinguishes us, ballers, from the majority of Cubans.
Under the purity of lines in in this case not only the positions of the arms and body are implied (this is all right in the same cabarets), but also the positions of the hips and feet. Local dancers practically do not collect their legs in a neutral position between steps, and if our partners did such frank and not always beautiful passing positions, they would hardly be able to afford short skirts in a competition costume. And even if they did, it would look vulgar.
Sports component dance art This is also reflected in the fact that it is important for dancers performing at dance sport competitions how they look from the outside. It's important to show nice picture, earn as many crosses, first places as possible, please the public, etc. Dancing in Cuba is primarily social in nature. The main task is to simply enjoy what you do.
And, most importantly, when Cubans dance, they are really happy. You will never see terrible grimaces on their faces from trying to demonstrate “the very thing that I trained so long ago” or scandals with their partner because “I took you in the other direction.” They are happy, no matter what, and this, perhaps, is really worth learning from them.
Of course, modern competitive Latin and traditional dances Latin America Now they are going their separate ways. What dancers now perform at dance sport competitions can hardly be called true. Latin American dances. Nevertheless, we wish all dancers to plunge into this culture at least once and take away something interesting for themselves. It is important to know your history, it is important to know the history of dances, which are an integral part of your life. And we will tell you about other features of the culture of Latin America next time.
Yulia Soboleva
"Since the mid-nineteenth century, Cuban popular music started playing important role in the development of Western urban culture. Cuban dance influenced everything from the habaneras that were danced in the New York salons of the sixties, to the congas, rumbas, cha-cha-chas, son-montunos and “young” mambos.
“Much of Cuban culture, including dance, is a derivative of what Fernando Ortiz dubbed “Cuban counterpoint”: a combination of Iberian and African components. One of best examples this is son-montuno. Depending on the specific region of Cuba, the dominant influence on music and social activities could be either Spanish or West/Central African. In the regions where tobacco was grown, many farmers were from Spain or Canary Islands. And where sugar cane was grown, the workers were mostly slaves brought from Western and Central Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Slaves brought to Cuba organized cabildos (religious brotherhoods) and protected the religious and secular dances of the Yoruba, Fon, Ejagham and Kongo-Angola peoples from extinction.
In the Yoruba and Fon religions, many gods were worshiped and invoked by performing various dances that captivated the dancers so that the gods seemed to "dance in their heads."
Ejagham people formed secret societies, Abakuas, whose members danced in secret rituals or carnival parades. They wore masks, i"remes, (or "diablitos", which means "little devil" in Spanish), depicting hereditary images. Cuban culture was heavily influenced by the Congo-Angolans with their non-ritual celebrations, congueri"as, at which makuta were danced and yuka.
Yuka, reminiscent of a modern rumba, consists of ronquido and campanero. Ronquido is a series of side steps, campanero is a figure eight. The dancers also perform the Congo war ritual dance, mani", similar to the Brazilian capoeira and congueri"as. Yambu", guaguanco" and Colombia are imitative dances that form the "rubma" and belong to the early dance forms of the Kongo.
Yambu" is a dance in at a slow pace, often associated with older people; it imitates their movements and difficulties in performing daily activities.
Guaguanco", modern version rumba, includes vacunao, movement of the pelvis, and consists of two parts:
In the first, there is an imitation of a man chasing a woman, they dance separately;
In the second, vacunao, the movements symbolize the victory of the man.
Although vacunao is similar to European couples dance zapateo and na umbigada, another hip thrust in early Angolan dances that influenced samba, it certainly belongs to the Congo family of dance styles.
Columbia, born in the countryside, represents the male solo dance, consisting of acrobatic and imitation elements that make it the most difficult of all types of rhumbas. A dancer can imitate a ball player, a cyclist, a sugar cane harvester, a cripple, or perform Abakua"n ireme" step dances. The dancer and the main drummer compete with each other throughout the dance.
But Comparsas is common name for mass street rumba dancing. Neighbors form a comparsa and perform at carnivals and other events. The dance is reminiscent of the Brazilian samba and is based on dramatic or allegorical patterns.
Conga is a simplified form of rumba that became popular in the United States in the late thirties. "Two the most important dance Cubas, danzo"n and son-montuno, came from completely different social environments. During the movement from eastern Cuba to western, from Iberian places to Afro-Cuban places, both dances changed dramatically." Danzon, a descendant of the French country dance, was brought to Cuba by French planters who fled Haiti in the late 18th century, and evolved into the simple danza or habanera by the mid-19th century.
At the end of the seventies of the 19th century, danza turned into a new danzon, which is now considered national dance Cubes. Almost until the beginning of the thirties of the 20th century, danzon almost did not go beyond private clubs and societies of the upper classes. It then featured a more syncopated final section. And in 1938, Antonio Arcano created the mambo, a new danzon rhythm that included a more swinging, riff-based section played by charanga orchestras on flute and violins. Soon working class blacks and Cubans began dancing to this music. Perez Prado in Mexico and Machito in New York popularized the mambo with their big bands. From the mambo dance the cha-cha-cha grew, and thus the cha-cha-cha is also a descendant of country dance.
Son-montuno was born in Oriente, a Cuban province, as a couples dance. The accompanists were usually Spanish folk guitarists and Afro-Cuban percussionists. As they moved west towards Havana, the music and dance styles developed and were enriched with percussive sounds, especially in the last part of the montuno. This process became widespread in the thirties of the 20th century and received the erroneous name of rumba.
Spanish and African musical elements montuno form the basis of today's salsa and urban dance music on a global scale, including fundamentals of music from the French-speaking regions of West and Central Africa and the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.
\CUBAN SLEEP AND NEW YORK SALSA - II
Cuban music is like salsa, like the roots of a tree. Salsa has many roots, but the style that nurtured it and gave it such a perfect form is a dream.
Son is the most important and influential music of twentieth-century Cuba. Armando Sa"nchez, leader of the Conjunto Son de la Loma, says that the dream is "the music of the people - a true manifestation of the history and way of life of the Cubans. This music, more than any other, expresses the spirit of the people of Cuba." The dream appeared in the nineteenth century in mountains of the Cuban province of Oriente. It originated from changui, a style related to African music brought to Cuba by African slaves in the early twentieth century and taken up by their descendants. As Africans migrated to Havana, son became a popular working class musical style. Musicians began to combine African and Spanish styles, such as rumba and santeri, decimal and guajira. And by the twenties, son was already the most popular music and dance form among Cubans of all levels of society.
Thanks to the synthesis of African and Spanish music and the enchanting appeal for all Cubans, the dream has become national music Cubes.
After the First World War, crowds of wealthy tourists and white Cuban aristocrats and bourgeois flocked to Havana; this created the need for night entertainment. Sons were played in nightclubs, but, as Sa"nchez notes, “whites could not understand and feel African rhythms and the musicians had to modify them. ... We had to accept their standards and “whiten” the music.” The two most typical conjuntos of that time (ensembles) were Sexteto Habanero and Septeto Nacional By 1918. The first developed the son conjunto sound: three vocal parts, bass, tres (six or nine string guitar), maracas (gourd on a handle filled with pebbles or dried beans), bongos (small double drums ), claves (two striking bars), trumpet and guitar. In the late twenties, Septeto Nacional expanded the son style, introducing greater harmony into the vocal parts and increasing the complexity of the rhythm and the speed of the tempo. And this a new style has already become popular international level. However, in the late thirties, Arsenio Rodri "guez (one of the greatest Cuban musicians and composers) took up the task of restoring son's connection with its African roots. “Arsenio took us back to the beginning and thereby moved us forward," says Sa "nchez.
Through many innovations in design and instrumentation, Rodri "guez, focusing on African elements that were not present in the previous son or were only in simplified forms, significantly enriched the sound of the style. He connected Africa and Spain and did not allow them to be separated again. Here are some from his innovations:
Adaptation of guaguanco" to the style of sleep
Adding cowbell and conga to the rhythm section
Increasing importance of tres as a solo instrument
Introduction of a montuno or mambo section in melodic solos
Arsenio's songs contained philosophical statements about Cuba, public life And national pride. His style became known as son montuno; he laid the foundations for the mambo mania of the forties, influencing popular Latin music in New York. By the early thirties, son and mambo became popular in Puerto Rico, where musicians combined them with their own styles.
After migrating to the United States and taking the music with them, Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians began to create son conjunto (especially in New York). “Since the early sixties, Arsenio’s sons have been picked up and remade by salsa musicians.”
Although salsa has many roots and its main representatives are Puerto Ricans, there is no doubt that the Cuban son is its main basis. “Salsa is essentially the brand name of modern Latin pop music. It conveys a feeling just like other re-interpreted styles and traditions. In the late forties, the formation of Latin big bands was stimulated by African-American big band jazz. Cubans, Puerto Ricans and African-Americans began to play music that combined compositional ideas a big band horn section with an Afro-Cuban rhythm section, and this eventually led to the emergence of the New York Latin sound, which was heard mostly in Puerto Rican ensembles. Big band leaders such as Puerto Ricans Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Cuban Machito expanded the mambo section of the son, organizing their own style and form - the first serious crossover of Afro-Caribbean music.
The internationally popular cha-cha-cha and mambo also came into this style and became the basis of salsa. New York and Cuban musicians interacted with each other, creating parallel Latin musical styles, until the United States tightened diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1962. Then New York Latin music looked back at what was happening in musical world next to her, and, as a result, acquired a distinctive New York style.
One of the results of the interaction between the Latin and black communities was the Latin boogaloo, created from a popular African-American dance of the mid-sixties. Boogaloo relied on standard Latin musical instruments, but added trap drums to them. The lyrics were sung in Spanish and English.
Another result was the merger of cumbia, merengue and musical styles bomba, plena, jibaro (from the mountains) belonging to Colombians, Dominicans and other Puerto Ricans living in New York.
“The influx of Cubans in the early eighties and the arrival of some Cuban musical groups led to the resumption of ties with Cuban music restoring her influence on New York style. But salsa remains a unique New York phenomenon, and its main representatives are still New York's Puerto Ricans, despite the fact that musicians from all over the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as Euro-Americans, are also associated with it.
