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32-511: Rumba flamenca was primarily influenced by guaracha , an uptempo style of vocal music which originated in Havana 's musical theatre. Some elements from Cuban rumba were also incorporated, although minor, despite the name. Although unlikely, both guaracha and Cuban rumba might have been influenced by flamenco earlier in the 19th century. Guarachas can be traced back to the Spanish jácaras , thus justifying

64-430: A dance history point of view. During the 19th century, the bufo theatre, with its robust humour, its creolized characters and its guarachas, played a part in the movement for the emancipation of slaves and the independence of Cuba. They played a part in criticising authorities, lampooning public figures and supporting heroic revolutionaries. Satire and humour are significant weapons for a subjugated people. In 1869 at

96-516: A "guaracha" named "La Guabina", about which he says: "in the voice of those that sings it, tastes like any thing dirty, indecent or disgusting that you can think about…" At a later time, in an undetermined date, "La Guabina" appears published among the first musical scores printed in Havana at the beginning of the 19th century. According to the commentaries published in "El Regañón de La Habana", we can conclude that those "guarachas" were very popular within

128-576: A short while and then disappear into the archives. Some, just a few, find great popularity and join the select group of dances which last for several years round the dance halls. Such popular dances are the basis of practically every Tea Dance. Moreover, most now consider the best dances are the older dances, and although a few clubs still teach them, interest in the new dances now seems to be rapidly diminishing. Most people who attend these functions will recognise Saunter Together, Mayfair Quickstep, Waltz Cathrine, Rumba One, and many others. An alternative to

160-1023: A typical programme of sequence dancing has a wide variety of activity. Sequence dances are split into three different sections: Old Time (also occasionally seen as Old Tyme - now referred to as Classical), Modern, and Latin, with the dividing line being somewhere in the early 20th century. New sequences are being devised all the time, and the number of which have been published as scripts stands at over four thousand (as of 2010). Old-time (Classical) dances: Old-time Waltz , Country dance , Quadrille , Galop , Polka ; Saunter , Gavotte , Two Step , Mazurka , Schottische , Cakewalk . Modern dances: Waltz , Tango , Foxtrot , Quickstep Latin American dances: Rumba , Cha-cha-cha , Samba , Jive , Paso Doble , Bossa Nova , Salsa , Mambo . Regular competitions are held between dance teachers to decide which newly created sequence dances shall be officially adopted and scripted for wider distribution. Most of these are tried for

192-410: A very audacious content, were apparently already sung within a wide social sector of the Havana population. Buenaventura Pascual Ferrer mentions also that at the beginning of the 19th century up to fifty dance parties were held in Havana every day, where the famous "Guaracha" was sung and danced among other popular pieces. There is little evidence as to what style of dance was originally performed to

224-479: Is a form of dance in which a preset pattern of movements is followed, usually to music which is also predetermined. Sequence dancing may include dances of many different styles. The term may include ballroom dances which move round the floor as well as line , square and circle dances . Sequence dancing in general is much older than modern ballroom dances. With the exception of the waltz , invented around 1800, all dances in ballrooms were sequence dances until

256-448: Is a genre of music that originated in Cuba , of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word has been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theatres and in working-class dance salons. They became an integral part of bufo comic theatre in the mid-19th century. During the later 19th and the early 20th century

288-700: Is a style of song-dance which is also considered music for the Christmas "Parrandas" and concert popular music. Several modern genres, such as rumba and salsa, are considered to be influenced by the guaracha. The guaracha has been cultivated during the 20th century by Puerto Rican musicians such as Rafael Hernández , Pedro Flores , Bobby Capó , Tite Curet, Rafael Cortijo , Ismael Rivera , Francisco Alvarado , Luigi Teixidor and " El Gran Combo ". Some famous guarachas are Hermoso Bouquet, Pueblo Latino, Borracho no vale, Compay póngase duro, Mujer trigueña, Marinerito and Piel Canela. Sequence dance Sequence dancing

320-457: Is common, but their use in popular dance music was not common in the 18th and 19th centuries. Only the habanera had sung lyrics, and the guaracha definitely predates the habanera by some decades. Therefore, the guaracha is the first Cuban creole dance music which included singers. The Havana Diario de la Marina of 1868 says: "The bufo troupe, we think, has an extensive repertory of tasty guarachas, with which to keep its public happy, better than

352-539: Is part of the Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival. This is held in the Empress Ballroom , Winter Gardens , Blackpool , England , since 1949. Modern sequence dancing has a repeat of the steps at every sixteenth bar, typically going on for five or six sequences in all. Specially performed sequence dance music in strict tempo is usually needed, although some 'ordinary' music may suffice provided it

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384-436: Is played in 16 bar sections or sequences throughout. Ideally, sequence music will have a four bar introduction at the correct tempo and in the correct rhythm, followed by 5 or 6 sixteen bar sequences allowing all dancers to progress around the room and ending when the music finishes. There are many different tempo types for sequence dancing, based on the classification of each dance. Each has an accepted speed of playing so that

416-601: The Teatro Villanueva in Havana an anti-Spanish bufo was playing, when suddenly some Spanish Voluntarios attacked the theatre, killing some ten or so patrons. The context was that the Ten Years' War had started the previous year, when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes had freed his slaves, and declared Cuban independence. Creole sentiments were running high, and the Colonial government and their rich Spanish traders were reacting. Not for

448-510: The 2nd and 4th beats. The rumba flamenca dance has some origins in Catalonia , specifically in the downtown areas of Barcelona , where gypsies performed rumba catalana at the times of this genre's flowering popularity. The dance that it accompanied was improvised with prominent hip and shoulder movements, more overtly sexual than other styles of flamenco dances. Guaracha The guaracha ( Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaˈɾatʃa] )

480-459: The Havana population at that time, because in the same previously mentioned article the author says: "…but most importantly, what bothers me most is the liberty with which a number of chants are sung throughout the streets and town homes, where innocence is insulted and morals offended… by many individuals, not just of the lowest class, but also by some people that are supposed to be called well educated…". Therefore, we can say that those "guarachas" of

512-456: The Italian songs." The lyrics were full of slang, and dwelt on events and people in the news. Rhythmically, guaracha exhibits a series of rhythm combinations, such as 8 with 4 . Alejo Carpentier quotes a number of guaracha verses that illustrate the style: In the mid-20th century the style was taken up by the conjuntos and big bands as a type of up-tempo music. Many of

544-453: The cajón. As a result, it bears little resemblance to Cuban rumba, whose instrumentation is based on the congas and claves . Nonetheless, some artists such as Paco de Lucía and Tomatito have included congas alongside their cajones in their ensembles, although with a minor role. In Cuba, the rumba is performed with multiple percussion instruments, playing in duple meter . The flamenco version of it uses palmas, guitar, and golpes (slapping

576-557: The classification of rumba flamenca as a cante de ida y vuelta . The first rumba flamenca recordings were made by La Niña de los Peines in the 1910s. During the late 20th century, Paco de Lucía , together with percussionist Rubem Dantas , incorporated Afro-Peruvian musical elements such as the cajón (wooden box) and certain rhythms. In term rumba as applied to the flamenco style stems from its use in Cuba to refer to Cuban rumba (originally, "rumba" meant "party"). Within flamenco circles,

608-402: The early trovadores , such as Manuel Corona (who worked in a brothel area of Havana), composed and sung guarachas as a balance for the slower boleros and canciónes . Ñico Saquito was primarily a singer and composer of guarachas. The satirical lyric content also fitted well with the son, and many bands played both genres. Today it seems scarcely to exist as a distinct musical form, except in

640-450: The early 20th century. After modern ballroom dancing developed, in England, sequence dancing continued. It included so-called 'Old Time' dances and also adapted versions of the new ballroom dances, and then versions of Latin dances. Sequence dancing is a competitive sport as well as a social pastime. The British Sequence Championships is the most famous annual sequence dance competition and

672-419: The first or the last time, politics and music were closely intertwined, for musicians had been integrated since before 1800. Bufo theatres were shut down for some years after this tragic event. In bufos the guaracha would occur at places indicated by the author: guaracheros would enter in coloured shirts, white trousers and boots, handkerchiefs on their heads, the women in white coats, and the group would perform

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704-428: The genre is simply called "rumba", and other terms have been used to distinguish it from Cuban rumba, including gypsy rumba ( rumba gitana ) and Spanish rumba , which are nonetheless ambiguous since they may also be used to mean Catalan rumba or other contemporary styles such as tecno-rumba. The rumba flamenca instrumentation consists of flamenco guitars , hand clapping , occasional body slapping, castanets and

736-491: The guaracha in Cuba. Some engravings from the 19th century suggest that it was a dance of independent couples, that is, not a sequence dance such as the contradanza . The prototype independent couples dance was the waltz (early 19th century Vals in Cuba). The first creole dance form in Cuba known for certain to be danced by independent couples was the danzón . If the guaracha is an earlier example, this would be interesting from

768-426: The guaracha was a favourite musical form in the brothels of Havana . The guaracha survives today in the repertoires of some trova musicians, conjuntos and Cuban-style big bands. Though the word may be historically of Spanish origin, its use in this context is of indigenous Cuban origin. These are excerpts from reference sources, in date order: A Latin American carol "Convidando esta la noche" dates from at least

800-610: The guaracha, devising modern takes on the old themes. During the 19th century, many Bufo Theater Companies arrived in Puerto Rico from Cuba, and they brought with them the guaracha. At a later time the guaracha was adopted in Puerto Rico and became part of the Puerto Rican musical tradition, such as the "Rosarios Cantaos", the Baquiné, the Christmas songs and the Children's songs. The guaracha

832-577: The guaracha. In general the guaracha would involve a dialogue between the tiple , the tenor and the chorus. The best period of the guaracha on stage was early in the 20th century in the Alhambra theatre in Havana, when such composers as Jorge Anckermann , José Marín Varona and Manuel Mauri wrote numbers for the top stage singer Adolfo Colombo . Most of the leading trova musicians wrote guarachas: Pepe Sánchez , Sindo Garay , Manuel Corona , and later Ñico Saquito . The use of lyrics in theatre music

864-493: The guitar). In addition, rumba flamenca has a particular guitar strumming pattern absent in other flamenco styles. The rhythm is a modified tresillo rhythm with eight beats grouped into a repeating pattern of 3+3+2. Unlike traditional flamenco, rumbas may be played in any key, major, minor and modal . At approx. 100-120bpm, the tempo of rumba flamenca is slower than other more traditional flamenco styles such as bulerías and fandangos . There are 4 beats per bar with an accent on

896-590: The hands of trova musicians; in larger groups it has been absorbed into the vast maw of salsa . Singers who could handle the fast lyrics and were good improvisors were called guaracheros or guaracheras . Celia Cruz was an example, though she, like Miguelito Valdés and Benny Moré , sung almost every type of Cuban lyric well. A better example is Cascarita (Orlando Guerra), who was distinctly less comfortable with boleros , but brilliant with fast numbers. In modern Cuban music so many threads are interwoven that one cannot easily distinguish these older roots. Perhaps in

928-490: The ice and ice in the fire." These references are all to music, but whether of the same type is not quite clear. The usage of guaracha is sometimes extended, then meaning, generally, to have a good time. A different sense of the word means jest or diversion. On January 20, 1801, Buenaventura Pascual Ferrer published a note in a newspaper called "El Regañón de La Habana", in which he refers to certain chants that "run outside there through vulgar voices". Between them he mentioned

960-499: The lyrics of Los Van Van the topicality and sauciness of the old guarachas found new life, though the rhythm would have surprised the old-timers. Among other composers who have written guarachas is Morton Gould  – the piece is found in the third movement of his Latin American Symphonette (Symphonette No. 4) (1940). Later in the 1980s Pedro Luis Ferrer and Virulo (Alejandro García Villalón) sought to renovate

992-466: The mid 17th century and both mentions and is a guaracha. It was composed or collected by Juan Garcia de Zespedes, 1620–1678, Puebla, Mexico. This is a Spanish guaracha, a musical style popular in Caribbean colonies. "Happily celebrating, some lovely shepherds sing the new style of juguetes for a guaracha. In this guaracha we celebrate while the baby boy is lost in dreams. Play and dance because we have fire in

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1024-550: The tea dance is the Dance Club. Dance clubs are devoted to the teaching and learning of all the approved new sequence dances. New Vogue is a set of sequence dances which use modern ballroom technique. It was developed in Australia in the 1930s and is danced socially and competitively across Australia and New Zealand. There are fifteen competition dances which cover March, Foxtrot, Tango, and Viennese Waltz rhythms. These are written in

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