La
Rumba Llama [The
Rumba Calls]
by Philip "Felipe"
Pasmanick © 11-22-96
"La rumba es especial
de los dominios de Apolo
es un elemento solo
del concierto universal
en ello no tiene rival (¡guaguancó!)
por lo bello y lo profundo
si en este glorioso mundo
no se ha visto cosa igual."
"The rumba has a special place
In Apollo’s wide domain.
While it is just a single element
of the universal concert,
it is unrivalled therein
for its beauty and profundity.
Why, in all our glorious world
no one has ever seen the like."
These elegant verses, as sung by the outstanding Cuban folkloric group
Yoruba Andabo, express pride and love for an afro-cuban cultural phenomenon
often ignored or disdained by society at large. Daughter of the African
three-drum ensemble and hispano-moorish vocal esthetics, rumba endures
in Cuba and throughout the world.
Guaguancó, the best known of the three rumba rhythms, emerged
in Havana in the first decades of the 20th century. Born from the secretive
cabildos (Afro-cuban religious associations), it was seen first in enormous
coros de guaguancó and later in the present-day ensemble featuring
a half-dozen singers and percussion: three conga drums, claves, and palitos
(sticks which play a pattern on any hard surface).The two lower-pitched
drums maintain a base of repetitive rhythmic "melodies" combined
with improvised "conversation", all held rigorously to the beat
of the clave. The high lead drum, the quinto, improvises fills and extended
solos working off of the singer, the lead dancer, and the conversations
of the other drums.A chorus of three or four men and women and a soloist
provide the harmonic, melodic, and textual elements.
In a party (rumba’s natural element), a succession of percussionists,
singers and dancers compete to defend or promote their status as the outstanding
performer of the moment.In the guaguancó dance, a single couple
participates in a stylized game of erotic tag, in which a woman must,
with all naturalness and grace, attract her partner yet avoid his "vacunao",
a sudden sexual approach with a hand, a foot, or a pelvic thrust. The
vacunao is executed without lewdness or physical contact, and a good vacunao
(or equally, a suave defensive move) excites laughter and admiration among
the spectators.
In rumba columbia, a variation in 6/8 from the province of Matanzas,
a single dancer, traditionally a male, carries out a sequence of moves
which in their competitiveness and stylized qualities share something
of contemporary break dancing. The third common rumba variant, yambú,
is usually played on wooden boxes (cajones) and is slower and more relaxed.
Like the guaguancó, it is a couple dance, but as the singer reminds
the dancers from time to time, "el yambú no se vacuna"
(the yambú has no vacunao). Sometime the couple mimes a story (such
as the hawk and the hunter, or the stern grandma and the reluctant school
boy) which the singer narrates. This style is known as yambú de
tiempos de España, or yambú from Spanish (ie, colonial)
times.
Rumba texts can be short or long, and in a variety of structures, from
unrhymed narrations to the 10-line décima espinela so loved by
Cubans. Typical themes include songs of praise, boasting, picaresque tales,
nonsense verse, and social commentary. In folkloric groups a specialized
singer often sings duets in harmony with the lead singer, while another
adds flourishes called floreos. After singing the text, the soloist improvises
while the chorus repeats a short refrain. The inclusion of phrases in
"lengua" (Afro-Cuban tongues such as lucumí, abakwá,
or palo) is frequent, particularly in the columbia rhythm. The best singers
have an extensive repetoire, a gift for verbal and melodic improvisation
and a knack for choosing, pacing, and putting in optimal order the most
appropriate songs to build energy, participation, and excitement among
the particular group of dancers, singers, and drummers.
A rumba party is participatory by nature--everyone can join in, at least
in the chorus. But it must be noted that in no form of rumba is there
general public dancing as one would expect at a dance party featuring
son (salsa), merengue, or cumbia, for example. In a rumba, individuals
step forward one or two at a time to compete in a public demonstration
of their mastery of a highly specific art form. Furthermore, rumbas must
be live. We listen with pleasure to rumba records, but to dance it we
need ambiente and spontaneity, drums, voices and spirit in a precise and
elusive balance.
Finally, there are social barriers to rumba’a acceptance: racist
and classist stereotypes (drunkenness, criminality, illicit sexuality,
exaggerated machismo, African primitivism, witchcraft), not to mention
the direct and indirect effects almost 40 years of U.S. government hostility
towards Cuba. Rumba is invisible on Latin TV and little known outside
of small groups of aficionados. As a consequence many who know and love
"salsa" know nothing of the rumba in its subtlety, creativity,
and popular vitality.
Excellent CDs of today’s outstanding folkloric rumba groups (I recommend
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas’ Rumba Caliente 88/77 Qbadisc 1992
[no number]) are on sale in the Descarga catalog as well as specialized
stores such Round World in San Francisco. Also, in many U.S. cities there
are parks, basements, and dance classes where good rumba can be found.
Rumba is a living tradition. Find it, learn to appreciate its unique voice,
and enjoy. As the old guaguancó insists "la rumba es lo mas
sublime para el alma divertir" [rumba is the most sublime / to satisfy
the soul].
FIN San Francisco de California
Saludos--
Felipe (Philip Pasmanick) |
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