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RUMBON TROPICAL
Rumba Party Performance

genres:  Rumba, Orisha, Abakua, Rap Hip-Hop Cubano
video type:  Demonstration
runtime:  63 Minutes
location:  Havana, Cuba
producer: Boogalu Productions

Rumbon Tropical features the music-dance group "Rumberos de Cuba" in an intimate party-performance. The setting is a lush outdoor patio garden near the river Almendares in Havana, Cuba.

"Rumberos de Cuba" is a group of some of the best and most engaging musicians and dancers from the barrios of Havana. They are masters of all genres of Cuban folkloric music and dance. Many are past members of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba. The group was created not only to preserve the profound and always relevant Cuban rumba and folkloric traditions but also to invent forms which add live elements from contemporary music and dance.

Segments
• the dance of Ellegua, Orisha of the crossroads
• rumba yambú
• rumba guaguancó
• rumba columbia
• abakua music and dance
• interview with Maximino
• rumba guaguancó with cajón drums
• rap batá-songo (orisha music with rap hip-hop vocals and dance)
• "La Negra Pancha" (rumba drama)

Members of Rumberos de Cuba
Percussion:
Mario "Aspirina" Jáuregui Francis
Maximino Duquesne Martínez
Yosvani Díaz Herrera
Marcos "Marquito" Herminio Díaz Scull

Vocals:
Miguel Ángel "Aspirina" Mesa
Ernesto "El Gato" Gatel Coto
Luis "Aspirina" Chacón Mendive
Sofia Ramos Morejon
Pedro Alimeida Berrier

Dance:
Aida Salinas Sánchez
Dionisio Paul Palma
Luis "Aspirina" Chacón Mendive

Special Guest Artists:
José Luis Quintana (Changuito)
Teresa Poyedo
Ismaray Chacón
Ricardo "Santa Cruz" Gómez
Maria Luisa Guerra
René Ramos

Reviews
C.S. - Sweden
The Rumbon Tropical DVD was superb!! I have already seen it 3 times. Picture was perfect and the sound quality was good. The dancers and musicians were awesome. I really liked that it was a party/improvised setup instead of a correographed show.

Barry Cox - New York - from rec.music.afro-latin newsgroup
Got this DVD earlier this week and it is indeed tremendous. Not just great fun to watch, but a historic document. These are performances by some of the greatest living exponents of rumba and woefully underexposed outside Cuba. And they ain't getting any younger so we should be thankful we have such a great record of their performance. It's basically the same guys from the Rapsodia Rumbera CD, so if you like that, you've got to get this DVD.

I like that it is like a folklore presentation, but still very informal. The camera work is nice and steady, and usually focuses on the right thing, in my opinion. I have a lot of rumba videos, but now whenever anyone comes over and wants to find out about rumba, this will be the first one I show them.

Oscar - Salsavideoreviews.org
This is without doubt the best video on modern Havana Rumba. The music & dance performances were all excellent master level. This is not traditional Rumba but is a video of modern Cuban Rumba even to the extent of a performance by the Rap group Mitad Y Mitad. The dance performance by Mitad Y Mitad was amazing.

All the performances had a fun feel to them. The musicians are masters at the chants & rhythms & the dancers ranged from very good to master level. This video will appeal to anyone interested in Cuban music & dance.

Philip Pasmanick - San Francisco
Some of the things I like best about Rumbon Tropical, after two viewings:
• The gorgeous venue; the architecture looks very much like the surreal Parque Gçell in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaud´, but the manglares are even more outrageous.
• The high quality production values (as compared to amateur videos I have seen); nice unobstructed shots, clean sound. Looks great on DVD. Two cameras, right?
• Marvellously theatrical performances by the singers, with all the gestures, faces, movement. The Eleggua sequence in the tunnel was unique, very very clever and effective.
• First rate dancing and drumming, especially on cajon, in my opinion.
• The rap sequence worked really well.
• The interaction amongst the rumberos.
• I appreciated the titles identifying the rhythms and soloists.
• I liked the coro, even tho it was a little rough sometimes; very authentic, very rumbafied.

J.Z. - San Francisco
I just viewed the whole performance and think Boogalu has done a fine, fine job capturing a "piece" of history. The setting for the music is fantastic and in terms of the musicianship they are in the same class as Los Munequitos. I especially liked the Guaguanco and the Abacua. Very raw, "real" feeling to the performance.

Zeno Okeanos AKA Myron Ort
Boogalu Productions, Associate Producer
Rumbon Tropical, epitomizes the unique vision of Boogalu Productions to put forth definitive Cuban culture which would otherwise remain obscure and to present the material with a rarely seen degree of depth.

This can only stem from a truly artistic and empathetic point of view which notices everything you would and more. If you are intrigued by Cuban rumba drumming and dance, this film delivers what you have been wanting to experience. Immediately engrossing, much can then be learned from repeated viewing.

Watching this film, you are literally present in real time, at a "rumbon" which is an indigenous Cuban party focused on the vital and gripping entertainment of rumba and all of its various implications, including bembe and the invocation of the Orishas, yambu, guaguanco, columbia and abakua.

Also presented are the latest innovative forms which gifted and creative Cuban drummers, singers, and dancers enjoy producing from contemporary concepts combined with their vast and deep folkloric knowledge. Here is the lore of the tambores, tumbadoras, quinto, bonko, cajones, clave, guagua, and ekon, . As at the rumbon, all are invited in to the fun. "

While watching this film "Rumbon Tropical", there were many moments when I felt I was sitting next to the drummers of Rumberos De Cuba and figuring out some of the patterns on the quinto, the variations and conversations between the tumbao and the segundo, and feeling, in a very deep way, the locking between the clave and these supportive parts. Dancers likewise, will not be disappointed, since the camera is on that case as well.

The Abakwa sequence was another high point for me on this particular viewing because I could feel the unique way each of the drum parts fit with the clave. I better understood now the way the bonko spoke out of all this. The point I am making is that the relaxed real time pacing of the film gave me plenty of time to attend to these various observations. On another viewing I have tuned into the dancers and the singers. Every viewing has been new for me. I am convinced that our approach to documenting these rich cultural experiences makes for a film that can be used over and over as a source of information, instruction, entertainment, and inspiration. Repeated viewing will reveal the unfathomable depth of these traditions.

The Havana based Rumberos De Cuba are every bit as engaging as the more famous folklore groups which you know from audio recordings or rare concert tours that you may have been privileged to see. The performances in the film "Rumbon Tropical" seem to preserve more of the feel of a neighborhood rumba even though it is obvious that the many of the artists involved are seasoned or even veteran performers. It is not so much the young pyrotechnics of the folklore conservatory as a tradition which has been passed down from generation to generation in the barrios around Havana. You get a glimpse of the Havana style of eclecticism which freely borrows from the generic styles of the other rumba heavy provinces in Cuba, without infringing on their absolute signatures.

The Havana rumba style is the great urban melting pot which tastefully and inventively honors the creativity found elsewhere on the island. This eclecticism in Havana then becomes its own style. One feels that there is an intensely deep African heritage of pride in this honoring and embracing and we know from the success of so many other great Cuban musical inventions that this openness has been a central dynamic and one that the rest of the musical world is in awe of. I am sure you will see this and more for yourself as you dig in to Rumbon Tropical. Stay tuned for more from Boogalu Productions where the passion for Cuban musical culture gets transmuted into media which we can all share.