Almost all of them, with the exception of salsa and tango, were born from the mixture of dances and rhythms inherited from Europe and Africa. This story began in France under Louis XIV (1643-1715). From the lively balls promoted by him at the Palace of Versailles, the French contradance – a kind of quadrille that amused the nobles of the time – was imported by the Spanish court and later headed to colonies in the Caribbean, such as Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The other major influence on the creation of Caribbean rhythms came from the slaves that the colonizers brought from Africa to America. Of the African tribes, two large ethnic groups were especially exploited as labor: the Bantu and the Yoruba, who inhabited regions where Nigeria and Cameroon are today. In addition to the workforce, the first Africans who arrived in the Caribbean brought their drums and religious dances.
In the 18th century, slaves from the region began to unite these various cultural heritages, creating contradanza criolla, which mixed European contradanza with musical instruments and body expression of African origin. From the middle of the 19th century, one of the colonies that stood out for the richness of the new rhythms produced was Cuba, which would soon become the main exporter of Caribbean sounds and dances. This is because, in addition to the rhythmic variety developed there, the country also attracted a large number of tourists from the United States until the first half of the 20th century. “Cuban popular culture was widely disseminated with the help of the cinema and the Americans before the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959. And, after that, it became much researched”, says percussionist Glória Cunha, from the State University of Cuba. Campinas (Unicamp). From there, rumba, cha-cha-cha, merengue and many other Latin styles spread, raising the temperature of salons around the world.
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1. Cumbia
Created within the Colombian black community, cumbia developed mainly on the country’s Atlantic coast. Known as the “slave dance”, it requires maximum synchrony from the pair of dancers, who need to keep their feet in front of each other throughout the entire dance. Cumbia was so influenced by Cuban rhythms that it is now difficult to distinguish it from rumba. And it wasn’t just the music that absorbed this heritage, as some steps of the cumbia are a little reminiscent of Cuban salsa.
2. Tango
The style appeared in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, around 1880. Its origin is the fusion of Hispanic rhythms, such as flamenco, with the milonga, a dance that already existed in Argentina and, for being extremely sensual, had a dubious reputation. Initially happy, tango showed its melancholic facet thanks to the sad songs recorded by the popular idol Carlos Gardel in the first decades of the 20th century. His musical base focuses on piano, violin and bandoneon (a type of accordion)
3. Parsley
Despite having roots on the island of Fidel Castro, salsa emerged in New York in the 1960s. It was Puerto Rican musician Izzy Sanabria who had the idea of uniting various Cuban rhythms with jazz to create a sound that would appeal to Spanish-speaking immigrants. Spanish who lived in the United States. A salsa band features 10 to 14 musicians playing piano, bass, trumpet, saxophone and a variety of percussion – while the dance itself uses the same rumba and mambo steps at a faster cadence
4. Meringue
Since the 1930s, merengue has been recognized as the Dominican Republic’s national rhythm and dance. However, its origins also belong to Haiti, where it is played slower. Around 1800, the rhythm had already spread to other Latin American countries, such as Venezuela and Colombia. The musical structure is based on string instruments such as guitar, percussion and accordion. The dance, which was heavily influenced by Africa, features rhythmic movements of the hips and pelvis.
5. conga
After being born as a rhythm to play in the street, as in our carnival, the conga became known in the United States as ballroom dancing, with the help of Cuban musician and actor Desi Arnaz, husband of comedian Lucille Ball and co-star of TV series I Love Lucy. After reaching its heyday in the 1930s, the style suffered a certain amount of oblivion. Like so many other Latin rhythms, its main sauce comes from percussion instruments, while the steps basically consist of sideways kicks and small jumps back and forth.
6. Rumba
Created from the influence of Spanish and African rhythms during the country’s colonization, rumba was one of the first Latin musical styles to break through borders and become popular in the United States, a trajectory that began in the early 20th century. One of the most important instruments to mark time is the clave, formed by two cylindrical pieces of percussion struck together. To dance rumba you need to have a good waist, as its trademark is the accelerated and shaking movement of the hips
7. Cha-cha-cha
After being created in 1948 by the Cuban violinist Enrique Jorrín, the style was popularized in Europe and the United States by an English dance teacher named Pierre Margolie. On a visit to Cuba, Margolie got in touch with the rhythm and adopted a few extra steps from the mambo to create a new type of choreography, slower and easier to dance than the mambo itself – which helped to make her a success among white girls from hard waist
8. Mambo
A direct descendant of rumba, mambo began its international expansion when it was introduced to Americans by Cuban musician Pérez Prado in the 1940s. In the 1950s, the rhythm conquered New York and was played by band leaders like Tito Puente, Machito and Tito Rodrigues in the US. most sophisticated clubs in the city. The mambo can be danced separately or by couples – in pairs, however, it is necessary to keep a slight distance so that the hips can follow the rhythm of the maracas, a type of rattle