Anthology of Ballroom Dance: From Contradanza to Salsa

 

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Unit: Anthology of Spanish Caribbean Ballroom

Theme: From Contradanza to Salsa

Introduction

An anthology is a collection of writings by different writers published together in one book, for instance an anthology of poetry. Borrowing from its original assertion, anthology in our Dance History class refers to a  collection of dances that have a common origin and historic lineage. Today, we will begin with the contradanza  and finish with salsa.

 

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Learning Objectives

•  Understand the main characteristics of the Cuban contradanza
• Explain relationship between the contradanza, the danza, the danzon, the son and salsa
  
•  Gain an awareness of the influence that the Age of Enlightenment had on dance
  
• Experience dancing the anthology of ballroom dance in the Spanish Caribbean
  

 

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Main Lesson

1

Contradanza or Habanera

The period of European history extending from about 500 to 1400–1500 ce is traditionally known as the Middle Ages. The  contrydance originated in the Middle Ages, England, in the 1500s as a rustic folk dance among peasants. This dance, referred to as country dance, made its way across the Channel and was rapidly adopted by France and Holland. Some scholars state that it was introduced in Cuba after the successful British siege of Havana in 1762. Others think that it was introduced in the island after the Haitian Revolution in 1791 when the French took refuge in the eastern part of the island.  Interestingly enough, outside Cuba, the Cuban contradanza became known as the habanera, "the dance of Havana," a name that was also adopted in Cuba.   

The far-reaching influence of the habanera is present in the development of many Latin American song forms such as the Argentine tango. It is also visible in its frequently Europeanized treatment in classical music, such as in Georges Bizet's 1875 opera, Carmen. In this opera, the title character sings the now-famous habanera aria. In 1884, Sebastian Yradier's "La Paloma" became the first exported habanera to gain popularity in Mexico. Already decade before, any music in Mexico with the habanera rhythm was called danza. In 1890, Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes' habanera "Tu" became so popular, both within and outside of Cuba, that it epitomized the form. Its absorption in Buenos Aires was such that early 20th-century French publishers mistook its origin and printed the sheet music as an example of "tango habanera." According to preeminent Cuban music historian Alejo Carpentier, the habanera was never called such by the people of Havana (for them it was just the local style of contradanza). It only adopted its present name when it became popular outside of Cuba.[6]

Question 1

Why did the contradanza or habanera become so popular?

 

Age of Enlightenment

These events coincided with the Age of Enlightenment, the intellectual and philosophical movement that occurred in Europe in the 17th and the 18th centuries. It was also contemporary with the Baroque which flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. Rococo, less commonly known as Late Baroque, is present in its depiction of the curving lines of the hoop-supported skirts, the delicate lace and flower.

This intellectual and cultural movement emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. The ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789 and emphasized the rights of common men as opposed to the exclusive rights of the elites. As such, they laid the foundation for modern, rational, democratic societies. 

In terms of dance, the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers came to fruition in the second half of the eighteenth century. During this period emerges a new form of ballet that attempted to convey meaning, drama, and the human emotions.  Eventually, this new ballet form becomes a new genre known as the ballet d'action, a dance containing an entire integrated story.  

Also, the Enlightenment influenced composers to create music that was more egalitarian in nature. While its ancestor, baroque music, was originally created for elite. The habanera, a term coined by European sailors is the same as contradanza.  The sailors introduced the dance to their home countries, where it became popular with composers, particularly in France. 

Question 2

What is the relationship between the habanera and the Age of Enlightenment?

  

 Contradanza

Zarzuela Cecilia Valdes by Gonzalo Roig

 

 

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Danza

Ignacio Cervantes 

Danza is a form of music that can be either romantic or festive. Romantic danzas have four sections, beginning with an eight-measure paseo followed by three themes of sixteen measures each. The third theme typically includes a solo by the bombardino and, often, a return to the first theme or a coda at the end. In the book "Listening to Salsa", the bombardino in Puerto Rican dance music is described as an instrument which sounds like a clarinet. Festive danzas are free-form, with the only rules being an introduction and a swift rhythm.

The Cuban musician Ignacio Cervantes (1847-1905), is a key figure in the panorama of Latin American piano music. Cervantes is best known today for his Danzas Cubanas, 40 pieces that were published in bits & pieces during his lifetime. His Cuban Dances are based largely on Cuban popular culture, which is treated with elegance and refinement through syncopated rhythms typical of Cuban music. When tracing the evolution of the Cuban danza for the piano, one has to study the works by Manuel Saumell, Ignacio Cervantes and Ernesto Lecuona. Danzas and contradanzas were both danced in the ballrooms of the Cuban aristocrats. Both the danza and its cousin, the contradanza, are sequence dances, performed to a pattern, usually of squares, to music that was instrumental. While the origins of the danza are murky, it probably arose around 1840 as a sort of reaction against the highly codified contradanza. It was also  strongly influenced by habanera music. The first danzas were immature, youthful songs condemned by the authorities, who occasionally tried ineffectively to ban the genre. 

In Puerto Rico, the genre continued evolving until it was taken up by the young pianist Manuel Gregorio Tavarez, who had just arrived from his studies in Paris, and took it to a new artistic level. His disciple, Juan Morel Campos, adopted it also and developed it further to its maximum expression, composing more than 300 danzas, most of them masterpieces of an exquisite beauty. The danza that evolved was inspired mostly by women and romance and their titles reflected that change.

 Danzas by Ignacio Cervantes

 

Question 3

 

What is the main difference between the danzas and the contradanzas?

 

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Danzón

Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico. The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza (also known as the habanera).  Danzón was possible because of the war of Independence.   What was danced in the ballrooms of the Cuban aristocrats of the times was danzas and contradanzas. Some would say that danzón represents the true expression of Cuban sentiment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Miguel Faílde, a Cuban musician, is the official originator of the danzón, the composer of the first danzón, “Las Alturas de Simpson,” and the founder of one of the earliest danzón orchestras, Orquesta Faílde (Faílde 2016).

The wealthy Cuban class danced an even slower version of danza in the rumba family called the Danzon. The Danzon had even smaller steps than the Son, and women's hip movements were very subtle with tilting of their hips created by alternately bended and straightened knees.

Today's popular Latin music, known as salsa, owes a great debt to the danzón. Many rhythms, dances, instruments and styles which are now popular worldwide have their origins in the danzón family. According to Moore and Madrid, the Cuban danzón was “one of the first musics created and recorded by African descendants in the Americas with early Edison cylinders and 78 rpm records of the music predating jazz discs by more than a decade.”[1]

 Question 4

Why is danzon important in the context of ballroom dance?

 

Miguel Failde 

Laas Alturas de Simpson

 

 

 

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Son

In Spanish, the word son, from Latin sonus, denotes a pleasant sound, particularly a musical one. In eastern Cuba, the term began to be used to refer to the music of the highlands towards the late 19th century. To distinguish it from similar genres from other countries the term son cubano is most commonly used. 

It has become increasingly clear for musicologists that different versions of the son, i.e. styles that fall within the so-called son complex, appeared throughout the rural parts of the island by the end of the 1890s.[2] Some academics such as Radamés Giro and Jesús Gómez Cairo indicate that awareness of the son was widespread in the whole island, including Havana, before the actual expansion of the genre in the 1910s.^[3]

Musicologist Peter Manuel proposed the hypothesis that the son's structure originated from the contradanza in Havana around the second half of the 19th century. The contradanza included many of the traits that are shown in the son, such as duets with melodies in parallel thirds, the presence of a suggested clave rhythm, implicit short vocal refrains borrowed from popular songs, distinctive syncopations, as well as the two-parts song form with an ostinato section. Ostinato is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch.[5]

Question 5

What are some of the characteristics of the son derived from the danzon? 

 Son Montuno by Johnny Colon

 

 

5

Guaracha / Salsa

 

The guaracha 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 theaters 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 the guaracha was a favorite musical form in the brothels of Havana. The guaracha survives today in the repertoires of some trova musicians, conjuntos and Cuban-style big bands. 

The guaracha provided the musical accompaniment for the comic action on stage. Hence the humorous, picaresque, and satirical lyrics that have typified the guaracha from the beginning. Musically, the guaracha often combines, or incorporates, the bolero, rumba, clave, and other distinctly Cuban rhythms.

Salsa was born before the mid-60s, derived from the mixture of sounds imposed by Machito, Tito Rodríguez, Tito Puente, Charlie Palmieri, Eddy Palmieri, Joe Cuba, Richie Ray and some equally important ones that are forgotten for now. The guaracha is much older because although it became popular in the mid-40s, it has its roots since the beginning of the 20th century; and despite the rise of salsa in the 70s, guaracha did not lose its popularity.

Johnny Pacheco became a leading figure in the New York salsa scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Pacheco's Fania Records even supplied a name for this sound and culture: “salsa.” ”Salsa” (literally, “hot sauce”) denoted a style of Latin dance music that seemed to have appeared quite suddenly, but it was not. It was born from the Cuban son and it was the Cuban musicians in the United States who fused this rhythm, with jazz, blues and others rhythms like this that enriched the musicality of the son, the name salsa has many versions in different parts of the world.

Question 6

Why could salsa be considered an American dance genre?

Salsa

Johnny Pacheco & Celia Cruz

 

(min 1:00)

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A Note to Remember

Read:  Explosion in a Cathedral, (page 31)

Explosion in a Cathedral 

 Explosion in a Cathedral (Spanish title: El Siglo de las Luces, "The Age of Enlightenment" ), a historical novel by Cuban writer and musicologist Alejo Carpentier, follows the story of three privileged Creole orphans from Havana, as they meet French adventurer Victor Hugues and get involved in the revolutionary turmoil that shook the Atlantic World at the end of the eighteenth century. Originally published in 1962, this is one of the most influential works written during the so-called "Latin American Boom". This literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s was led by a relatively young group of Latin American novelists who became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world.

Regarded as one of Latin America's greatest historical novels, Explosion in a Cathedral deals with the impact of the French Revolution on the Caribbean. The main characters are all members of one family: two siblings, Carlos and Sofia, and their cousin Esteban. The narrative deals with the cyclical nature of control, destruction, and development during revolution. Stylistically, it contains elements of existentialism and magical realism, and it mirrors the tension between Europe and Latin America found in many of Carpentier's other works.

Read: The Kingdom of this World (Page 108 / Through an open window...)

The Kingdom on this World

Along this lines, Carpentier also wrote The Kingdom on this World (Spanish title: El reino de este mundo), which is focused on the Haitian Revolution and life in Haiti from 1750s to 1820. Originally published in 1949, the novel traces events in 20th-century Haiti, beginning in the French colonial period and stretching through the lifetime of its protagonist Ti Noël. This novella is a work of dark magical realism about two attempted rebellions against the French, the eventual reign of Henri Christophe, the nation’s first black king, and his downfall. The human costs of slavery (under white and black slave-owners), as well as the hopes and beliefs of Africans living in Haiti during these regime changes, is shown from Ti Noël’s perspective.[7]

Long before the revolution begins, in 1758, mulattoes were legally prohibited from wearing European clothes or armor, gaining or using titles, and meeting together, even for weddings or dances.[8]

During the revolution, at a certain point, the perspective shifts to that of Pauline Bonaparte Ledere, as she journeys from Europe to the French Caribbean with her husband, the general in charge of the French counter-revolutionary forces. She romanticizes the French Caribbean, focusing on the landscape, the music and dances, and the fruits, while disregarding Leclerc’s rising concern about the clashes between slaves and planters.[8]

Question 7

In both novels, Carpentier describes scenes in which dance is at the center. In which way are they similar and in which way different?

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Case Study

 Folkloric Ballet of Camaguey 

The Camagüey Folkloric Ballet had as its background several groups from across the province, which addressed traditional popular music and folklore. The video bellow shows a contradanza extract performed by the Ballet Folklorico of Camaguey. The clip shows a suite of popular Cuban dances choreographed by Elsa Aviles.

 

 https://youtu.be/ZVa-zqDTmNk?si=bN8zHkLxI-kkOo4o

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Activity

Students try some basic steps from each of the dances listed above.

 

Question 8

After trying and/or observing the dances listed in this anthology, what did you feel and learn?

 

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Journaling

 

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Glossary

 

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Sources

1. Gould, Lauryn (2022).  Cuban danzón: A thread in the great living web of jazz history: Confronting the status quo of jazz historiography, multi-instrumentalist and musicianer Lauryn Gould traces the connection between Cuban danzón and New Orleans jazz.https://thecollectiveis.us/?p=1420 

2. Alén Rodríguez, Olavo (1992). Géneros musicales de Cuba: de lo afrocubano a la salsa (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico: Cubanacán. p. 41.

3. Giro, Radamés (1998). "Los motivos del son". Panorama de la música popular cubana (in Spanish). Havana, Cuba: Letras Cubanas. p. 200. 

4. Gómez Cairo, Jesús (1998). "Acerca de la interacción de géneros en la música popular cubana". In Giro, Radamés (ed.). Panorama de la música popular cubana (in Spanish). Havana, Cuba: Letras Cubanas. p. 135.

5. Manuel, Peter (2009). "From contradanza to son: New perspectives on the prehistory of cuban popular music". Latin American Music Review. 30 (2): 184–212. 

6. Habanera.  https://www.pbs.org/buenavista/music/a_habanera.html

7. The Kingdom of this World. https://www.supersummary.com/the-kingdom-of-this-world/summary/

8. The Kingdom of this World. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/kingdom-world

9. Camaguey Folkloric Ballet. https://www-ecured-cu.translate.goog/Ballet_Folkl%C3%B3rico_de_Camag%C3%BCey?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

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Students' Work 

 

Jolie Montlick

4/11

1. Why did the contradanza or habanera become so popular?
   1. The contradanza or habanera gained popularity due to its infectious rhythms, blend of cultures, and link to lively social events and dance trends. Its influence transcended Cuba, leaving a mark on global music and dance scenes. The term "habanera" only came into use once it ventured beyond Cuba's borders.
2. What is the relationship between the habanera and the Age of Enlightenment?
   1. In the era of Enlightenment, characterized by cultural interchange and intellectual curiosity, Cuba witnessed the emergence of the habanera. While not directly attributed to this period, its focus on music theory and societal shifts probably played a role in shaping new musical forms like the habanera. Travelers of the time facilitated the dissemination of this dance.
3. What is the main difference between the danzas and the contradanzas?
   1. Although sharing similarities, danzas and contradanzas diverge primarily in their rhythmic patterns and cultural backgrounds. Danzas feature refined melodies and rhythms influenced by European classical music, originating within Cuba. On the other hand, contradanzas boast structured, repetitive rhythms intertwined with spirited dance steps, originating from European folk dances introduced to Cuba during colonial periods.
4. Why is danzon important in the context of ballroom dance?
   1. Danzon holds significance in the world of ballroom dance due to its graceful style and rich cultural heritage, symbolizing both romance and elegance.
5. What are some of the characteristics of the son derived from the danzon?
   1. The son maintains the syncopated rhythms characteristic of danzon but adds greater energy. Utilizing guitars, tres, and Afro-Cuban percussion, it infuses the music with vitality. The dance retains similarities but enhances its dynamism, featuring intricate footwork and playful partner interactions. Both the son and Danzon share melodic structures at their core.
6. Why could salsa be considered an American dance genre?
   1. Salsa has been characterized as an American dance genre due to its evolution within the United States, notably in urban centers like New York, where we saw a merging of Latin American and American musical elements. Originating from the fusion of Latin rhythms with jazz, R&B, and various other influences, it gained prominence through exposure in American media.
7. In both novels, Carpentier describes scenes in which dance is at the center. In which way are they similar and in which way different?
   1. In "The Kingdom of This World," which unfolds in Haiti amidst slavery, traditional Haitian dances take center stage, while "Explosion in a Cathedral" illustrates the repercussions of the French Revolution on the Caribbean, depicting scenes of contradanza. In both novels, dance serves as a significant symbol of resistance or individual expression.
8. After trying and/or observing the dances listed in this anthology, what did you feel and learn?
   1. I find that many of these dances provide a window into the history of their respective eras, aiding us in understanding the perspectives and experiences of the people from that time period.

 

 

 

Nicholas Marino

Nick Marino 4/11

The contradanza/habanera became popular due to its catchy rhythms and dance steps. The habanera reflected the spirit of cultural exchange during the Enlightenment era. Danzas were slower, while contradanzas had a livelier tempo. 

Danzon's importance lies in its influence on partner dances like mambo and cha-cha-cha. 

Son derived its clave rhythm and call-and-response format from danzon. 

Salsa incorporates various Afro-Caribbean influences that blended in America. 

In describing dance scenes, one novel may focus on technical aspects, while the other highlights the cultural context.