Rumba Complex - Guaguanco Havana & Matanzas

Description

Guaguancó is the most important of the rumba styles. Consequently it is also the favorite among both musicians and dancers. It is an improvisational style both in the dance and the music (on the quinto or high drum), but there is a basic underlying pattern that exists for them both. It is played at a moderate tempo and is always danced with a woman and a man. This is the style that you will most often see danced both in Cuba and abroad.

Guaguancó, along with yambú, originated in the urban areas of Havana and Matanzas in the mid 1800's and it was mainly played at the shipping docks and other working class areas where boxes (cajones) were available to beat on. Around the turn of the century, guaguancó moved into the black working class neighborhoods, and also the instrumentation changed. The cajones were replaced by the Tumbadores (Conga drums) and it’s adoption into popular music began.

The dancers in many cases imitated a rooster and a hen, with the hen trying to seduce the rooster, without getting caught. When the rooster thinks he can take the hen, he performs a vacunao or pelvic strike. The hen then tries to move quickly out of the way. If the hen gets struck, she loses, often another “hen” is waiting in the wings. Likewise if the rooster can’t get the hen another “rooster” is waiting. These competitions can go on for a long time and the job of the quinto is to fill in the action when the singer is not improvising.