Editing Rhumba

{{Short description|Style of ballroom dance}}
{{About|the ballroom dance|other musical styles|Rumba}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Rhumba
| stylistic_origins = [[Son cubano]], American ballroom music
| cultural_origins  = [[East Coast of the United States]], early 1930s
| instruments       = Vocals, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, guitar, piano, violin, bass, maracas, congas, bongos, timbales, drums
| subgenres         = Ballroom conga
| derivatives       =
| regional_scenes   = [[New York City]]
}}
'''Rhumba''', also known as '''ballroom rumba''', is a genre of ballroom music and [[ballroom dance|dance]] that appeared in the [[East Coast of the United States]] during the 1930s. It combined American [[big band]] music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the [[son cubano]], but also [[conga (music)|conga]] and [[Cuban rumba|rumba]]. Although taking its name from the latter, ballroom rumba differs completely from Cuban rumba in both its music and its dance. Hence, authors prefer the Americanized spelling of the word (''rhumba'') to distinguish between them.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Drake-Boyt|first1=Elizabeth|title=Latin Dance|date=2011|publisher=Greenwood|location=Santa Barbara, CA|pages=43–46|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqFT_ziylIsC|chapter=Rhumba|isbn=9780313376092}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Daniel|first1=Yvonne|editor1-last=Malnig|editor1-first=Julie|title=Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader|date=2009|publisher=University of Illinois|location=Chicago, IL|page=162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCSDBjRqC5EC|chapter=Rumba Then and Now|isbn=9780252075650}}</ref><ref name="Hess">{{cite book|last1=Hess|first1=Carol A.|title=Representing the Good Neighbor: Music, Difference, and the Pan American Dream|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|pages=115–116, 200|isbn=9780199339891|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQqxAAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

== Music==
[[Image:Rumba dance pattern.png|thumb|right|250px|Rhumba [[rhythm]].<ref name="Blatter">Blatter, Alfred (2007). ''Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice''. p. 28. {{ISBN|0-415-97440-2}}.</ref>]]
[[File:20151121 WDSF Austrian Open 2015 7166.jpg|thumb|{{center|{{PAGENAME}}}}]]

Although the term ''rhumba''  began to be used by American record companies to label all kinds of [[Latin music (genre)|Latin music]] between 1913 and 1915, the history of rhumba as a specific form of ballroom music can be traced back to May 1930, when [[Don Azpiazú]] and his Havana Casino Orchestra recorded their song "[[El manisero]]" (The Peanut Vendor) in [[New York City]].<ref>Daniel (2009). p. 156.</ref> This single, released four months later by [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]], became a hit, becoming the first Latin song to sell 1 million copies in the United States.<ref name="SS">{{cite book|last1=Sullivan|first1=Steve|title=Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 2|date=2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Plymouth, UK|pages=175–176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAQBAJ|chapter=The Peanut Vendor|isbn=9780810882966}}</ref><ref>Giro, Radamés (2007). ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba, Vol. 4''. Havana, Cuba: Letras Cubanas. p. 147.</ref> The song, composed by [[Moisés Simons]], is a [[Son cubano|son]]-[[pregón]] arranged, in this case, for Azpiazú's big band featuring three saxophones, two cornets, banjo, guitar, piano, violin, bass, and trap drums.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Peanut Vendor (Victor matrix BVE-62152)|url=http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/800031721/BVE-62152-The_peanut_vendor|website=Discography of American Historical Recordings|access-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> With vocals by [[Antonio Machín]] and a trumpet solo (the first one in the recorded history of Cuban music) by Remberto Lara, the recording, arranged by saxophonist Alfredo Brito, attempted to adapt the Cuban son to the style of ballroom music prevalent at the time in the East Coast.<ref name="SS" />

Soon, Azpiazú's style was followed by other Cuban artists such as [[Armando Oréfiche]] and the [[Lecuona Cuban Boys]], who had extensive international tours in the 1930s. Their style has been often described as '''ballroom conga''', since they used to borrow [[conga (music)|conga]] rhythms in songs such as "[[Say "Si Si"|Para Vigo me voy]]".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Robin|title=Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubansimo and artistic Revolution in Havana, 1920-1940|date=1997|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, PA|page=255|isbn=9780822971856|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytvh3Nkce7QC}}</ref> Among their numerous hits were [[boleros]] and ''[[canción|canciones]]'' such as "[[Amapola (song)|Amapola]]" and "[[Siboney (song)|Siboney]]".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Díaz Ayala|first1=Cristóbal|title=Lecuona Cuban Boys|url=http://latinpop.fiu.edu/SECCION03Lpt1.pdf|website=Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music 1925-1960|publisher=Florida International University Libraries|access-date=October 4, 2015|date=Fall 2013}}</ref> This music movement, which also included many American big bands that covered Latin standards, was dubbed the '''rhumba craze'''. Notable bandleaders of the rhumba craze include [[Xavier Cugat]], [[Jimmy Dorsey]], [[Nathaniel Shilkret]], [[Leo Reisman]] and [[Enric Madriguera]].<ref name="SS" /> Rhumba was also incorporated into classical music, as exemplified by symphonic pieces by composers such as [[George Gershwin]], [[Harl McDonald]] and [[Morton Gould]].<ref name="Hess" />

The kind of rhumba introduced into dance salons in America and Europe in the 1930s was characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom rumba, which was developed as a dance in the 1940s and 1950s, when the original music movement had died down. Nonetheless, the rhumba craze would be the first of three Latin music crazes in the first half of the 20th century, together with the [[mambo (music)|mambo]] craze and the [[cha-cha-cha (music)|cha-cha-cha]] craze.

==Dance==
[[File:Rumba basic box step.svg|thumb|120px|right|American style rhumba box figure]]
[[File:The Rumba on Capitol Hill.jpg|thumb|Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood has dance steps in the sidewalks on Broadway Ave.  This one shows Rumba steps.]]
Two variations of rhumba with opposing step patterns are danced around the world. American style rumba was imported to America by band directors like Emil Coleman and Don Aspiazú between 1913 and 1935. The film ''[[Rumba (1935 film)|Rumba]]'', released in 1935, brought the style to the attention of the general public. American style rhumba is taught in a box step, known for its slow-quick-quick pattern danced on the 1, 3, and 4 beats of 4-beat music. International style rhumba was developed in Europe by Monsieur Pierre after he compared the established American style with contemporary Cuban dancers. International style is taught in a quick-quick-slow pattern danced on the 2, 3, and 4 beats of 4 beat music, similar in step and motion to the [[Cha-cha-cha (dance)|cha-cha-cha]].<ref>Daniel (2009). p. 164.</ref> Both styles were canonized in 1955.

===International style===
Rhumba is one of the [[ballroom dance]]s which occurs in social dance and in international competitions. Of the five competitive international Latin dances ([[pasodoble]], [[Samba (ballroom dance)|samba]], [[Cha-cha-cha (dance)|cha-cha-cha]], [[Jive (dance)|jive]], and rumba), it is the slowest. This ballroom rumba was derived from a Cuban rhythm and dance called the [[bolero]]-[[Son (music)|son]]; the international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period.<ref name="Lavelle 1983">Lavelle, Doris (1983). ''Latin & American dances''. 3rd ed. London, UK: Black.</ref>

The modern international style of dancing the rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher [[Monsieur Pierre]] (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle), who partnered [[Doris Lavelle]].<ref>Julie McMain's ''Glamour Addiction'' notes that Pierre Margolle's professional name was ''Monsieur Pierre''; he and his partner were commonly referred to as "Monsieur Pierre and Doris Lavelle"; therefore some writers have incorrectly assumed that Pierre's [[last name]] was Lavelle.</ref><ref>Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing 2004. ''100 years of nce: a history of the ISTD Examinations Board''. London. p. 62</ref> Pierre, then from [[London]], visited Cuba in 1947, 1951, and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time.<ref>Lavelle (1983). The introduction tells the story of Pierre's visits to Cuba, but with inaccurate dates.</ref>

The international ballroom rumba is a slower dance of about 120 beats per minute which corresponds, both in music and in dance, to what the Cubans of an older generation called the bolero-son. It is easy to see why, for ease of reference and for marketing, rhumba is a better name, however inaccurate; it is the same kind of reason that led later on to the use of [[Salsa (music)|salsa]] as an overall term for popular music of Cuban origin.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is scarcely noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba.<ref>Laird, Walter (2003). ''The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing''. International Dance Publications Ltd. p .9, puts it like this (after taking a step to side): "Transfer full weight to this foot allowing the pelvis to move sideways and back so that the weight is felt to be near the heel of the standing foot. The knee of the supporting leg is locked back." This description incidentally illustrates the difficulty of describing body movements in print.</ref> In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any [[Rises and falls|rise and fall]]. This style is authentic, as is the use of free arms in various figures. The basic figures<ref>bronze and silver medals of dance teaching organizations. ([[Medal examinations (dance)]])</ref> derive from dance moves observed in Havana in the pre-[[Cuban revolution|revolutionary]] period, and have developed their own life since then. Competition figures are often complex, and this is where competition dance separates from social dance. Details can be obtained from the syllabuses of dance teaching organizations and from standard texts.<ref name="Lavelle 1983"/><ref>Laird, Walter (2003). ''The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing''. International Dance Publications Ltd.</ref><ref>McMains, Juliet E. (2006). ''Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry''.</ref>

===American style===
There is also a variant, commonly danced in the United States, with box-like basic figures.

==See also==
*[[Son cubano]]
*[[Cuban rumba]]
*[[Conga (music)]]
*[[Mambo (music)]] / [[Mambo (dance)]]
*[[Cha-cha-cha (music)]] / [[Cha-cha-cha (dance)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Rumba}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rhumba| ]]