Rumberos de Cuba are currently one of Cuba’s top folkloric groups. As well as rumba, they also perform Yoruba music and dance, and rhythms from other Afro-Cuban traditions.

Rumba
In Cuba, rumba is a music and dance genre which emerged in the late 19th Century amongst freed slaves and poor Afro-Cubans concentrated in urban areas, particularly in the ports of Havana and Matanzas. It developed among these Afro-Cuban underclasses and enabled them to express their hardships and problems. Today, rumba continues to be played at gatherings and parties, where it tends to be spontaneous and often improvised. It has also developed within the performance arena by folkloric groups such as Rumberos de Cuba, who work to preserve and promote rumba as an expression of Cuban national culture.

Although rumba is a Cuban creation, it has strong roots in African music which can be clearly heard in the cyclic rhythmical structure, interlocking parts, time-line, and call-and-response singing. The ensemble features only voices and percussion – early rumberos (rumba performers) played the rhythms on crates and upturned drawers, whilst playing the beat with a spoon on a frying pan.

Nowadays, the ensemble includes a set of three tumbadoras (conga drums) – the lowest-pitched hembra, the middle-register macho, and the high-pitched quinto which improvises syncopated patterns over the other interlocking parts. Other instruments include cajones (wooden rumba boxes), and the palitos (a pair of thin wooden sticks which are used to play a rhythm on the side of one of the tumbadoras or on a wooden block). The clave (literally ‘key’) is fundamental to the rumba and is played on a pair of hard wooden sticks also called clave.

The vocal section is comprised of a lead singer and chorus. Rumba typically begins with the diana (nonsense syllables) sung by the lead singer, who then sings the main section of the song (normally in Spanish) with lyrics referring to topics including love, life in the barrio, and some political themes. The final section is the call-and-response montuno.

There are three main types of rumba: guaguancó, yambú and columbia. They can all be heard on the CD “Habana de mi Corazon” and, although musically different, they are most easily differentiated by their dances. The guaguancó is danced by a couple – the man aims to dominate his partner by performing the vacunao (a pelvic thrust, which may alternatively be expressed with the hand, foot, or a scarf) whilst the woman tries to evade him. The yambú is also danced by a couple, but is slower than the guaguancó and there is no vacunao. The columbia is the fastest of the three types and is danced by a solo male dancer in a virtuoso style who often perform acrobatic movements or dance with machetes, knives, or bottles.

Music and dance of the Yoruba tradition
Rumberos de Cuba’s live performances also include the music and dances of the Yoruba tradition.

Yoruba slaves were taken in great numbers from Nigeria to Cuba but managed to keep their traditions alive, despite efforts by the Spanish colonial authorities to impose Catholicism on them, by syncretising their religion Santeria with Catholicism. Each Orisha (Yoruba deity) was hidden under the disguise of a Catholic saint – for example Chango was worshipped in the form of Santa Barbara, Babalu Aye as San Lazaro.

Each Orisha is associated with a specific colour, number, and certain foods and attributes, as well as songs, rhythms and dance. For example –

Eleggua, the orisha to open and close the way, is therefore always the first Orisha dance in both performance and ritual settings. He is also the trickster, normally identified by his red and black outfit, although variations within the Yoruba tradition also include an Eleggua who wears the same outfit in white and black.

Female orishas include Yemaya (the owner of the sea) who can be identified by her blue flowing dress, and Oshun (the owner of the rivers) who wears a similar outfit in yellow. Principal male orishas include Chango who wears red and white and is the owner of the sacred bata drums.

There are three bata drums which are played at Yoruba rituals as well as during folkloric performances of the tradition. The lead drum is the iya, or “mother drum” and has bells attached to it. The other drums are the itotele and okonkolo.

Yoruba music and dance exist in two arenas in Cuban life today. The first is as part of a spiritual practice within the rituals of santeros (followers of Santeria), who through dance may become the orishas through spirit possession. In addition, performances of the Yoruba songs, rhythms, and dances given by folkloric groups such as Rumberos de Cuba to honour and represent these much-loved deities are enjoyed by Cubans and tourists alike.