Dancing in Cuba

The Cuban people simply love their Dance and Music. The Cuban dance forms range from fast, steamy, sexy, punchy, aggressive to the slow, rhythmic, delicate and exotic types. The Cubans put their heart and soul into dancing, making it a vital part of their culture. People from various parts of the world get attracted to these dance forms and love to pick up a few steps during their stay in Cuba. Learning these dance forms are a fun and thrilling way to learn about the culture of Cuba.

Rumba, a very popular Cuban dance form, was developed through the rhythmic pattern of the slaves working in the docks, during the last decade of the nineteenth century. With the addition of steps, and vocals to the rhythmic pattern, made it an instant super hit dance form. Rumba has since then evolved into three major dance forms called as Columbia, Yambu, and Guaguanco. Columbia, a faster and more rhythmic dance is performed by the men. Yambu, a very slow dance and the steamy Guaguanco, is for the couples. The basic beats for the Rumba dance evolved at the docks of Havana and Matanzas.

Habanera is a very popular traditional dance form in Cuba with Spanish origins. The dance is simply magnificent to watch with its slow and delicate movements. This type of dance form is extremely moderate and can be performed by everyone. The signature dance form of Cuba is also known as Son, is a great combination of Rumba and Danzon. This dance became widely popular in Cuban cities during the early part of the twentieth century.

Cha-Cha-Cha is a Latin American dance form with Cuban origins. It is based on the music called chachachá, composed by Enrique Jorrín in 1953. The rhythmic movements are drawn through the shuffling of the dancer’s feet. Another type of Cuban dance called Conga is performed in the Santiago de Cuba during major festivals. This dance is performed on the beats of the drum and is very enticing to watch.

Salsa dancing is based on the beats of rumba, jazz, and native Cuban son music. This dance form has been greatly influenced by many other dance forms like Mambo, Guaracha, Palo Monte, and Comparasa. A very vibrant dance form mainly for couples, sometimes also has solo dance performers showing their skills to live audiences. These solo steps, taken from Tap Dancing make Salsa a heavily improvised dance form with fast and rhythmic dancing steps.

When Salsa was evolving in Cuba, a circle dance, also know as la rueda came to life. It required great skill and following instructions to be perfect in this form of dancing. A master was supposed to call the moves, which the other dancers needed to follow accurately and adjust their dance timings. This dance form required greater skills as compared to Salsa or any other dance form.

For those interested in learning these dance forms, the Cuban Island provides many places where classes are held. Some of the Hotels and Resorts also provide free in-house dance lessons to tourists. Bigger cities like Santiago de Cuba or Havana provide a lot of professional dancing opportunity and professional dancing schools. Some of the biggest Cuban dance festivals include Festival del Caribe and Fiesta del Fuego, at Santiago de Cuba. This Festival is held during the first week of July, and provides great entertainment with free outdoor dance and musical performances. Celebrations continue throughout the week with entertaining music and dance. A ballet festival called Festival Internacional de Ballet, at Havana, is filled with performances by popular ballet companies from many countries.

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