History and Characteristics of Rumba
The word Rumba is a generic term for a type of West Indian music or dancing. There are two sources of the dance: one Spanish and the African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments which took place in other Caribbean islands and Latin America generally. The “Rumba influence” came in the 16th century with the black slaves imported from Africa. The native Rumba folk dance is essentially a sex pantomime danced fast with exaggerated hip movements and with sensually aggressive attitude on the part of the man and a defensive attitude on the part of the woman.
Typical Rumba music sounds very sensual and contains a constant tapping or a clave rhythm. Listen for the rhythm of & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 being tapped out lightly in the background of the music.
