Rumba: Dance and Social Change in Contemporary Cuba

by Yvonne Daniel

Using dance anthropology to illuminate the values and attitudes embodied in rumba, Yvonne Daniel explores the surprising relationship between dance and the profound, complex changes in contemporary Cuba.

From the barrio and streets to the theatre and stage, rumba has emerged as an important medium, contributing to national goals, reinforcing Caribbean solidarity, and promoting international prestige. Since the Revolution of 1959, rumba has celebrated national identity and cultural heritage, and embodied an official commitment to new values. Once a lower-class recreational dance, rumba has become a symbol of egalitarian efforts in postrevolutionary Cuba. The professionalization of performers, organization of performance spaces, and proliferation of performance opportunities have prompted new paradigms and altered previous understandings of rumba.

Genres: Music

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

Reviews

[Ahmed Alkadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthropological outlook into a Cuban-born African-influenced art form (dance, music, lyrics) and how it affected/was affected by social change in Cuba pre/post revolution.

It kinds of read like a PhD dissertation: structured, dry and totally unartistic.

But truth be told, any art that was born on the streets would be very difficult to depict and capture on papers.

I have been to many rumba parties in Havana myself, and I believe this was all the enlightenment I ever needed. But not everyone can go to Cuba. So meanwhile, read the damn book ;)

[Marjorie Jensen]

I've been trying to read this book, but the font size is incredibly small and my eyesight is very bad (I wear strong bifocals with a prism correction). There doesn't seem to be an audiobook version, digital version with font I can enlarge, or large print edition