Rumba

By Fred Matsumoto, Aiea 

There seems to be quite a few good Rumba dancers all the way from Pearl City to Kalihi. A good solid group of social dancers but they are due for a terrible time with the Rail Disaster. The building of the Rail Catastrophe will be a big disruption and when it is finished the noise will drive them nuts. Steel wheels on steel rails, yeah, that's them.

"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude."

But I find quite a few different opinions as to where the Rumba comes from and how it developed. I admit that it is quite complicated and I try to understand the different interpretations. American and International Rumbas are not the same and do not have the same interpretations. Should all be understandable.  And there has been a corruption of the basic rumba all the way to South America. However it helps to know a little about that movement which you are so fond of making.

"Maria Elena" by Benny Goodman

So we know that the different basic moves in dancing came from Mexico. People think that Caribbean people were created there. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Some came from the US through Florida some 25 thousand years ago. Only ninety miles away. Some came across from Mexico through Yucatan some 20 thousand years ago. only ninety miles away. And there were some that went all the way to the Northern part of South America and crossed over to the Antilles, only ninety miles away, some 10 thousand years ago.

Agriculture was established in the US and Mexico about 8000 BC. So the beginning was not their own but brought in from outside the Caribbean. and they picked up fast.  Music and Dance followed, the most advance coming from the Mexican Civilizations and then they did their own thing. When the first Europeans arrived, there were perhaps 80 thousand natives in the Caribbean. So for a hundred years the Europeans were not going to change much native music and dance.

"Green Eyes" by Jimmy Dorsey

The sailors were a big influence and there were plenty of those in the 1600s. Strictly low class and they all learned to move to music. And they could take any movement and transfer it to some other island very easily. They were able to pretty well stabilized the basic movements to the music. And it was all pretty much the same music. That is one kind. one similar type. There was no Cha Cha Cha, Samba, Tango, Merengue etc. etc.