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Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and ballroom dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also conga and Cuban rumba. Although taking its name from the latter, ballroom rumba differs completely from Cuban rumba in both its music and its dance. Hence, authors prefer the Americanized spelling of the word ( rhumba) to distinguish between them.
Soon, Azpiazú's style was followed by other Cuban artists such as Armando Oréfiche and the Lecuona Cuban Boys, who had extensive international tours in the 1930s. Their style has been often described as ballroom conga, since they used to borrow conga rhythms in songs such as "Para Vigo me voy". Among their numerous hits were boleros and canciones such as "Amapola" and "Siboney". This music movement, which also included many American big bands that covered Latin standards, was dubbed the rhumba craze. Notable bandleaders of the rhumba craze include Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Dorsey, Nathaniel Shilkret, Leo Reisman and Enric Madriguera. Rhumba was also incorporated into classical music, as exemplified by symphonic pieces by composers such as George Gershwin, Harl McDonald and Morton Gould.
The kind of rhumba introduced into dance salons in America and Europe in the 1930s was characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom rumba, which was developed as a dance in the 1940s and 1950s, when the original music movement had died down. Nonetheless, the rhumba craze would be the first of three Latin music crazes in the first half of the 20th century, together with the mambo craze and the cha-cha-cha craze.
The modern international style of dancing the rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher Monsieur Pierre (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle), who partnered Doris Lavelle.Julie McMain's Glamour Addiction notes that Pierre Margolle's professional name was Monsieur Pierre; he and his partner were commonly referred to as "Monsieur Pierre and Doris Lavelle"; therefore some writers have incorrectly assumed that Pierre's last name was Lavelle.Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing 2004. 100 years of nce: a history of the ISTD Examinations Board. London. p. 62 Pierre, then from London, visited Cuba in 1947, 1951, and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time.Lavelle (1983). The introduction tells the story of Pierre's visits to Cuba, but with inaccurate dates.
The international ballroom rumba is a slower dance of about 120 beats per minute which corresponds, both in music and in dance, to what the Cubans of an older generation called the bolero-son. It is easy to see why, for ease of reference and for marketing, rhumba is a better name, however inaccurate; it is the same kind of reason that led later on to the use of salsa as an overall term for popular music of Cuban origin.
All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is scarcely noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba.Laird, Walter (2003). The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing. International Dance Publications Ltd. p .9, puts it like this (after taking a step to side): "Transfer full weight to this foot allowing the pelvis to move sideways and back so that the weight is felt to be near the heel of the standing foot. The knee of the supporting leg is locked back." This description incidentally illustrates the difficulty of describing body movements in print. In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any rise and fall. This style is authentic, as is the use of free arms in various figures. The basic figuresbronze and silver medals of dance teaching organizations. (Medal examinations (dance)) derive from dance moves observed in Havana in the pre-Cuban revolution period, and have developed their own life since then. Competition figures are often complex, and this is where competition dance separates from social dance. Details can be obtained from the syllabuses of dance teaching organizations and from standard texts.Laird, Walter (2003). The Laird Technique of Latin Dancing. International Dance Publications Ltd.McMains, Juliet E. (2006). Glamour addiction: inside the American ballroom dance industry.
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