Danza

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Danza is a musical genre native to the Caribbean, which was derived from the contradanza. They were both sequence dances, performed to a pattern, usually of squares, to music that was instrumental. Neither the contradanza nor the danza were sung genres: this is a contrast with the habanera, which was a sung genre. There is some dispute as to whether the danza was in any sense a different dance from the contradanza, or whether is was just a simplification of the name.^[1] Through the first part of the 19th century the dance and its music became steadily more creolized. The music is creolized because composers were consciously trying to integrate African and European ideas; and the dance because many of the people themselves were creoles, that is, born in the Caribbean, accepting their islands as their true and only homeland.

Well known composers of danzas can be found in both Cuba Ignacio Cervantes, Puerto Rico Manuel G. Tavarez and Curacao Jan Gerard Palm.

Contents 1 Danza in Puerto Rico 2 Danza in Cuba 3 References 4 See also

[edit] Danza in Puerto Rico

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Danza is a form of music that can be varied in its expression; the Puerto Rican national anthem, La Borinqueña, was originally a danza that was later altered to fit a more anthem-like style. Danzas can be either romantic or festive. Romantic danzas have four sections, beginning with an eight-measure paseo followed by three themes of sixteen measures each. The third theme typically includes a solo by the bombardino and, often, a return to the first theme or a coda at the end. Festive danzas are free-form, with the only rules being an introduction and a swift rhythm.

The first part of the romantic danza, the paseo, had 8 measures of music without a fixed rhythm (a snare drumroll may be played as background), when the men circled the room in one direction, and the women circled in the other. This afforded young couples the opportunity to face each other, if only briefly. The second part, called the merengue, grew from the original 16 measures to 34, in 1854. Here the couples held each other in a proper stance and executed turns that looked very much like a waltz.

While the origins of the danza are murky, it probably arose around 1840 as a sort of reaction against the highly codified contradanza and, according to Cuban sources, was strongly influenced by Cuban immigrants and their habanera music. The first danzas were immature, youthful songs condemned by the authorities, who occasionally tried ineffectively to ban the genre.

In Puerto Rico, the genre continued evolving until it was taken up by the young pianist Manuel G. Tavarez, who had just arrived from his studies in Paris, and took it to a new artistic level. His disciple, Juan Morel Campos adopted it also and developed it further to its maximum expression, composing more than 300 danzas, most of them masterpieces of an exquisite beauty. The danza that evolved was inspired mostly by women and romance and their titles reflected that change.

[edit] Danza in Cuba

This, the child of the contradanza, was also danced in lines or squares. It was a brisker form of music and dance which could be in double or triple time. A repeated 8-bar paseo was followed by two 16-bar sections called the primera and segunda. Two famous composers of danzas were Ignacio Cervantes and Manuel Saumell. This type of dance was eventually replaced by the danzon. ^[2]

The following account from 1840 might have been written today:

"The women of Havana have a furious taste for dancing; they spend entire nights elevated, agitated, crazy and pouring sweat until they fall spent." ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Music of Cuba
• Music of Puerto Rico
• Guamanique de Puerto Rico
• Halman, Johannes and Robert Rojer (2008). Jan Gerard Palm (1831-1906) Music scores: waltzes, mazurkas, danzas, tumbas, polkas, marches, fantasies, serenades, a galop and music composed for services in the Synagogue and the Lodge. Amsterdam: Broekmans and Van Poppel. *[1]