Rhumba

This article is about the ballroom dance. For other musical styles, see Rumba.
Rhumba
Stylistic originsSon cubano, American ballroom music
Cultural originsEast Coast of the United States, early 1930s
Typical instrumentsVocals, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, guitar, piano, violin, bass, maracas, congas, bongos, timbales, drums
Subgenres
Ballroom conga
Regional scenes
New York City

Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and 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 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.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Drake-Boyt, Elizabeth (2011). "Rhumba". Latin Dance. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. pp. 43–46. ISBN 9780313376092.
  2. ^ Daniel, Yvonne (2009). "Rumba Then and Now". In Malnig, Julie (ed.). Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois. p. 162. ISBN 9780252075650.
  3. ^ Hess, Carol A. (2013). Representing the Good Neighbor: Music, Difference, and the Pan American Dream. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 115–116, 200. ISBN 9780199339891.