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Danzon, our national dance

Autor: Jesus Risquet | Fuente: www.trabajadores.cu | 15 de Junio 2012

The youngest generations of Cubans have stopped dancing danzon, our national dance. The thing is that modernism with its dynamic rhythms has turned this dance into something typical of grandparents; but there is certain concern about its rescue and there will not be few those who will know—at least—its lilting rhythm and dance, including new sonorities as evolution demands.

The Danzon is a dance genre which is derived from the Cuban danza. Its name comes from the augmentative form of this word in Spanish. It was a collective dance of people, very much in fashion during the second half of the 19th century in Cuba.

We say it came from the danza and contradanza when these dance rooms received the Cuban influence of the rhythmic son music. The European contradanza had arrived in Cuba straight from the Spanish courts, from the English ships that took over Havana in 1762, and from the French, black and mulattoes who settled in the Western part of the island, running away from the revolution in Haiti.
 
Here those dances became more Cuban until they turned into our own danza and contradanza with an African influence in their rhythms, and a bigger expressive freedom where the couple was dancing with more sensuality.

The danzon, as a musical genre, was listened for the first time on January 1, 1879 at the Matanzas Lyceum, performed by a typical orchestra at that time which was composed by bugle, trombone,  figle, two clarinets, two violins, a counter bass, tymbals and a ´guiro´, directed by the bugler Miguel Failde.

The new rhythm had an extraordinary impact among the dancers. Everyone praised this farmer from Matanzas province for his special creation entitled “Las alturas de Simpson”, in a lucky night when he was forced to play it again due to the dancers´ demand.

Precisely for having increased its formative spaces and widen its dancing part is that it is called danzon. In Matanzas, in mid 19th century, the dance of figures was already called like that.

That´s why, Miguel Failde, who paid much attention to the musical-folkloric fact, qualified his written compositions for that kind of dance with the generic name of danzon.

It is composed by an introduction, a part for the clarinet, a repeated introduction, and a trio of brass instruments. Of course, that format corresponds to the brass orchestra above mentioned.

Then it came new creators like Raimundo Valenzuela, a famous composer and trombonist, who next to Enrique Guerrero and the bugler Feliz Cruz, modified the interpretative aspect at such a level that they added a final part that is sung in unison by the orchestra in their respective danzones.

After a period of growth, the danzon fell into a declining phase despite the emergence of some new successful variants like the danzonete and chachacha. In Mexico, mainly in the Yucatan Peninsula, the danzon that was born in Cuba was danced and kept with even more frequency than here, being an alive and active element of that people´s cultural life.

In the first and second half of the 20th century, the danzon started to have its definite form at the same time that it added elements from other Cuban genres, mainly son rhythm. The musicologist Helio Orovio said in one of his texts that “ in 1910, Jose Urfé, composer, director and clarinetist, revolutionizes the Cuban danzon when inserting in its final part a son montuno following the style of the figurados by the Western tres players.” Urfe´s composition “El Bombin de Barreto”—dedicated to his violinist Julian Barreto—established the style that will distinguished danzon for the rest of the century. 

Translation: Adriana Pérez (Cubarte)