Zumba: The traditional origins behind the party workout we know today
I wanted to take a look at some of the dance origins of Zumba dancing. Being an instructor I get a wealth of music sent to me each month in many different styles to create dances too. The amazing thing is that although when you first go to a Zumba class you may only remember dancing/jumping around and whooping for an hour, the instructor has (hopefully) put in a good amount of work to create that class for you. A Zumba class is specified by having a mix of lots of different world rhythms to dance to; so you can't just do 12 salsa tracks - because you'd be teaching a salsa class unfortunately. And in your training you learn the basic steps to these world rhythms which you then add into your choreography. So although some of these dances originated from the late 17th century - we are still using the same dance moves today!
In your Zumba Basic Training you are taught 4 rhythms; Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia and Reggaeton. Of course there are plenty more to talk about (Calypso, Samba, Soca, Flamenco, Rumba) but I'll just stick to these 4 at the moment.
Merengue
Merengue is usually credited as being the dance of the Dominican Republic, although some Latin American countries have adaptions of the same rhythm. It's a faster dance (120-160 beats per minute) and when teaching Zumba Merengue is always the first dance you start with - this is because it has a marching beat so people who are less confident or haven't danced before can feel more comfortable learning the rhythm (as they are basically marching!)
You can see from the above video there is a really clear marching beat and all the beats contain the same amount of accent. I always hear Merengue and immediately start tapping away!
There are a couple of different stories about how the Merengue dance came about. The first is that two slaves were tied together and were cutting sugar to the beat of the drums, and because they were tied to together they had to drag one leg behind them whilst doing this (this could be where our Zumba '2 step' comes from- you step out the the side and the other leg incidentally drags behind you).
Another story is that a soldier injured his leg during fighting in a revolution for the Dominican Republic. He was welcomed home a hero and his village out of sympathy danced with a limp during the celebrations.
Another version, according to writer Carmen Vazquez, is what Dominic Republicans believe happened and they showed it on a TV show called 'Santo Domingo Invita' (I've posted a clip from it above) where they tell a story of slaves who watched their Masters dance in the 'big houses' and when they had their own parties, started to mimic how their Masters were dancing. But because Vazquez goes on to say that the dances they were mimicking (French minuet and other dances late 1700's- early 1800's) were slow and rigid and boring. So the slaves added their own extra beat with the drums which provided an upbeat tempo for the dance.
Vazquez also wrote that originally the Merengue was not performed in couples, but rather in a circle holding hands. The idea that the Merengue was originally a group dance really made me happy to think I could be teaching even closer than I thought to what traditional Merengue was like in its rawest form.
I'm hoping that next time I choreograph a Merengue routine for class I can take the ideas and thoughts I've written here. Whichever origin story is true I can use it to influence my choreography and teaching. I can think about how much passion it must have been danced with if they were tied together or how much love they must have had for each other if they were prepared to limp all evening for someone they cared for. And even how much fun they must have had taking the mickey out of their masters and creating something even better out of a rigid old formal dance. Come to think of it I have a routine called 'El Party' which would be perfect to imagine the last story to. If I can use the influence of its history, hopefully I can choreograph the dance with respect for its origins and also dance and teach it better to my class!
I'll let you know if I could put any of it into practice after my next class and hopefully tomorrow I'll have a look at Cumbia (such a beautiful dance and I can't understand why its not as popular as salsa!)
PS. If you get chance type in 'Zumba Merengue' into Youtube and see what comes up - guarantee you'll be tapping away in no time!
In your Zumba Basic Training you are taught 4 rhythms; Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia and Reggaeton. Of course there are plenty more to talk about (Calypso, Samba, Soca, Flamenco, Rumba) but I'll just stick to these 4 at the moment.
Merengue is usually credited as being the dance of the Dominican Republic, although some Latin American countries have adaptions of the same rhythm. It's a faster dance (120-160 beats per minute) and when teaching Zumba Merengue is always the first dance you start with - this is because it has a marching beat so people who are less confident or haven't danced before can feel more comfortable learning the rhythm (as they are basically marching!)
You can see from the above video there is a really clear marching beat and all the beats contain the same amount of accent. I always hear Merengue and immediately start tapping away!
There are a couple of different stories about how the Merengue dance came about. The first is that two slaves were tied together and were cutting sugar to the beat of the drums, and because they were tied to together they had to drag one leg behind them whilst doing this (this could be where our Zumba '2 step' comes from- you step out the the side and the other leg incidentally drags behind you).
Another story is that a soldier injured his leg during fighting in a revolution for the Dominican Republic. He was welcomed home a hero and his village out of sympathy danced with a limp during the celebrations.
Vazquez also wrote that originally the Merengue was not performed in couples, but rather in a circle holding hands. The idea that the Merengue was originally a group dance really made me happy to think I could be teaching even closer than I thought to what traditional Merengue was like in its rawest form.
I'm hoping that next time I choreograph a Merengue routine for class I can take the ideas and thoughts I've written here. Whichever origin story is true I can use it to influence my choreography and teaching. I can think about how much passion it must have been danced with if they were tied together or how much love they must have had for each other if they were prepared to limp all evening for someone they cared for. And even how much fun they must have had taking the mickey out of their masters and creating something even better out of a rigid old formal dance. Come to think of it I have a routine called 'El Party' which would be perfect to imagine the last story to. If I can use the influence of its history, hopefully I can choreograph the dance with respect for its origins and also dance and teach it better to my class!
I'll let you know if I could put any of it into practice after my next class and hopefully tomorrow I'll have a look at Cumbia (such a beautiful dance and I can't understand why its not as popular as salsa!)
PS. If you get chance type in 'Zumba Merengue' into Youtube and see what comes up - guarantee you'll be tapping away in no time!
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