Yambú Rumba – Dance
Yambú is the oldest and slowest rumba style, mentioned as early as the mid-19th century, born in the poor urban neighbourhoods of Matanzas: a rumba of the house, the cuartería or the solar. A calm couple dance without the vacunao of guaguancó.
Origin
- Matanzas: according to EcuRed, yambú is an urban style from the poor neighbourhoods of Matanzas. There the bandos arose, groups of rumberos such as El Bando Azul, Los Congos de Angunga, La Clave de Oro and La Nueva India. The neighbourhood of Las Alturas de Simpson was the main source of rumberos; EcuRed names, among others, Anselmo Calle, Silverio Fumero and Ángel Morales, and the dancers Yeya Calle, Estanislaa Luna and Margarita Zequeira, "Cundunga la China".
- Roots: according to Wikipedia, yambú grew out of yuka; according to EcuRed, erotic couple dances "of makuta or yuka" were possibly the basis of yambú.
Structure
According to EcuRed, a yambú begins with the claves and a sung lalaleo, the diana, which is longer in yambú than in guaguancó. Then the soloist sings his verses (decimar), the chorus answers again with the lalaleo, and so they alternate, until the estribillo begins: then a couple dances.
Videos
💃 The dance
- Slow and sensual: the man moves his shoulders and body with soft, calm insinuations. The woman makes small escapes, holds the hem of her skirt and turns small circles around him. In yambú the woman has the leading role.
- Frailty: according to Wikipedia the dancers use movements that feign frailty; according to Cultura Cubana the dance imitates the movements of elderly people.
- Solo or as a couple: yambú can be danced alone, usually by women, or by a couple.
- "En el yambú no se vacuna": there is no vacunao.
- In the circle: the dancers keep their knees bent, about a metre apart. At the end the man puts his arm over his partner's shoulders and they make way for the next couple.
🥁 The music
According to EcuRed, the old ensembles in Matanzas improvised their instruments: the side of a wardrobe, the seat of a chair, a bottle or a wall as salidor, a tumbadora, a small cedar box as quinto, and spoons on a board on the knees. Yambú often used two boxes: a candle box as quinto and a large cod box as tumbadora. The melodies are short and in a major key, sung by a soloist and a chorus. Havana-style yambú used to be played on son clave.
🔀 Yambú and guaguancó
Guaguancó is similar to yambú in most respects and is said to have derived from it, but it is faster and has the vacunao.