Danzon Anyone?

[peachexploration]

Danzon, another popular music/dance form, emerged during the 1870’s. Danzon represented a fusion of two European Country and Court dances and traditional Cuban dances, contradanza and the danza. Danzon was usually played by bands called charangas francescas (French orchestras) now known as charangas. Charangas fundamentally consist of a rhythm section (contrabass, timbales and guiro), strings (several violins or a cello and several violins) and a flute. In the 1940’s piano, congas and sometimes cowbells were added to the ensemble. Modern charangas such as Charanga Moderna and Charanga 76 also include vocalists. The traditional charanga sound is very smooth and with a sweet, elegant cadence and less emphasis on the hard-driving percussive elements of other Cuban music forms.

Compare the sound of the charanga of Alfred De La Fey to the more modern rendition of danzon from Arturo Sandoval’s CD Danzon (Dance On).

Like the son, danzon begins with upright posture with the man and woman facing each other in a traditional ballroom embrace. At various times during the dance, the couple separate and stroll arm in arm around the perimeter of the dance floor. They chat with each other and the other dancers and eventually return to their original dance embrace. Danzon is performed on the contratempo and couples move around the floor in a slow-quick-quick, slow-quick-quick rhythmic pattern.

The San Francisco Bay Area is fortunate to have a local charanga band called Orquestra La Moderna Tradicion. Orchesta La Moderna Tradicion is one of the only ensembles in the U.S. that is dedicated to the performance of classic Cuban dance music, particularly the lilting sounds of the danzon. For more information on Orchesta La Moderna Tradicion, click here.

Sources:
Rebecca Mauleon, The Salsa Guidebook
F. Figueroa,Encyclopedia of Latin American Music
Vernon Boggs, Salsiology

[David]

I never knew about a fusion of ballroom and Lating dancing happening so early. Very interesting. 8)

[peachexploration]

I remember actually seeing some early danzon in my travels on the internet. Very nice! I'm going to see if I can find it again and post the link in Video Clip Section. :) I'll also look up sound clips and add as well. 8)

[squirrel]

Never seen danzon... :(

[tj]

I *finally* got to see a little danzon. There was a tv show about the music and rhythms of Cuba.

[peachexploration]

Cool TJ. What did you think? :D

[tj]

It was neat! Way too brief, though.

I was trying to search for that show again, but couldn't find it. Will post on here next time I see it scheduled.

[djpatricio]

I have a lot of danzon in my collection, I don't play it at the club because it's too sophisticated and nostalgic for my younger crowd, but I would love to play it for the right crowd someday.

For anyone who lokes danzon, I have to pipe up and reccomend two cds here...1) "Mi Gran Passion" by Gonzalo Rubalcaba. It's all danzon, lushly orchestrated, very true to the tradition, made before Gonzalo defected from Cuba to the US. Check this one out. Also, 2) "Locos Por Mi Habana" by Manolito Y Su Trabuco. This is a timba/salsa album actually, but the last track on the album, "La Cordoba", is an instrumental danzon, and it's the best danzon I have ever heard in my life, hands down. That song is so sweet, so beautiful it will make you cry. That it's at the end of a totally modern, swinging timba album makes you appreciate the fact that Cuban bands like this one pay respect to their roots and do not forget them.

[peachexploration]

Hi Djpatricio! Happy to have here at Salsa Forums! :D Manolito Y Su Trabuco is one of my favorite artists. I'll have to check out the others you mentioned. :)

[mrbongo]

There's a great CD compilation of Danzon - a rhythm which become very popular around 1877 in Cuba. Released en 2004, "Danzon en Descarga" brings together pianist Jesus Rubalcaba, flutist J. J. Oliveros and other great musicians and the result is a lovely danzon con mucho sabor and a modern feel. Put this cd on, open a nice bottle of wine, disconnect your telephone and forget about everything else. Enjoy!

[sweetmoya]

I did a project on Cuban music and dance and I did a little section on danzon.

[peachexploration]

Hi Sweetmoya! Good to "see' you! For your project on Cuban music, how did the Danzon part go? Did you do it yourself or with a group? Was it a choreographed dance by you? Sorry for all the questions, just curious. :D

[sweetmoya]

It was presentation for my spanish course, in spanish of course. Everyone did different things, avocados, mexican cuisine, wrestling, spain, cuba, etc. I just did a small explaination of what danzon was and where it originated. And I got my boyfriend to come and do a salsa dance demonstration, we danced to a song by Celia, they loved it and now everyone wants to take lessons. I mentioned son, changui, rumba, rap cubano, etc. I played 5.3.7 Cuba by the Orishas, and then I explained the name Orisha and what Santeria is. I did a profile of the Buena Vista Social club. And I ended by giving them homemade merenguitos as a treat. It was fun. My prof really enjoyed it because she is from Cuba. 2 other people did Cuba but they didn't focus on anything cultural, which I think makes it so interesting.

[peachexploration]

It was presentation for my spanish course, in spanish of course. Everyone did different things, avocados, mexican cuisine, wrestling, spain, cuba, etc. I just did a small explaination of what danzon was and where it originated. And I got my boyfriend to come and do a salsa dance demonstration, we danced to a song by Celia, they loved it and now everyone wants to take lessons. I mentioned son, changui, rumba, rap cubano, etc. I played 5.3.7 Cuba by the Orishas, and then I explained the name Orisha and what Santeria is. I did a profile of the Buena Vista Social club. And I ended by giving them homemade merenguitos as a treat. It was fun. My prof really enjoyed it because she is from Cuba. 2 other people did Cuba but they didn't focus on anything cultural, which I think makes it so interesting.

That's just awesome, Sweetmoya! :cheers: :notworthy: Salsa has such an enriched history and fascinating background. I find that the more I 'study' it, the more special it becomes to me.