Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
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Introduction 23<br />
<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a town plaza, which, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> preamplification days, played at a volume that<br />
was thrill<strong>in</strong>g and o<strong>the</strong>rwise unparalleled <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> music world.<br />
A dist<strong>in</strong>ctive feature of <strong>the</strong> contradance complex was <strong>the</strong> way it constituted<br />
a cont<strong>in</strong>uum between art music and vernacular music. The same danza written<br />
as a parlor piano piece by Tavárez could be performed by a humble jíbaro (peasant)<br />
group at a rural Puerto Rican fiesta. Similarly, <strong>the</strong> 1839 Cuban novel Cecilia<br />
Valdés mentions an actual contemporary contradanza, “Caramelo vendo,”<br />
which “became popular among all social classes.” Meanwhile, evidence suggests<br />
that many musicians <strong>the</strong>mselves traversed this cont<strong>in</strong>uum, play<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> an<br />
aristocratic ballroom one night and <strong>in</strong> a boisterous plebian fiesta (<strong>in</strong> Cuba, perhaps<br />
called bachata or changüí) <strong>the</strong> next.<br />
The formal structure of contradance subgenres also varied. Perhaps <strong>the</strong><br />
simplest would be <strong>the</strong> tumba francesa, which consists essentially of drummed<br />
ost<strong>in</strong>atos with a sung vocal litany. More typical was <strong>the</strong> Cuban form of contradance<br />
that reta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>the</strong> English-derived bipartite AABB form, with <strong>the</strong> first<br />
section (<strong>the</strong> prima) often segue<strong>in</strong>g to a second section (segunda) that was more<br />
enlivened by <strong>the</strong> creole rhythms (typically <strong>the</strong> c<strong>in</strong>quillo or habanera patterns).<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce such a render<strong>in</strong>g still lasts less than a m<strong>in</strong>ute, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dance context <strong>the</strong><br />
piece would be repeated many times and might segue to ano<strong>the</strong>r composition.<br />
The form of <strong>the</strong> Puerto Rican danza was similar, except that <strong>the</strong> piece was typically<br />
extended not by repetition but by compos<strong>in</strong>g a longer B section, add<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a third (C) section, and/or <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g a lengthy passage <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> bombard<strong>in</strong>o<br />
(saxhorn) would perform arpeggio-laden solos.<br />
The first section of a piece was often referred to as <strong>the</strong> paseo (promenade),<br />
<strong>in</strong> accordance with <strong>the</strong> stylized stroll<strong>in</strong>g that it could accompany. In many<br />
Cuban contradanzas and most danzones, <strong>the</strong> paseo section does not differ dramatically<br />
<strong>in</strong> style or <strong>in</strong>tensity from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r section (or sections, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> case of<br />
<strong>the</strong> danzón). However, <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r cases, <strong>the</strong> paseo would be dist<strong>in</strong>ct <strong>in</strong> style; <strong>in</strong><br />
many Cuban contradanzas and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> standard Puerto Rican danza, it would<br />
lack <strong>the</strong> syncopated creole rhythms (habanera or c<strong>in</strong>quillo) that would pervade<br />
<strong>the</strong> subsequent section(s). In Dom<strong>in</strong>ican danzas and salon merengues (as <strong>in</strong><br />
many early-twentieth-century standard merengues), <strong>the</strong> paseo would have a<br />
march-like character, often <strong>in</strong> straight eighth or sixteenth notes.<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> Quadrilles<br />
The creole <strong>Caribbean</strong> quadrille has flourished <strong>in</strong> a variety of musical forms.<br />
Perhaps <strong>the</strong> primary feature dist<strong>in</strong>guish<strong>in</strong>g it as a genre is its formal structure,<br />
typically compris<strong>in</strong>g a suite of five or six separate sections, each with dist<strong>in</strong>ctive<br />
music and choreographic figures. The suite format thus can accommodate<br />
a variety of o<strong>the</strong>rwise dist<strong>in</strong>ct musical genres, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g creole forms of jig,<br />
reel, schottische, mazurka, waltz, bigu<strong>in</strong>e, and contradance. Like most forms<br />
of contradance, <strong>the</strong> quadrille is predom<strong>in</strong>antly an <strong>in</strong>strumental idiom, although