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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32 Peter Manuel<br />
<strong>the</strong> same period. Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> repertoires of Puerto Rican and Dom<strong>in</strong>ican<br />
dance bands <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> decades around 1900 overlapped considerably, <strong>in</strong>corporat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
danzas, danzones, and <strong>the</strong> usual waltzes, two-steps, and <strong>the</strong> like.<br />
The emergence of Dom<strong>in</strong>ican and Haitian salon merengue/mér<strong>in</strong>gue styles<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> early decades of <strong>the</strong> twentieth century, although <strong>in</strong> some respects marg<strong>in</strong>al<br />
phenomena, constituted ano<strong>the</strong>r parallel with Cuban and Puerto Rican<br />
music scenes. Structural aff<strong>in</strong>ities, as well as such features as <strong>the</strong> c<strong>in</strong>quillo/<br />
qu<strong>in</strong>tolet, united all <strong>the</strong>se variants. Moreover, as U.S. occupations <strong>in</strong>tensified<br />
nationalistic sentiment <strong>in</strong> Haiti and <strong>the</strong> Dom<strong>in</strong>ican Republic (not to mention<br />
Puerto Rico) <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> second and third decades of <strong>the</strong> century, even <strong>the</strong> attempts<br />
of local composers to differentiate <strong>the</strong>ir music from that of o<strong>the</strong>r islands tended<br />
to resemble each o<strong>the</strong>r. Hence, Dom<strong>in</strong>ican salon composers Juan Francisco<br />
García (1892–1974) and Haitian counterparts, such as Just<strong>in</strong> Elie (1883–1931),<br />
turned to vernacular local musics for <strong>in</strong>spiration and tried to fashion local piano<br />
merengues/mér<strong>in</strong>gues that would reta<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> spirit of <strong>the</strong> more extensively cultivated<br />
Cuban and Puerto Rican danzas while emerg<strong>in</strong>g from <strong>the</strong>ir shadow. Even<br />
<strong>the</strong> idiosyncratically different ways of notat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> c<strong>in</strong>quillo/qu<strong>in</strong>tolet reflected<br />
a similar self-conscious concern with correct rubato-laden execution of <strong>the</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ctively<br />
creole rhythms. 20<br />
Creolization<br />
The <strong>Caribbean</strong> contradance and quadrille are qu<strong>in</strong>tessential products of <strong>the</strong><br />
creolization process that has animated most of what is dist<strong>in</strong>ctive about <strong>the</strong><br />
region’s culture. As deriv<strong>in</strong>g from l<strong>in</strong>guistics, <strong>the</strong> term “creolization” orig<strong>in</strong>ally<br />
denotes <strong>the</strong> process by which speakers of two or more dist<strong>in</strong>ct tongues, who<br />
meet on neutral territory that is <strong>the</strong> homeland of nei<strong>the</strong>r, create a pidg<strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>gua<br />
franca, which <strong>the</strong>n becomes a first language for subsequent generations. This<br />
process is more than, say, <strong>the</strong> mix<strong>in</strong>g of blue and yellow to make green, s<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
people are active, creative agents, not <strong>in</strong>ert chemicals, and <strong>the</strong> new human<br />
product, whe<strong>the</strong>r a language or a musical style, takes on a life of its own.<br />
As applied to culture, <strong>the</strong> term “creolization,” like its approximate synonym<br />
“syncretism,” has been occasionally criticized for its tendency to imply that<br />
<strong>the</strong> two or more entities—whe<strong>the</strong>r musical styles, religions, or languages—<br />
that meet and blend are somehow pure and unalloyed (like primary colors), as<br />
opposed to <strong>the</strong> hybrid product of <strong>the</strong>ir encounter. The syncretic process that<br />
generated <strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> contradance and quadrille illustrates <strong>the</strong> importance<br />
of remember<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>the</strong> formative elements <strong>in</strong> creolization may <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />
be creolized ra<strong>the</strong>r than primordially pure entities. From a broad perspective,<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> contradance and quadrille were products of <strong>the</strong> encounter of<br />
two dramatically dist<strong>in</strong>ct cultural heritages—<strong>the</strong> African and <strong>the</strong> European—<br />
though <strong>the</strong>se contributions were <strong>the</strong>mselves diverse and often <strong>in</strong>ternally syncretic.<br />
The European contradance and quadrille flourished <strong>in</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ct regional<br />
and class-based variants <strong>in</strong> England, Holland, France, and Spa<strong>in</strong>, which to