Guaracha Singers
The guaracha () is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word has been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theatres and in working-class dance salons. They became an integral part of bufo comic theatre in the mid-19th century. During the later 19th and the early 20th century the guaracha was a favourite musical form in the brothels of Havana. The guaracha survives today in the repertoires of some trova musicians, conjuntos and Cuban-style big bands. Early uses of the word Though the word may be historically of Spanish origin, its use in this context is of indigenous Cuban origin. These are excerpts from reference sources, in date order: A Latin American carol "Convidando esta la noche" dates from at least the mid 17th century and both mentions and is a guaracha. It was composed or collected by Juan Garcia de Zespedes, 1620–1678, Puebla, Mexico. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba is the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with about 10 million inhabitants. It is the largest country in the Caribbean by area. The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, with the Guanahatabey and Taino, Taíno peoples inhabiting the area at the time of Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonization ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Conjunto
The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño'' and ''tejano'', Cuban ''conjuntos'' specialize in the '' son'', as well as its derivations such as '' salsa''. Mexican Mexican conjunto music, also known as ''conjunto tejano'', was born in south Texas at the end of the 19th century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The '' bajo sexto'' has come to accompany the button accordion and is integral to the ''conjunto'' sound. Many ''conjuntos'' are concentrated in the Southwestern portion of the United States, primarily in Texas and California. In Mexico, the term ''conjunto'' is associated with '' norteño'' and ''tejano'' music. Since ''tejano'' was bred out of ''norteño'' music originally, this association is not entirely false. However, due to various cultural an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jorge Anckermann
Jorge Anckermann (22 March 1877 – 3 February 1941) was a Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader. Havana-born, he started in music at eight with his father. At age ten he was able to substitute in a trio. In 1892, he went to Mexico as musical director of the bufo company of Nachos Lopez, visiting various Mexican states, and touring California. Anckermann lived in Mexico City for a number of years, teaching music. In Cuba, he was for many years the musical director of leading theatres. He composed and produced pieces for zarzuelas, reviews and comedies. He also composed boleros, and was apparently the originator of the guajira. The grand theatre ''Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...'' was the scene of his greatest hits, such as ''La isla de cotorras''. Fa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B2 to C5) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As noted in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the ten ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tiple
A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a particular type of guitar, typically with 10 or 12 strings but sometimes fewer, and is built in several distinct regional styles. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first written mention of an instrument called "tiple" comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. The 12-string Colombian tiple is considered the country's national instrument. The Puerto Rican tiple characteristically has fewer than twelve strings, as do those from Cuba, Mallorca, and North America. Tiple family Colombian tiple The Colombian tiple (in Spanish: ''tiple'') is an instrument of the guitar family, similar in appearance although slightly smaller (about 18%) than a standard classical guitar. The typical fretboard scale is about 530 mm (just under 21 inches), and the neck joins the body at the 12th fret. There are 12 strings, grouped in four tripled courses. Traditional tuning from lowest to highest course is C F A D, although ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carlos Manuel De Céspedes
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo (18 April 1819, Bayamo, Spanish Cuba – 27 February 1874, San Lorenzo, Spanish Cuba) was a Cuban revolutionary hero and First President of Cuba in Arms in 1868. Cespedes, who was a plantation owner in Cuba, freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years' War (1868–1878). This was the first of three wars of independence, the third of which, the Cuban War of Independence led to the end of Spanish rule in 1898 and Cuba's independence in 1902. Because of his actions which led to the eventual independence of Cuba, and the fact that three of his children died during his long fight for independence, he is known there as the "Father of the homeland". Ten Years' War Céspedes was a landowner and lawyer in eastern Cuba, near Bayamo, who purchased '' La Demajagua'', an estate with a sugar plantation, in 1844 after returning from Spain. On 10 October 1868, he made the Cry of Yara (), ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War (; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Little War (Cuba), Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the Spanish–American War. Background Slavery Cuban bourgeoisie demanded fundamental social and economic reforms from the Monarchy of Spain, Crown. Lax enforcement of the Slavery in colonial Spanish America, slave trade ban had resulted in a dramatic increase in imports of African diaspora, Africans, estimated at 90,000 slaves from 1856 to 1860. This occ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Teatro Villanueva
Teatro Villanueva (or the Villanueva Theatre) was a theatre in colonial Havana, Cuba. Located on Calle Morro, it was inaugurated in February 1847 under the name Circo Habanero. The circular structure was built of wood and had a reported capacity of 4000. It was mainly used for ''Cuban musical theatre#Bufo, bufo'' performances. Renovations were carried out in 1853, when the theatre was renamed Teatro Villanueva. The owner was Miguel Nin y Pons, a protégé of the Count of Villanueva, Claudio Martínez de Pinillos. Background The theatre has a special pace in the lore of Cuban independence from Spain. On 22 January 1869, auxiliary military forces consisting of Spanish criollos (also known as the Volunteer Corps) opened fire on theatre attendees. This came to be known as the Events of the Villanueva Theatre (Sucesos del Teatro Villanueva). The teenager José Martí and his teacher were reportedly in the vicinity; soon after, Martí released his revolutionary poem ''Abdala''.Chapter ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dance History
The history of dance is difficult to access because dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to identify with exact precision when dance becomes part of human culture. Dance is filled with aesthetic values, making it distinct from one society to another and is shrouded in symbolism that expounds on the cultural heritage of a community accordingly being unique from one society to another. Dance can help tell a story, convey feelings and emotions, and connect with others and ourselves. Early dance The natural impulse to dance may have existed in early primates before they evolved into humans. Dance has been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archaeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 10,000-year-old Bhimbetka rock shelte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Danzón
Danzón is the official genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in USA and Puerto Rico. Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble. The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera ( 'Havana-dance'). The contradanza, which had English and French roots in the country dance and contredanse, was probably introduced to Cuba by the Spanish, who ruled the island for almost four centuries (1511–1898), contributing many thousands of immigrants. It may also have been partially seeded during the short-lived British occupation of Havana in 1762. Haitian refugees fleeing the island's revolution of 1791–1804 brought the French-Haitian kontradans, contributing their own ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance, including ''volte'', that would evolve into the waltz that date from 16th-century Europe, including the representations of the Printmaking, printmaker Sebald Beham, Hans Sebald Beham. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote of a dance he saw in 1580 in Augsburg, where the dancers held each other so closely that their faces touched. Kunz Haas (of approximately the same period) wrote, "Now they are dancing the godless ''Weller'' or ''Spinner''."Nettl, Paul. "Birth of the Waltz." In ''Dance Index'' vol 5, no. 9. 1946 New York: Dance Index-Ballet Caravan, Inc. pages 208, 211 "The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Contradanza
''Contradanza'' (also called ''contradanza criolla'', ''danza'', ''danza criolla'', or ''habanera'') is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th century, derived from the English country dance and adopted at the court of France. Contradanza was brought to America and there took on folkloric forms that still exist in Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Ecuador. In Cuba during the 19th century, it became an important genre, the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern and the first Cuban dance to gain international popularity, the progenitor of danzón, mambo and cha-cha-cha, with a characteristic "habanera rhythm" and sung lyrics. Outside Cuba, the Cuban contradanza became known as the ''habanera'' – the dance of Havana – and that name was adopted in Cuba itself subsequent to its international popularity in the later 19th cen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |