Street Organs in Cuba
By Jan Kijlstra
Some time ago a rather unknown member of the family of "draaiorgels" visited the Netherlands. It came from Cuba, and I guess you might like the story behind it.
We have to go back some ages: In the early years of the 17th century English folk dances became popular all over Europe. These "country dances" evolved from joyful popular amusement into pompous court- dances. Because the commonly spoken language of the nobility happened to be French, the name "country-dance" changed into "contre-danse". Very quickly this dance -- danced in couples and using rather complex steps -- become part of the standard repertoire at the courts of the Dutch, Spanish and French emperors and kings.
Since 1795 the French have had a stronghold in the Caribbean: St.-Dominique, now called Haiti, and they also were active in Cuba. Some French wives introduced the contre-dance there also, probably in order to "keep up appearances." The music had to be played by an orchestra, as in Europe, complete with violins, clarinets, brass instruments and bass viol. The percussion was added by local musicians having the rhythms -- so to say -- in their blood.
Under the influence of the Caribbean rhythms the more-or-less static contre-dance developed into the "contradanza", later shortened into "danzon", which became the national dance of Cuba. However, it often was difficult to find musicians.
Finally a solution was found when the French brought in a barrel-organ. Together with a percussion ensemble this organ proved to be a perfect dance-orchestra. Even today several hundred book-organs are still in use in Cuba; the rhythms are Caribbean, but one still can recognize the European roots of the dances, especially when looking at the dance steps.
Jan Kijlstra
[ Scottish Country Dancing is also a descendant of the French
[ court-dances, and likewise employs complex steps. It is not a
[ folk dance, being highly structured, although the accompaning
[ music is Scottish folk music. It would be lovely to hear the
[ music performed on a sweet organ accompaning the dancers.
[ -- Robbie
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(Message sent Sat 25 Jan 1997, 15:39:00 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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