Origins and influence of Cumbia on the Colombian culture - Research Paper Example

? Origins & Influence of Cumbia on the Colombian Culture of This paper examines the influence of Cumbia music and dance on the Colombian Culture both at home and in the diaspora. The paper begins by tracing the roots of Cumbia to Africans brought to Colombia in the 17th and 18th century from places in present-day Nigeria and Guinea. It also examines how Cumbia developed from a slave-dance in rural Colombia and found its way to the cities of Colombia. It goes on to examine how Cumbia became the national identity of Colombia and how it spread throughout the Colombian Diaspora and ended up in the United States of America. Keywords: Colombian Cumbia, Origins of Cumbia , Vallenato, Porro, Antonio Fuentes Introduction The Cumbia dance and song is a symbol of Colombian culture around the globe (Dimartio, 1999 p26). This is because Cumbia dance has strong links to the history of the Colombian people and for generations, acted as a melting point for numerous Colombian cultures that defines the national identity of the nation (Wade, 2008 p109). Cumbia can be traced to music and dance that reflected the social lives of the countries of origins of African slaves brought to Colombia by the Spaniards to work on the plantations. The African slaves created Cumbia as the only form of entertainment that they had to ease the unpleasant and harsh nature of work as a slave in the Americas (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p59). Up until the 1930s, Cumbia was only known in Colombia (Dimartio, 1999 p26). It was performed by a few professional groups that toured the Colombian countryside and was also performed by gifted musicians who lived in the various villages. These gifted musicians were preserving a tradition that was handed down to them by their ancestors. Aside the African influence, there is clear evidence of Spanish influence in Cumbia. Most Cumbian songs are sang in Spanish and the costumes used by the main, like the hat, pants, shirts and dresses are sewn according to Spanish standards. They reflect the main cultural trends of the dresscode of Spanish America. There is also a strong Amerindian influence in the dance and some of the instruments used in the dance of Cumbia. All these observations were made after watching the Xiomara dance video and the Ballet Esmeraldas group perform. The purpose of the research is to identify the origins and manifestation of Cumbia. It examines the components of Cumbia and how it developed. It goes further to identify why it forms an important part of Colombian culture. The study was motivated by the fact that the Colombian community is New York is large and quite influential. In spite of their dominance as a great part of the New York society, many people with stereotypes view Colombia and Colombian with a very negative attitude. However, in spite of this, the Colombian people live very respectable lives all over the United States and a vast majority of them work very hard and contribute to the building of the American economy through various decent jobs. Thus in a Hispanic classroom, it is important to dispell some of these false information and visions about the Colombian culture and teach students some of the important aspects of their native cultures and traditions that can inspire heroic and positive attachments to these cultures. So as part of this project, I hope to uncover important elements of the Colombian culture and history that can help in the quest to get the average student to understand and appreciate other important aspect of Colombian culture that are often not discussed. This research therefore attempts to examine some of the distinct elements of the Colombian culture that makes them different from everyone else. It is interesting to note that Cumbia reflects the complex history of Colombia and brings out the socio-cultural insights of the Colombian people. It debunks modern views of Colombia and has taught me a lot about the Colombian people which I will not have known, aside the stereotypes I grew up learning about the Colombian people. The Cumbia Dance In the research, I viewed two important videos that showcased the dance of Cumbia. One of them, performed by Xiomara, a teacher of Cumbia dance at the University of California was a solo performance given by the teacher (Xiomara, 2006). The second video was a performance of a Colombian ensemble in an event in Canada (Ballet Esmeraldas, 2006). It entailed a group of seven women and five men and reflected the element of courting found in the Cumbian dance. The costume was original but it appears that the sound was from a modern sound system and the song, although it had the beat of the original Cumbia was clearly influenced by other music of Hispanic origins. Xiomara As a lecturer of Cumbia dance, Xiomara's solo performance showed the technical elements of the dance. She wore a long white dress with a cone-shaped skirt which she held at the edges with each hand. The base of the skirt created a semi-circular outfit which was moved in different directions at various points in the dance, creating a very conspicuous effect (Xiomara, 2006). Like all the videos I watched of the dance, all the ladies who participated in the dance wore all-white clothes with a similar base. This clothen seem to define the distinctiveness of the Cumbia dance. The music was played by two sets of drums. One big African drum and a smaller set of drums. This was supported by the clapping of the audience who seemed to be drawn into the singing. The music was in a 4/4 rhythm and she made single steps that was in sync with the rhythm whilst she waved the edges of her skirt colorfully. A Cumbian Ensemble, Courtesy SenoraCoelho The Ballet Esmeraldas This group was a more modern ensemble of Colombian Cumbian performers in Canada. The men were dressed like the working class slaves with a hat, knife straps and free flowing white pants (Ballet Esmeraldas, 2006). Their dressing reflected a rural working class. The men opened the floor. There were five of them, each wielding a lighted candle. The moved in a choreography format and circled about in sync to the rhythm which was also in a 4/4 tune. They gave way for the women who came in holding the fringes of their long skirts and moved about in circular motions. The men joined the women on the dancefloor with opened arms matching the women who also had opened arms. They maintained eye contact and moved about in circles maintaining that feature of courting. Their motions reflected the elements of the every-day society. In interpreting the dance moves, Sturner (2009) states that “the movements in the Cumbian dance is aimed at tracing the limits of shackles that the Africans wore during the days of slavery”. This tells a story of how the whole idea of slavery affected the people and how a section of the Colombian nation entered the South American country. Also, Sturner identifies that although the original form of the Cumbia rhythm is 4/4, the modern era has ushered in a system whereby the 2/4 tune and rhythm is becoming much more dominant in the Cumbian beat. Cumbia Instruments Cumbia is played with numerous instruments today which include amongst other things, “…drums, horns, maracas and accordion” (Sturner, 2009). These drums come from the different cultural and ethnic heritages that define the history of Colombia, thereby making the dance itself an artform that defines all the heritages of the Colombian people and thus fosters national identity. The drums used for the Cumbia dance were originally African drums made out of “native South American woods and dried animal skins woven by sisal ropes” (Caputo et al, 2009 p52). These African drums are beaten either with the hand as it is done in Africa or with sticks wrapped with dry skins to prevent the breaking of the surface of the drum (Caputo et al, 2009 p52). Also, the drums are a little bit modified and include some similarities of “… Amerindian cultures and European musical instruments” (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p28). The Cumbian music has also been played with gaucharaca a Native American Indian flute that is often sounded in the background to add up to the rhythm (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p28). It comes in various variants like the Millo flutes and Gata flutes which are sounded in a continuous rhythm to give a Cumbia performance some more melody (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p28). Currently, more modern and contemporary forms of Cumbia includes various European instruments like guidars and accordions which reflects the Spanish elements of the song (Candelaria et al, 2004 p91). Origins of Cumbia Cumbia is a blend of Spanish and African music. It contains elements of the Yoruba Obatala music which is still popular in Southwestern Nigeria, Africa (Idowu, 1962 p36). It also borrows elements of Gumbe, a form of music still popular in Guinea-Bissau. “Obatala is the name of a Yoruba god” (Idowu, 1962 p2). According to Yoruba tradition, Obatala is the god at the center of creation and justice (Idowu, 1962 p2). It is known as a 'white god' which reflects its purity and justice (Idowu, 1962 p3). It is therefore worshiped through white objects. “A typical Obatala worship session features white cloths, white lace, white beads, white cowries, white flowers, silver coins and silver jewelleries and white foods like yams” (Idowu, 1962 p7). The praise and worship of Obatala involves a rhythmic playing of drums in a 4/4 tune in which devotees dance in circular motions and often enter a trance (Idowu, 1962 p5). Obatala worship was common amongst African slaves taken from the Slave coast, now part of Nigeria, Togo and Benin (Idowu, 1962 p4). This draws parallels with the Cumbia music. This is because Cumbia is often danced with women dressed in white like Obatala devotees. However, the garments used in Cumbia are sewn according to Spanish dressmaking standards and this is evident in the Xiomara and Ballet Esmeraldas videos watched for the purpose of this research. The slaves from the Guinean Coast which is in the extreme western tip of West Africa (about 3,000 kilometers from the Slave Coast) influenced the development of Cumbia. “The word 'cumbia' is from 'cumbe' which is a word still used in Guinea to describe 'dance'” (De Klein, 2001 p55). Actually, the most popular form of music in Guinea-Bissau is called Gumbe and has similar traits to Cumbia, like the drums used and the dance movements (De Klein, 2001 p55). Gumbe also uses the kora which is an African stringed instrument that is often used in Cumbia (De Klein, 2001 p55). Cumbia in the 20th Century After slavery was abolished in Columbia in the 19th Century, the conception of African slaves as lower caste began to disappear (Candelaria et al, 2004 p92). The performances of the African slaves and the Cumbia dance became more popular because of this change in perception amongst Colombians of Amerindian and European origins. However, it remained in the rural areas of Colombia where most of the Africans lived (Candelaria et al, 2004 p92). At the turn of the 20th Century, Cumbia was only known in Colombia (Morales, 2003 p255). In the 1920s, dance bands were formed and they added horns and other instruments to the African drums giving it a more diverse rhythm (Morales, 2003 p255). The dance bands traveled throughout the Colombian countryside and became extremely popular (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). In the 1930s, Cumbia songs was recorded in New York but due to financial constraints, the original band that first recorded Cumbian music in New York could not come with its orchestra, it was replaced by a Perto Rican ochestra (Morales, 2003 p255). This formed a springboard for the Cumbian music to gain international recognition. In the 1940s, Cumbia continued to spread throughout rural Colombia and was modified on numerous occasions making it a national symbol since different parts of Colombia made different additions to it (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p57). In the 1950s, a musical revolution in Colombia made Cumbia popular throughout the urban centers (Morales, 2003 p255). Within this time, variants of Cumbia developed like Vallenato and porro in the urban centers of Sucre and Cordoba (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). Meanwhile, in America, Cumbia was still overshadowed by African American jazz and Cuban mambo in the United States (Morales, 2003 p255). Cumbia was fused with salsa and became quite popular throughout Latin America (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). Cumbia gained roots in Monterrey, Mexico in the 1960s and became common in northern Mexico (Canderia et al, 2004 p782). With time, it became popular in Spanish-speaking communities in Southwestern USA. It can be logically inferred that the upsurge of Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants made this happen faster. In the 1980s and 1990s, Cumbia “… was a symbol of Colombian culture in America and reflected 'sabor ambievite' (sober atmosphere) amongst Colombians seeking to relax in America” (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p57). Gradually, Cumbia shaped the identity of Colombians and was played in all major Colombian functions around the United States (Dimartio, 1999 p20). Types of Cumbia The original Cumbia dance has gone through several forms of evolutions and it now exists in some different forms (Newton, 2009 p24). Cumbia is classified into three main genres: “Classic Cumbia, Modern Cumbia and Cumbiamba” (Newton, 2009 p24). Newton then goes on to explain each of the genres of the song and dance. Classic cumbia makes use of instrumentals that belong to the classical musical family. It is often sang in orchestras and show an elitist twist to this traditional Colombian artform. Modern cumbia preserves its original form, however there are new drums and a few other instruments, mostly taken from other Latin American origins that are added to make it more melodious. Modern cumbia is often in a 2/4 rhythm and the beat is accompanied by lyrics which was not part of the original cumbia as it developed since it was silent. Cumbiamba is a form of Cumbia that lends itself to numerous additions and variations. Cumbiamba involves the use of unorthodox musical instruments and the dance moves are completely distinct. It allows cumbia to be merged with several other forms of music like salsa, tango and samba. There are sub-divisions of each of these three categories of Cumbia (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). There is the porro, which preserves the original beats of the cumbia but is played in the form of a brass band (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). It was developed in Cordoba and surrounding communities in Colombia. Vallenato also belongs to the category of classical cumbia (Caputo et al, 2009 p32). It is strongly influenced by different forms of accordion and bass guitar beats. Vallenato has developed over the years to become a very popular and exportable version of cumbia and is popular around the world (Newton, 2009 p26). Cumbia Artistes The evolution of Cumbia as a little known form of music to a global music genre can be credited to a lot of people (Morales, 2003 p255). Notable amongst them is Antonio Fuentes (Newton, 2009 p25). Antonio Fuentes is the founder of Discos Fuentes a recording studio in Colombia that first recorded Cumbia in 1934 (Newton, 2009 p25). This paved way for the commercialization of cumbia and its promotion around the world. This made cumbia economically viable and allowed numerous ensembles to get an important stream of income, selling records. Pach Gelan was a cumbia composer who did a lot to promote the music genre (Caputo et al, 2009 p35). He modified cumbia into porro and salsa. The recording and rewording of his track, Ay Cosita Linda by Nat King Cole cumbian rhythm a popular music form around the globe (Caputo et al, 2009 p35). Luis Eduardo Bermudez was a musician who was a member of the Colombian military band (Kuss, 2009 p459). He later became an independent musician and ran an ochestra that incorporated strong elements of cumbia in its rhythm (Kuss, 2009 p459). Between 1952 and 1954, he lived in Cuba and later Mexico, where his orchestra played cumbia to other Latin American audiences, thereby making the genre popular outside Colombia (Kuss, 2009 p459). Guillermo Buitrago, a young artist who was an expert player of the guitar built a career singing Vallenato (Kuss, 2009 p459). When he died at a tender age of 29 in 1949, Buitrago had recorded over 150 songs which had traces of the Cumbian influence (Kuss, 2009 p459). Also, Rafael Martinez built a strong heritage in vallenato which laid the foundations for the creation of the Vallenato legend festival (Newton, 2009 p25). Cumbian Heritage Cumbia reflects the Spanish, Indian and African traditions of the Colombian people. It is therefore unique and distinct to the Colombian people. Zapata (1967 p92) states that “…the Indian influence of Cumbia is found in the way the women dance gracefully and appear to be reserved…”. This, she indicated reflects the Indian cultural dance styles. Also, the use of Indian flutes adds that Amerindian culture to the whole musical genre (Rosa & Neciosup, 2008 p28). The African influence is seen in the way the men dance and move about in a regular and free manner reflects the numerous African cultural dances (Zapata, 1967 p92). The Spanish costumes and songs depicts the influence of the Spaniards (Zapata, 1967 p92). Due to the rich cultural heritage Cumbia possesses, it is easily fused with other musical genres of South American origins as it has been depicted in this paper through the export and evolutionary process of the dance. It is also appreciated by numerous people in Latin America due to the nature of it as a form of music that connects South Americans to their native origins in the Old World. Conclusion The development of Cumbia draws into numerous aspects of the history and socio-cultural elements of Colombia over several generations. Cumbia survived numerous different time frames and it is now an important feature for the identification and unification of Colombians around the globe. Therefore the teaching and explanation of Cumbia’s culture and dance can potentially build important psycho-social skills that can connect an average school child or student in New York to his or her Colombian and South American roots. References Candelaria C., Garcia P. J & Aldana A. J. (2004) Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture Greenwood Publishing Group Caputo L., Newton P. & McColl R. (2009) VIVA Travel Guides Colombia. VIVA Publishing Network De Klein G. (2001) “Guinea Bissau: The Backyard Beats of Gumbe” World Music: The Rough Guide – Africa, Europe & Middle East Vol 1 Rough Guides Dimartio D. (1999) Music in the 20th Century Volume 1 BRILL Publishing Discover Colombia (2010) Cumbia: The Rhythm of Colombia. Available online at: http://www.discovercolombia.com/cumbia-the-rhythm-of-colombia/ Accessed: October 5, 2011. Ballet Esmeraldas De Colombia Cumbia (2006) Cumbia Diciembre, Ottawa Colombian Party. Video available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5iRhRD8oIs&feature=related Accessed: October 4, 2011. Hernandez, D. P. (2009) Oye Como va: Hybridity & Identity in Latino Popular Music Temple University Press. Idowu B. (1962) Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief London: Rowman Publishers Kuss, M. (2009) Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: Performing the Caribbean University of Texas Press Morales E. (2003) The Latin Beat Da Capo Press Newton, P. (2009) VIVA Travel Guides Colombia VIVA Travel Books Publishing. Rosa J. & Neciosup H. (2008) World Music Survey Lulu Publishing. Senora C. (2007) Available online at: http://senoracoelho.wikispaces.com/file/view/Cumbia04.jpg/49138645/Cumbia04.jpg Accessed October 4, 2011. Sturner, P. (2009) Colombian Americans Available online at: http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Colombian-Americans.html#Comments_form Accessed: October 5, 2011. Wade, P. (2008) Music, Race & Nation: Musica Tropical in Colombia University of Chicago Press. Xiomara (2006) Colombian Cumbia Dance Performance with Xiomara Video Available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClz3YcrNq8 Accessed: October 4, 2011 Zapata O. D. (1967) “Introduction to Folk Dances of Colombia” Ethnomusicology Vol 11 No 1 January 1967. Read More