Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Twenty-Five

Warm-up: bi-rhythmic practice
Playing rumba clave (arms), and alternating between stepping on pulse and salsa dance rhythm (legs).

Warm-up: rumba guaguancó knee action

Concept: rebound of the knee
If the stepping of the foot is atiempo, then the knee action is contratiempo where: the outward articulation of the knee is active, and the inward articulation is rebound-passive.

Practice: rumba guaguancó knee action with rebound
To rumba clave only track. On the spot, then walking all directions.

Concept: "It has to sound great!"
Within the historical context of rumba with its simple instrumentation, even the sounds of the dancer's foot rhythm has got to groove.

Practice: Pulse-Clave transitions
To rumba clave only track, 143bpm. Alternating between dancing pulse for two phrases, and clave "pa-pa, pa-pa-pa'um" in 2-3 orientation.

Learning materials
Rumba clave timelines by Jeremy Wise and Loo Yeo
Flor Pálida by Marc Anthony

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Twenty-Four

Warm up, to rumba clave only tracks
Walks in all directions: forwards, backwards, to side, linear and rotated; changing between stepping on pulse and salsa dance rhythm.

Analysis: distribution of movement energy
In front of mirror, stepping between pulse and salsa dance rhythm, upper body engine. There is rhythmic dance energy apparent above the waist than below. It looks unbalanced.

Concept: increasing lower body dance energy
Engaging the knees rhythmically introduces the involvement of the adductors and abductors, increasing lower body dance energy.

Concept: body-part substitution in rhythm interpretation

I - Body-part substitution in salsa dance rhythm

Practice: salsa dance rhythm foot to knee substitution, on the spot
To rumba clave only tracks. Salsa dance rhythm: instead of foot-foot-foot, to foot-knee(out)-foot, static practice. Centre-of-gravity remains a constant distance from the floor, which causes the ankles to raise off the floor as the knees move outward.

Learning points:

• listen for the foot-knee-foot action. The auditory feedback should be "thump" (foot strikes floor), "rustle" (clothing brushes knee), "thump" (foot strikes floor)
• lower centre of gravity to produce more power
• the knee movement is undamped, being allowed to swing freely yet rhythmically.

Practice: salsa dance rhythm foot to knee substitution, walking
To rumba clave only tracks. Salsa dance rhythm: instead of foot-foot-foot, to foot-knee(out)-foot, walking practice (all directions). This is the rumba guaguancó knee action.

Learning point: the knee action is deliberately exaggerated at low tempi so that it will be observable at the high tempi of guaguancó.

Practice: rumba guaguancó knee action, strengthening exercise
Walks to rumba clave only tracks. Intersperse with four steps on same foot, taking successively deeper steps. This develops physical flexibility and strength, and timing compensation for step size.

II - Body-part substitution in rumba clave rhythm

Practice: stepping to 3-2 rumba clave
To rumba clave only tracks, sidewards walks. Six steps to the compound rumba-son clave vocalisation (3-2 orientation) "pa, pa, pa-um / pa, pa" as *side, close, back-side / side, close*

Practice: stepping to 2-3 rumba clave
To rumba clave only tracks, sidewards walks. Six steps to the compound rumba-son clave vocalisation (2-3 orientation) "pa, pa / pa, pa, pa-um" as *side, close / side, close, back-side*

Learning materials
Rumba clave timelines by Jeremy Wise and Loo Yeo
Flor Pálida by Marc Anthony

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Six

Introductory briefing
We can use salsa as a stepping stone to rumba. The first section of the workshop will involve the development of skills in the salsa context which are transferable to the rumba rhythm group. The second section is directly pertinent to guaguancó: the timing, or at least one possible timing, of the vacunao and the defense against it. An introduction to a dance gearing in columbia is the subject of section three.

Section I - Salsa's Heartbeat

Concept: locating, hearing and feeling the conga open tones of the tumbao moderno
Hearing the tones as the 'lub-dub' of the heartbeat.

Exercise: tapping the 'lub-dub'
Solo, to the isochronous conga track. Tapping on the chest over the heart (a la Dirty Dancing).

Exercise: tapping the 'lub-dub', dancing
Solo, to the isochronous conga track. Tapping on the chest over the heart while dancing the salsa step rhythm.

Concept: in dialogue with the open tones (salsa context)
Call-and-response between the drum (conga open tones) and the dancer (salsa dance rhythm).

Exercise: the dancer calls, the drum 'responds'
Solo, to the isochronous conga track and later the conga plus piano track. Note that this is an illusion, a pre-recorded drum cannot respond.

Exercise: the drum calls, the dancer responds
Solo, to the isochronous conga track and later the conga plus piano track. Note the slight latency in timing which softens the attack of the dancer. This is a prerequisite skill for rumba and dancing to live music performances.

Practice: both call-and-response variations, partnered
Using the isochronous conga track, then the instrument layers tracks in increasing complexity, and finally complete pre-recorded salsa tracks.

Section II - Vacunao and defense timing

Practice: playing martillo on the bongó

Exercise: stopping on beat one, starting on beat eight
Solo. Beats as counted by Europeans. Drumming the martillo on the bongó. To bolero, chachachá and timba tracks of increasing tempo.

Exercise: stopping on beat one, starting on beat eight
Partnered. Beats as counted by Europeans. Dancing the rumba basic. To timba of increasing tempo.

Exercise: a basic vacunao and defense timing
Partnered. Beats as counted by Europeans. Dancing the rumba basic. To timba of increasing tempo. Addition of the leg-raise vacunao on beat one (or five), with women's defense on the 'and' of beat one (or five).

Demonstration: points of flexibility in a basic
Two fundamental variables:

• how a rumba basic may be flexed in its centre to give rise to changes in orientations; and
• how the close step can be substituted with a front cross step.

Exercise: dance-creating four variations of a rumba basic
Solo, to music of increasing tempo. Maintenance of orientation discipline is stressed.

Section III - Dance Gears

Briefing: tresillo as a common motif in Caribbean music
Identifying the tresillo as the 3-side of son clave.

Exercise: clapping tresillo
Solo. Moderate tempo salsa and timba music. Begin by clapping son clave, then substituting all 2-sides with the tresillo.

Demonstration: tresillo as an alternative gear in rumba
Dancing a rumba basic using the regular downbeat-based dancer's rhythm, and then switching to a tresillo dance rhythm.

Exercise: dancing rumba, switching gears
Solo. To 'Sandore' by Suzzana Owiyo. Dancing rumba basic, switching between the regular down-beat gear and the tresillo gear.

Additional Materials
Loo's Instrument Layers CD
Timba Teaching CD1
Timba Teaching CD2

Yeo Loo Yen

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Five

Introduction: workshop objectives
One of the greatest challenges of Afro-Cuban dance is the learning of gestures which aren't present in the Western/European cultural lexicon. The theme of today's workshop involves the learning and practice of component movements from which the gestures are constructed; and understanding the importance of repetition in cortical mapping and building internal models of movement in the cerebellum.

Briefing: The impact of commercialisation with the Cuban cultural boom
Cuban (and non-Cuban) cultural mediators have had to consider the questions "what can I sell?" and "what do I think non-Cubans are interested in?" This has had a filtering/accentuating impact on their cultural information abroad, both subtractive and additive.

One of these is the portrayal of the guaguancó which has been hyper-genderised; disproportionately accentuated for performance purposes, and to render it more obvious from yambú. The spectrum of transition has been lost, creating perceptual genre boundaries. Portrayal of the guaguancó with greater emphasis on performance, in what is already display-based pursuit-and-capture dance, heavily biases its learning by cultural outsiders in favour of type A personalities.

Section I - An African Context

Concept: Luo movement as a context for women in guaguancó
The Luo peoples are river-based with a soft vowel rich language, who have had significant interaction with the Bantu (from whom some important aspects of Afro-Cuban culture is derived like the conga drums). The Luo women based around Lake Victoria dance from their shoulders; providing an alternative 'back-to-the-source' context for the learning of movement by non-type-A women, which can be translated into the guaguancó.

Practice: a Luo basic, in place
Dancing from the shoulders: lateral over vertical.
How the shoulder-blades meet: upper, middle and lower positions.
Quality of movement: legato (smooth) over staccato.
The effect of head position: "ears pulled up".

Practice: Luo basic, with weight transfer

Practice: Luo basic, with weight transfer, and slight change in orientation

Practice: Luo basic, timing cycles
Performed to Western cycle. Performed to African cycle.

Section II - Body Skills

Concept: 'shoulder-blades back' versus 'chest out' - more than just semantics

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, north-south
As per link below, with emphasis on shoulder-blade movement.
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/chest_front_back.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, seated, upper body, east-west
As per link below, with emphasis on shoulder-blade movement.
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/chest_sidetoside.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, free-standing/supported, hips, north-south
As per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/pelvis_front_back.html

Practice: body isolation exercise, free-standing/supported, hips, east-west
As per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/bodyskills/pelvis_sidetoside.html

Section III - Rhythm Skills

Briefing: playing open tones on the bongó
Effect of finger extension on speed.
All fingers of the hand extended, index finger slightly depressed.
Striking zones on the drum head.

Practice: bongó open tones, accenting whole beats
Alternating hands, dominant hand accent.

Practice: bongó open tones, accenting upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand accent.

Practice: bongó muffled tones, upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand thumb and fingers (in alternation) on macho drum head.
Dominant hand open tones on hembra drum head.

Practice: bongó muffled tones, upbeats
Alternating hands, non-dominant hand thumb and fingers (in alternation) on macho drum head.
Dominant hand open tones on  macho drum head.

Practice: bongó, martillo

Practice: bongó, accents on rumba clave
Alternating hands, macho drum head only, accents on rumba clave.
3-2 and 2-3 orientation.

Section IV - Guaguancó Context

Concept: the damp teacloth exercise
Developing power, commitment, and timing in the arms.

Exercise: variations of elemental arm movements
Three heights - upper, middle, lower.

Exercise: timing of the vacuano and warding it off

Context: choreography ideas
To 'Somos Cubanos' by Los Van Van.

Additional Materials
My Roots by Suzanna Owiyo
Mama Afríca by Suzzana Owiyo
Llegó... by Los Van Van

Loo Yen Yeo

Hierarchy of Advancement Workshop Four

Introductory discussion
As a dancer knowledge of percussion deepens cultural understanding, strengthens relationship with music, increases timing resolution, and helps discern genre boundaries. Put another way, it both raises the potential of a dancer, and the ability to realise that potential. To that end, rhythmic development as a percussionist is explored, and made relevant by using drumming concepts in a dancing context.

The bongó is the instrument of choice because of its:

• wide variety of tones;
• portability;
• presence in a large number of genres; and
• adaptability (can be used to interpret rhythms from other instruments).

Section I - Percussion

Briefing: salient features of a basic martillo
The ubiquitous Afro-Cuban rhythm of the son and rumba (modern) rhythm groups.

Practice: drumming a simple martillo, complete rhythm
To bolero music, increasing tempo.

Briefing: salient features of the modern guaguancó drum rhythm
The similarities, differences and ethos of modern Havana and Matanzas variants.

Practice: drumming a simple guaguancó, complete structural rhythm, Havana variant

Practice: co-operative drumming of guaguancó, Havana variant
One drums the tumba tones (ponche), another drums the conga tones.
Highlights the necessity for a master rhythm (clave)

Practice: co-operative drumming of guaguancó, Matanzas variant

Section II - Guaguancó

Concept: the engine of rumba guaguancó
The upper solar plexus as the seat of power, the cyclic motion of which ripples to the body's periphery. The upper back is a good indicator of strong drive from the engine; stretches for the upper back and shoulders is recommended when training for guaguancó.

Practice: activating the engine of the guaguancó
Solo, in place. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm.

Practice: guaguancó's basic step
Solo. Matching the basic dance rhythm to the (vocalised) core drum rhythm.
Basic step as per http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/salsaone/cucabas.html

Practice: effect of tilting the engine
Solo, in place. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm. Preparation for creating contra-body movement in the guaguancó basic.

Concept: gender roles in rumba guaguancó
Introduction to gender affirmation in Afro-Cuban dance. The unique gestures of the vacunao and ward-off.

Practice: a basic hand position and its timing
Solo. Vocalising the guaguancó core drum rhythm, later to music. Male and female positions.

Demonstration: advanced guaguancó rhythms
A comparison of folkloric, modern and popular forms. Reiterating of the centrality of rumba clave in the interpretation of guaguancó.

Briefing: some properties of clave in Cuban music
Understanding the similarities and differences of rumba and son clave. Drumming 'guaguancó con clave' and 'guaguancó contra clave', and its cultural implications.

Practice: clave from a dancer's world
Partnered, salsa. Feeling the difference in relationship between salsa's dance rhythm and rumba or son clave.

Additional Materials
Rumba 3 (Popular) rhythm pages from "Latin-American Percussion: Rhythms and Rhythm Instruments from Cuba and Brazil" by Birger Sulsbrück
Basic Strokes and Martillo rhythm pages from "The Bongo Book" by Trevor Salloum
Guaguancó 69 by Justi Barreto
Tempest by Jesse Cook
Aquí El Que Baila Gana - Live in Miami (Disk 2) by Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Llegó... by Juan Formell y Los Van Van
Pa'l Bailador by Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad
Fresquecito by Elio Revé
Homenaje 50 Años by Elio Revé
El Explosión del Momento by Orquesta Revé

Loo Yen Yeo

A Personal Journey With The Guaguancó: Basic Step

Something I bear foremost in my mind when understanding rumba is the significance of the rooster in Afro-Cuban culture. More than just a key source of protein in the Sub-Sahara, belief has it that a five-toed chicken was instrumental in raising land from water in the creation of the world. Thus much of the guaguancó as a pursuit-and-capture dance involves movements symbolising that of a gallo (rooster) circling around a gallina (hen).

I use the whole-part-whole approach as much as I can when instructing myself; one of self-education's greatest weaknesses is lack of context, so I do everything that I can to protect what little that's there; to preserve the validity of the exercises.

Eyeballing the demonstration of the basic step on the DVD, I observe that:

1. it resembles (what I call) salsa's basic cucaracha step;
2. the dance rhythm is complementary to that of the African drumming cycle, being what Europeans would describe as on1;
3. the posture is a semi-inclined torso with softened knees;
4. initiation of the basic is with a physical preparative drop of the body's centre of gravity on the verbal cue of 'y' [ Spanish for 'and'], functioning like a musical 'pick-up';
5. foot placement is ball-flat, without rise, soft and deliberately percussive;
6. weight distribution on the side step is 50/50, that is, weight is not fully committed onto the stepping foot;
7. males: the head does not face the centre-line, but orients to the outward-stepping foot;
8. males: the contra hand (opposite to the outward-stepping foot) is held on to centre-line as a loose fist, acting as counterweight;
9. males: the hand on the same side of the outward-stepping foot is held to the hip where it impacts least on stability, and creates an angle of the arm that resembles a wing;
10. females: the scarf opens out on the sidestep - the hand on the same side of the outward-stepping foot extends to its instep, the contra hand remaining on centre-line;
11. females: the scarf closes when both hands are brought together at the hip above the closing foot.

I choose to learn both roles: to glean more context, and understand the nature of interaction between them.

The role of the rumbero as a percussionist dancer is clear: rhythms of the foot placement and the weight transfer combine to establish the framework in which the accents of the arms, head and isolated body-parts are housed; it is the same principal relationship that the tumbadora/seis por ocho drums have with the quinto. So I've chosen to approach learning to dance the guaguancó the same way I'd teach the drumming of it - framework first.

Practicing the foot placements and weight transfers, I noticed a sluggishness in my out-bound side-step signified by a lack of definition on that beat of the dance rhythm. It was a combination of two problems:

1. not getting weight over the foot quickly enough; and
2. the muscle conformation around the hips required a higher level of tone to maintain stability, so I wasn't perceiving a high enough contrast in tension-release around the joint.

Thinking on it, I solved it with one exaggerated practice: dancing the basic with a deliberate feeling of toe-in (which is quite a habit to break after a lifetime of work developing a foot turn-out). The lateral weight transfer increases load to the front of the foot, then the knee/instep, then the heel, allowing weight to be controlled/located toward the heel-side of the instep upon completion of the action. The shins become vertically parallel to each other with a decent-sized step, legs now bearing equal load properly in tempo.

But most valuable of all is the improvement in the quality of kinesthesia, making the feeling of the rhythm unmissable. It's probably the greatest boon to auditory and movement synchrony. I'm happy enough, at least for now, for this to be the making of the foundation to my guaguancó.

Loo

A Personal Journey With The Guaguancó: Prelude

Rumba Guaguancó has long been an aspiration of mine, both to the drumming and its dancing. You could say that they're one and the same thing, when you get right down to it.

Although I've been able to play the structural Havana and Matanzas variants for several years, the subtleties of the quinto drum have yet eluded me - something I've put down to not having enough depth of experience in its Cuban cultural context. What's been clear for a while is the need to strengthen my ability to dance it and make better sense physically of the accents and phrasing; to inform my hands on skin.

A couple of guaguancó dance workshops were only enough to add some dimension to my salsa, helping me keep up with a Cuban rumbera absolutely born to the art currently living in Sheffield (I have to leave out the vacunaos, which the doormen would very much misconstrue). The only regular lessons nearby are with Santiago-born Guillermo in York, at times which I'd have to clone myself to make.

But I knew that the dream of the guaguancó would only realise itself through a concerted effort to dance it. So I decided on learning from recorded sources, mainly out of necessity but also as a golden opportunity to assess currently:

1. the range, distribution, quantity and quality of material available - this would inform the strategic direction of the website;
   
2. the status of my teaching skills as applied to myself - primarily observation and interpretation;
   
3. my learning abilities - speed of assimilation, adaptability, synthesis, key areas of immediate development; and
   
4. my physical abilities - particularly fundamentals of movement from previous training which might be negatively prejudicial to rumba.
   

I've opted for the material from José Alfredo Carrión's rumba DVDs to establish my foundation because:

• it offers a broad base of understanding of Cuban rumba by addressing both yambú and guaguancó;
• the performers (from Ballet Folklórico Cutumba) and producers (Academy of Cuban Folklore & Dance) deliver with a credible authenticity, free from overt marketing intent;
• the pedagogy favours qualitative learning over quantitative with deliberate pacing;
• the structure is logical and preplanned;
  
• demonstrations incorporate multiple angles where necessary;
• explanations are pre-scripted, concise and succinct; and
  
• musicians are present with the dancers throughout.

It's easy to recognise the voice of a seasoned educator.

I may not be sure how this journey will go, but one thing is for certain - it's time it was begun.

José Alfredo Carrión's rumba DVD is also available from Descarga.com
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/21627.20

Loo Yeo