Afro-Cuban Rumba

There are 3 types of Afro-Cuban Rumba - Yambú, Guaguancó and Columbia i.e. brought to Cuba by the slaves of Africa. The video clip below is a Basic Yambú lesson with Twice Tropicana World Champion Rafael and 3 times Champion Yanet (who is also featured in one of the Salsa Video Clips). Both Yambú & Guaguancó are suggestive whereby the ladies tease the male & the male attempts to conquer the ladies.

The video clip below is a Guaguancó show with Jorge Camaguey with Misledys (who are also featured in one of the Salsa Video Clips). Note that a small part of their performance includes Yambú & some moves associated with Son dancing (See above). This could be another possible reason for the confusion over the name Rumba when it was introduced to non-Cubans. Guaguancó differs from Yambú because it includes a thrusting action known as a "vacunao" signifying a sexual act. The vacunao can be with any part of the man's body or with a scarf if he has one such as in the clip below.

The video clip below is Rumba Columbia show. This is traditionally only danced by men & is where they demonstrate their athletic ability, agility & speed. This is the only dance where the percussionist is supposed to follow the dancer rather than the dancer follow the beat of the drums.

The video clip below is a very entertaining mix of 2 types of Afro-Cuban Rumba Yambú for the first 3 minutes or so followed by Guaguancó in show by Homero Gonzalez with Amanda and Sharon.

The video clip below shows International style Rumba performed by the present professional World Latin Dance Champions Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis.

See how soon before you spot Michael Malitowski & Joanna Leunis again below winning another championship in Blackpool (the Mecca of Ballroom & Latin-American dancing) in 2008.

Note that this dance bears no resemblance to Afro-Cuban Rumba at the bottom of this page. It is most likely that there was a language problem when this dance was originally brought to Europe & America from Cuba. International style Rumba is a cross between Bolero & Son which are also shown below. Note that Son & International style Rumba & Bolero all break on beat 2 not on 1 as in Salsa.

The video clip below shows Son which is considered to be the dance from which many other Latin-American dances originated. i.e. Chachacha, Salsa & Mambo & International style (Latin-Ballroom) Rumba all originated from Son. Note that the timing is not same as salsa - there are stepping on beats 2,3 & 4 rather than 1,2 & 3.

The video clip below shows Bolero. Note how similar the movement is to the International style Rumba above. The music, however, is so much slower.