#danzon

Plaza De Danzón - Mexico City

Every Saturday crowds of people get together in the square to dance to Danzón, a Cuban style of music that is very popular in Mexico City. It’s open to anyone, of any level and age, although it is very popular with the older generation.

Danzón (1991)

“Ahora quiere que le baile pegadito, por favor ponme un danzón”

Blog 3: Controversy & Cultural Change

You can trace the development of both the danzon and the son from its origins in Afrocuban working class communities, to its emergence as Cuban “national culture”. The “controversy” surrounding the danzon was because if its strong associations with Afrocubans and Haitians. Developing as early as 1850, the dance was appropriated in the 1870s by black social clubs, thus transforming it into a “respectable” ballroom dance. The controversy surrounding the danzon lasted through the 1870s and 1880s, when it was deemed “diabolical”. It was seen as contrary to Christian teachings and there were also associations with prostitution and “improper” racial mixing. This led to the prohibition of danzon performances in various cities during the 1880s. With the US occupation of Cuba starting in 1898, there was an influx of North American dances like the 2 step and the fox trot. These dances combined with the traditional danzon to give it a new meaning. As it became more widely accepted, its African roots basically disappeared. In the 1910s and 1920s, musicologist and composer Ed Sanchez de Fuentes denied any Afrocuban influence on danzon at all. The development of the son is basically the same story. It originated within the Afrocuban working class, before being appropriated by urban dance bands. This led to its dissemination and nationwide popularization in the 1950s. 

In Echale Salsita: Sones and Musical Revolution, Moore addresses cultural changes over time. He argues that culture is not “passed down”, but rather it is actively recreated with each new generation. The emergence, perpetuation, and decline of cultural practices reflect socioeconomic trends, political events, technological developments, and resultings changes in how people conceive themselves in relation to others. (Moore, p. 87) In both readings, Moore gives examples of a number of these things having a large cultural impact. In “Controversy over the Danzon”, Moore places the danzon into the historical context of the Cuban Wars of Independence. This major political event gave rise to highly nationalistic ideas in Cuba. The development of a national identity was crucial for creating a united people in moments of crisis, which led to fundamental shifts in Cuban acceptance of Afrocuban expressions. In Echale Salsita, one of the biggest factors in creating cultural change is the emergence of a new technology: radio. The radio brought change in many different ways. The diffusion of music happened much faster, and there was also the desire to profit from the growing working-class consumer markets. The radio brought the son out of Afrocuban communities and made it part of the mainstream culture. The emergence of these performances as “national culture” still heavily favored white musicians and performers. There was a history of white musicians ripping off black musicians, in part because of music illiteracy. You can’t copyright a song if you can’t notate it, so white musicians would steal songs from black musicians, notate them themselves, and then get the recognition (and profit) that rightfully belonged to the black musicians. Discrediting black musicians only helped further the idea that these performances were a natural part of Cuban culture, and further denies its Afrocuban roots.