Danza la Rumba playlist

Dance the Rumba! - Rumba in Italy – 1

Like all dances of Latin American origin, the Rumba became extremely popular in Europe, arriving in Italy in the 1930s. The Rumba was born in late nineteenth-century Cuba. Its fusion of  rhythms of Spanish origin and those of African origin is a consequence of the rural exodus. After the abolition of slavery, the black populations left the countryside, where they were exploited in farming, to settle in the city. Sensually explicit in its choreography, the Rumba was “softened” by the European bourgeoisie in the attempt to curb, at least initially, its powerful sensual overtones and exuberant rhythmic structure. It was often associated with the foxtrot and adapted, as this playlist demonstrates, to local themes, such as La rumba dell'ortolano or La rumba dei cocomeri.