Rumba

The dance of love! A slow rhythmic dance that always attracts a large number of dancers on to the floor; Rumba is extremely popular and is danced by most dancers. In particular the ladies all aspire to present the rumba with the utmost poise and movement. A good rumba action is considered one of the greatest attributes that a dancer can attain.

The origins of the Rumba are from African slaves brought to Cuba by the Spanish. Rumba is the spirit and the soul of latin music, the movement, drama, expression and captivating rhythms of this dance all contribute to the great popularity in our club. The feature of the dance is the man trying to get the girl who flirts and moves away to return and toy with his advances. One specific step the Cucaracha is thought to represent the crushing of cockroaches; a useful way to think of this step!

In the same way that the Cha Cha can be linked to the Quickstep the Rumba is often considered the counterpart of the Foxtrot; both share some of the most delightful music and rhythms. The Rumba is danced to music with four beats to the bar; a key feature of the dance is a ‘stop' on the one beat, dancers only moving on the count of two. In the United Kingdom the Rumba was popularised in the 1930's my Monsieur Pierre and Doris Lavelle who introduced this and other Latin American dance to their London studio. The version of the Rumba introduced by Pierre and Lavelle was eventually, in 1955, established as the ‘officially' recognised version of the dance.

The basic Rumba step can be easily learnt by the novice dancer, of great importance is that the early dancer learns the basic timing of the Rumba and under no account should be tempted to shortcut the dance by dancing on the first beat, a little perseverance will soon get the rhythm correct.