The close connection between music and dance in Cuban society has been openly

discussed, but the specific genres of music and their role in society are not as well
known. To better understand the interplay between Cuban society and the musical
genre of danzó n, one should first investigate the end of the Hatian revolution and
how the history is connected to the genre and how it developed in Cuba. Next, an
examination of Miguel Faílde and his contribution to the genre is necessary. Lastly,
by exploring the effects of danzó n on Cuban society and the attitudes towards the
new genre of music it will illustrate that danzó n positively affected Cuban society
and allowed artists to express their cultures, beliefs and form a new sense of
cubanidad despite the backlash they received.

Before discussing the events of the Haitain revolution it is important to recognize

that without the revolution the genre would have never been created. This single
event marks the beginning of the story of Danzó n. Toussaint-Louverture gained
control of the French colony of Saint Dominique in 1791. (Cite) Toussaint managed to
gather other former slaves and the rebels of the colony to form his own guerilla army.
(cite) He employed two other former slaves Dessalines and Henri Christophe, to help him
command his army. (cite) Eventually in 1801 Toussaint became the governor of Saint
Dominique and freed slaves from the Spanish conquered areas of the colony. (cite) In
1802 Napoleon ordered an invasion of the island and the battle between the Haitians and
the French lasted for many months. (cite) Until Toussaint gave up and was taken captive
where he later died. (cite) Shortly after Toussaint was taken captive, Napoleon voiced his
plan to reintroduce slavery in Haiti. (cite) This caused an influx of Haitians and French to
other parts of the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, in order to escape being taken into
slavery. (cite Danzon) With these people came the music and dance of Contradanza, later
called Habanera by people living outside of Cuba. (cite danzon) Contradanza is the
Carribean version of contradanse, which was said to be a very popular genre of the 18th
century. (cite FINDWORDS) Contradanza is the first music whose rythmn is based on an
African style rythmn. (cite FINDWORDS) After many years of the contradanza genre in
Cuba it began to transform into the genre of Danzón. (cite Danzon)

This new wave of music is said to be credited to a man named Miguel Faílde. Faílde
was born on December 23rd 1852 in Caobas, Matanzas. (cite ENCARIBE) As a child
his father, Cá ndido Faílde, saw his sons interest in music and in 1864 Faílde became
a cornet player for the Banda Municipal de Bomberos de Matanzas. (cite ENCARIBE)
In 1871 Miguel Faílde founded his orchestra, in which he worked as a director and
cornet player; with the men from the Banda Municipal de Bomberos de Matanzas.
His orchestra consisted of Pancho Morales and Juan Cantero on the violin, Eduardo
Faílde and Cá ndido Faílde on the clarinet and Pascual Carreras on the kettle drum,
and a few other members. (cite ENCARIBE) It is said that on January 1st 1879 Miguel
Faílde presented for the first time his song called "Las Alturas de Simpson" and this
song is considered to be the first created in the Danzon genre. (cite bilingham) The
introduction of the song begins with eight bars that are repeated, the first part of the
song has sixteen bars in total and the second has over thirty-two bars. (cite
ENCARIBE) Some of these songs had up to five sections, but the order of
instruments was always the same first the clarinet or flute, next the violin, followed
by a solo from the flute player, and lastly the orchestras interpretation of the melody
played in unison. (cite ENCARIBE) Later the cuban drum called a timbal was added
This music was accompanied by dance steps to which the pair of dancers would
adjust the pace of the dance to the melody of the music. (cite CONEXION)As the
genre became more popular the new way in which the dancers were able to channel
the pace and melody in the movement of their steps was shocking and began to
cause concern. Slowly but surely the genre of Danzó n began to integrate into Cuban
society.

‘The danzón is a site in which notions of race and gender have intersected with national
imaginaries, producing radically different meanings at particular historical moments.’
(cite googlebooks p 75) This quote perfectly illustrates how impactful danzon was on
Cuban society and identity and the radical changes it brought with it. When danzon first
became popular it was associated with the Haitians, or black people in general, which
caused most of society to have a negative attitude towards the genre. (cite googlebooks p
76) The lyrics were provocative for the time such as this line from the song Bonito y
Sabroso by Benny Moré “Pero qué bonito y sabroso bailan el mambo las mejicanas
mueven la cintura y los hombros igualito que las cubanas” (cite letras) There were also
lyrics about the lower classes such as El Carretera by Guillermo Portables, “Soy Guajiro
y carretero guamba en el campo vivo bien”. (cite lyrics) This sparked media outlets such
as magazines and daily newspapers to harshly criticize danzón; reflecting the elites fear
and disgust of having the races mingling and lower class issues. (cite googlebooks p 76)
During the period of time when Cuba was fighting wars of independence against Spain in
the 19th century, danzón was under more scrutiny due to the white people fearing and
rejecting anything African in order to maintain their sense of power and control. (cite
googlebooks p 76) Strangely in the 20th century danzóns link to the African community
became distanced and the constant attacks on the genre ceased. (cite googlebooks p 76)
This was an attempt by the white people in Cuba to regain control and maintain their
social standing. Furthermore this genre was adopted by the elite class and soon became
the aristocratic dance of Cuba. (cedar)

As a result of the Haitian revolution and the immigration across the Caribbean
Danzon became an integral part of Cuban society. The influence of the revolution on
the genre and the contributions by Miguel Faílde to Danzon and how that impacted
Cuban society is now clear. After having examined the journey of danzon through
out history, it is now obvious that danzon exemplifies cubanidad. It does so in the
sense that danzon is a product of transculturation exactly like the culture of Cuba
and that Cubanidad is not one single race or nationality but an identity developed
out of the mixture of cultures.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/haitian-
independence-proclaimed (HAITIAN REV)
http://www.danzon.com/eng/history/cuban-music.htm (DANZON)

https://findwords.info/term/contradanza (FINDWORDS)
http://www.billinghamfestival.co.uk/billinghamfestival/billfest/media/
danzonHistory.pdf (BILINGHAM)

http://www.encaribe.org/es/article/miguel-failde/411 (ENCARIBE)

http://conexioncubana.net/generalidades-de-la-musica-cubana/515-el-danzon
(CONEXION)

https://books.google.ca/books?
id=2XFBAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=danzon+and+society&source=bl&ots
=Dk-QmkxjKq&sig=KYJ-
9jnePZTUQVUIH3iUWv6ea8o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi41-
HDtMzQAhUN9GMKHQocCXUQ6AEIJzAB#v=onepage&q=danzon%20and
%20society&f=false (google books)

http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/soc/ccameron/soc215/cuba/cuba .htm
(cedar)
https://www.letras.com/beny-more/1199903/ (letras)

http://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=2234964 (lyrics)