Cuban Rumba: Cultural Identity

Catalog description

This course is a theory and practice course, designed for students interested in exploring the layered social and cultural history of Cuba, through the lens of its national dance, the rumba. Cuban rumba is made up of three different dances: guaguanco, yambu, and columbia; which this course will focus on embodying, while simultaneously examining its history and place within society. Inside the theoretical conversations, the focus will shift and build from its African and Spanish lineage to social repression on the island, architecture as a container for community and performance, gender agency, and cultural identity appropriation.