Photo source: Ritmo Bello

ABSTRACT: The Cuban rumba complex is a rich and deeply contextualized tradition that encompasses verbal, material, and customary elements of folklore. Rooted in the history of the African slave trade, Cuba’s native Taíno inhabitants, and colonialism, the Cuban rumba is a link to the past for lower class Cubanos of color, preserving ancestral traditions while increasing visibility and agency in ways that address racial inequalities. This website presents the formal and contextual elements of the Cuban rumba complex, expounding its musical and danced components, as well as the roles social context and government interference play in this fundamentally Cuban tradition.

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