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<i>Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean</i> (review)

2010; University of Texas Press; Volume: 31; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/lat.2010.0016

1536-0199

Robin Moore,

Asian Culture and Media Studies

Reviewed by: Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean Robin Moore Manuel, Peter , ed. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2009. Cloth, ISBN 978-1-59213-734-3, $69.50. Electronic version also available. Compact disc, index, bibliography. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean focuses on an understudied repertoire, that of 18th- and 19th-century music for dancing and socializing. This is a much-needed study that draws new connections between the music of many Caribbean islands, underscoring common developmental patterns. Manuel himself (2) notes that most musical studies in the Caribbean have tended to limit themselves to a particular region rather than synthesizing literature from multiple areas. The volume makes significant strides towards rectifying this situation. Creolizing Contradance is specialized, and will probably be most appropriate for graduate classes or for scholars, though the introductory essay might serve as a good introduction to processes of creolization in undergraduate courses. The introduction, by Peter Manuel, discusses the development of the contradance and quadrille, some of the earliest forms of European dance music to become popular among all social classes. He then describes Caribbean music making and dance in the 18th century and the processes by which the contradance spread to the region. Manuel notes the similarity of line-style contradance to many African-derived recreational dances of the time and suggests that slaves may have identified with the form readily [End Page 275] for that reason. He views the creolized dance forms that emerged in the Caribbean as mediating between European and African musical aesthetics. The introduction includes information about the many rhythmic cells and ostinatos associated with creolized contradance. Perhaps most importantly, it addresses the complexities of the process of creolization itself, including the countless European and African elements influencing one another, the gamut of groups involved in music making on any given island, the numerous sites of creolization in the colonial Caribbean (the plantation owner’s house, private theaters, public dances, rural communities, etc.), and the various ways that past authors have theorized creolization. Chapter 2, also by Manuel, focuses on Cuba. It addresses questions of exactly how the contradance (known locally as contradanza) came to the island and was popularized, in the process questioning assumptions by earlier authors such as Alejo Carpentier. Manuel underscores the importance of dance and dance music to colonial Cuban society and documents the many dance academies and public dances that they attended. He notes the centrality of black and mulatto musicians to musical life. He continues by analyzing early published contradanza scores for overall form and musical characteristics. Toward the end of this chapter, Manuel suggests that the prominent habanera bass pattern in the contradanza may have led to the development of the anticipated bass in salsa and other modern dance music. Likewise, he suggests that the frequent “claved” bass patterns and melodies found in the repertoire may have contributed fundamentally to the development of 20th-century son. The chapter ends with discussion of four prominent composers of contradanzas and related danzas—Saumell, Gottschalk, Cervantes, and Lecuona—with information about the danzón that developed out of the danza in the 1870s or so, the tumba francesa, and the habanera genre. Chapter 3 on Puerto Rican contradance variants, written jointly by Manuel and Edgardo Díaz Díaz, discusses the emergence of the Puerto Rican danza from the Cuban contradanza, noting its distinct formal qualities and early controversies over its appropriateness for public entertainment. They describe three primary periods of Puerto Rican danza: (1) an early stage, roughly 1840–80, culminating in the compositions of Manuel Gregorio Tavárez; (2) a zenith of popularity in the 1880s and 1890s associated with the works of Juan Morel Campos; and (3) a slow period of decline in the early 20th century, represented by the works of José Ignacio Quintón and others. Individual pieces are discussed in detail, with extended transcriptions. Chapter 4, by Manuel, discusses traditions in the Dominican Republic. Tracing the outlines of dance music history in that country, Manuel notes the poor state of research on the topic and the lack of documentation on 19th-century dance entertainment. He discusses genres from the [End Page 276] 19th century that...