geography of rhythm5
N
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~·igun· 12.1
(JcugrnJlhin of !?In t/1111
Rumba hand performing in Los Sitios neighbourhood. Havana,
2005 (Photograph hy author)
tndl..'r-publi~.--i/l..'d rumba tl:sti\ al ran from the 2 1::-.t to the 2Xth Deu:mbcr 2005. with
umha pl..'r...
N
~)()
~·igun· 12.1
(JcugrnJlhin of !?In t/1111
Rumba hand performing in Los Sitios neighbourhood. Havana,
2005 (Photograph hy author)
tndl..'r-publi~.--i/l..'d rumba tl:sti\ al ran from the 2 1::-.t to the 2Xth Deu:mbcr 2005. with
umha pl..'rllmntull'~.-'" 1..'\ lT~ d
1 h1
ktlll\\·lcdgl..' of rumba rhythms must come from ·inside· the body. that t\11..' rhythms arL'
·in your blnod' ami. in somc way'. inherited or passed dm\ n through bmily relation-;.
By n:krring to his grandparents" in\"ohement in the 5iocicdud de .\'c.u.m.l. Drci~cr
..,uggcsh that this hi:-.tury contributes to his ahilit~ as a rumhidcrs undcr~tcmdingc-. o frhythm ic ;md racial natures
in mure ddail to determine whether they im nkc li,ed ur ile,iblc understanding:-
llr the body. \\'ith rell::rcnce tu the \\·orJ... of fcmini:-.t philo:-.opher 1:\i/abeth ()nlS/.
t 1994) and social anthropologist Peter \Vade (2002 ), I :-.uggl..'<.;~ that although · racc · r~.-·nwins a highly' unnatural category' of bodily dilfercnce. likc rumba rhythms.
racial idcntitic:-. become parttlfthc developing bndy. Fir:-.L hm\"1..'\CL I begin \\'ith
ity, \\t)rkcrs in
the pnrts often impnl\"iscd ttl create pcrcussiYc instruments nut of disused shipping
hl)"\.es ( SuhlettL'. 2004 ). \1any rumba perl(mners continue tn usc \\nod en bo:\CS
\tl pby nnnha de cajrjn and rumba is \\ idcl~ undnstnod a~ music that can be
made !'n)\ll anything aYai\able: kitchen spoons. sticJ...-;. ("ll\\" bc\1~. kitchcn tables
'~llhob of tilL' social changes
enacted by the llC\\ rc\olutionary gO\LTnnll.:nt (Kut/in.-.;l .. j. 1993: .\1oore. 2006).
Tlw go\'ernment also declared an end to racial sl'grL'gation and social unity h~.-'L'<'IlllC
. Suon. IHn\"C\ cr. tkhak' on issUL'" nfr;tcial discrimination
\\'lls forbidden as it \\" or racial di lfnentutt ion ( On1\ io 19XS).
Rcfl:arding contemporary Cuba. scholar~ such a~ PL·dro 1\:ro ')arduy ( 1 lJlJ()) argul'
tlwt c !aims or unglling {lr rene\\"L'(l l'al'id I discrim i llati(ln o!kn del ihcrately lgllllrC (Jr
l
i
1
R11111h(l und l?h_rlhlllic '.\'arurc.\ 'in ( 'ulhi 16.:1
disn1iss tilL' prot,.'TL'~S matk b_y the Rcvolution. Concerns cntation together· ( \997h: 2). Desmo11d ~tresse:-. the need
Ill con-;idcr the material and representational a:-.pccts of dancl' lllllll!cd~L othcm ise
l'L'-;earchcrs risK "the cuntinuing rhetorical association or bndily e'.:pre~si\·ity \\·ith
nondominant groups" ( l l)97a: 30). She suggests. therefore, that approaches to dance.
rhythmic C\.pressiYcness and embodiment need to cunsidcr thl' sucial sig:nitlcanccs
or rhythm am\ dance including how thl') represent social distinctions such as
racial categories as \\ell hin n(Rin rh111
the \\·orld \\hich is currently all but imisible to \\urkcr':'> 1nthc social sciences and
humanities. with their intellectualist bent. that part \\ hich i::-. practical rather than
L·ogniti\c· (ibid.}. fk goes on to claim that dance is about play: 'dance is not selr
e\'idcntly about discourses of p(l\\ cr and control. It i~ about pluy' ( 144 ). He defines
play a:-. 'gratuitou':'>.' 'hee.· ·not cumulati\'c.' ·rule hound hut with rule:-. internal to
the game.· 'dillicult to command and control' and 'lucated' ( l.f6J. Thrill's ideas
<.tbout dance dirrer somewhat from Desmond's. htn\'l'\CT. She asserts that dance
is a representation of ::.ocial distinctions a.;, \\L·II a:-. a form or hodily expression
and experience ( 1997b: 13). Thrift. hO\\e\eL suggests that dance is th:~e and more
ahmlt play than relations or power.
Other geographers also find merit in a non-representational approach to dance.
(ieorge Rc\'ill (:~004: ~0~}. ror example. poinb out that non-representational
theory colllrihute:-. to research because it shills intellectual focus tm\·ard ·ordinary'
practices and so ·prm ides opportunity l{)r less hierarchic. more polJ \'ocal studies
or culturL·.· Tim CresS\\'l'll (20()(): 73) claims that. '(T)his line of thinking has
l'karly opened up important Ill'\\ mcnues !ix human gL·ogmphy. · I lind some
aim:- ornon-rcp!Tscntational theorJ compatible\\ ith this re5earch as well. such as
it:-. attention to 'practices of subjectification· and 'the decentcring or the subject'
(Thrill. !997: 1~7). I also agree with its attempt to pay attention to a5pects of
emhodied l':\perience~ or rhythm and dance. Hm\·c\·er. as Catherine Nash points
out. IHlll-representational theory also seems to reassert dualistic thinking about
body practiL·es such as dance.
She note-, that non-representational thl'ory relics on a dualism between
thnught and action. the d)Ccts of which arc four-l{J]d: it is at odds with
Jk'ri{Jrmati\ ity hL'Cause it ignores the producti\c role of ]JO\\er in constituting
:-uh_jccti\ity: it lends itself to esscntiali:-.t readings of dance as ·natural·: it 'docs
11ot prn\ ide a model for L'lTecti\e political strategy nor u~erul cultural politics'
and its ·:-.L'llSl' or dance beyond language aprears unable. despite the stress on
rclatiolldl c;L'hL·:-. adcqudtcly to combine a "cnsc of the social or social relations
\\·ith thL· unan;lly:-.ablc world of the prccognitiH· or preretlecti\e· C:WOO: 657)
:\:--\lash point:-. out. by suggesting that the practical and the cogniti\e as well as
play and pm\cr arc necessarily oppo~ed. Thrirt asserts . the body has
lnng been associatl...':d \\·ith non-dominant groups through hicrarchically \alued
hi nar)' pair:-. such a:-. 111 i nd.ibod y. human/anima I. rat ion a I ·emotional ( (.irost.. I 994:
Price and Shildrick. 1999: Longhurst. 2001 }.
Desmond's point about the cffech of dualistic thinking remains imrortant
\\hen cnn':'>idcring rumba rhythms as welL For instance. Lm1is :\. PCrcL. Jr. (~OOX:
Jl)l)J, points out that in the ]9~0s rumha wa:.. n1nsidcred ·distinctly Arrican and
di:-.mi:-.sed contemptuous\:' by the Cuban middle class.· :--..lnremer. rumba rhythms
~nnjured ideas of ·sex and sensuousness. the lewd and libidinous ... the primitive.
the c\.otic. and the notic' (ibid.). Clearly'. these under:-.tanding:.. of rumba derloy
~terL·otypical and dualistic assuciations of blackness with the body and e:\cessive
"l.'.\Uality. Although similar attitudes about rumba pcrsi:-.t today. they are more
llpcnly contested through government endorsement of Afro-Cuban cultural centres
aml ll)lklorc programs in universities ( ~1oore ~006: 176 }. At the same time.
lHl\\ever. these arguments about the signitlcance of rumba and the embodiment of
rhythm remain limited. For instance. both Desmond and Perc; fail to account f{)r
embodied experiences of rumba and rhythm by musicians and dancers .. Attention
\l) li\ed exrericnccs allows us to question runher hmv references to rhythmic
natures \\·ork. MorcO\cr. consideration of embodied experiences of rumba music
\\ill prnduce more possibilities tll!· rhythmic subjecti\'ity than those identillcd thus
l·<~r (e.g. \ev.:d. se:\ual. c.\otic).
Finally. while I rccogni7c the importance of disrupting c:-.scntiaL categnrical
;)'.-;pciations. such as those mentioned by lksmnnd. her claim that notion::- of
'ha\'ing rhythm· rely' t)n a body.:'mind di\idc l~tils tu account tl1r \\hat ·having
1·h:thm' might mean to different people in different places. To produce diverse
understandings of rh.ythmic embodiment. we need to cnn::-.1Lkr representations.
lllatnial it y and embodied ex pcricnces in tandem rather than tlpposit ion (Cresswell.
2tl06: Ldcnsor and HolhnntJ. 200X). Thcrct{)re. it remains crucial to ask: hm\
d11 rumba performers in Cuba experience rhythm 11 as essential associations ofdanct:. rhythm and the body\\ ith certain groups of
people. the next section emphasizes ho\\ rhythmic responsi\·eness is learned and
lwconws natural and instineti\c.
Bt•coming natural: t'ating and sleeping rhythm
Fm all rumba performers. it i~ es<.,enti~ll that rhythrnic responsi\eness hccolllcs
unthought. immcdialL' and in a sense. natural as in ·second nature' (\Vade. 2004).
In l~1cL the lluid practice uf music and dance demand tlw inter11~1li/ation of
rhythm. In dance training cbsse,;;. or hanging: out. dancing: at home. this often
means that body mo\em._·nts arc joined to the rhythm ur the music through
practices of counting out loud (PIH:Ian. 199(1). To make dance become play,
m in pcrfonnancl'. lHl\\l_'\'er. thl' practice of C(lllnting must disapp<.:ar. The
disappearance of the counting. thinking and ll'arning: that produces rumba dance
creates the appl'arance or bodies seamlcssly:. naturally rl'sponsi\'e to the time
of the music. The process of learning the basic count of the rhythm is often
intcnsi\e and i::-, undl'rstood a~ getting the rhy·tllm ·inside' thl' hody. as one of my
mstructors suggests:
Richt1rd i<:lb me that whL·n \\ e begin classes he\\ ill first ha\ e me practice playing
the clcl\'e I a kc:. rhythmic pattern that keeps time 1 \\ ith sroons. thut wa:. I \\ill
internali/l' the rh:.thm. 1-iL' says that the dancer carriL'S thL' cla,-e inside and he
puints ttl his ch.:st. 'Thtlt \\<\)'. tlh.' dancer i'> in contrul. lllllthc lllU'iic. · hl' -.;a:."- I k
tlll'n puinh uut that tllll'l' the dancer master<> the cla\·e. the drum can do whatcvcr
it \\all h. <>peed up. tllllT
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