Saint-Domingue refugees bring contradanza and tumba francesa

1800-01-01 · 1800

By 1800, people fleeing the Haitian Revolution had settled in eastern Cuba. They brought contradanza, a salon couple dance, and tumba francesa, drum-and-dance societies. Later Cuban salon dances, including danzón, grew from that mix. “The all-important historical and musical connections between Cuba, Haiti (“the Atlantis of the Caribbean”), and New Orleans” — Ted Henken, music historian, “From Son to Salsa,” Latin American Research Review 41, no. 3 (2006), p. 189.

Genres: Contradanza, Tumba francesa