The History of Salsa Music and Dance
Dedicated to Yemayá, the Orisha of the Sea

by Heather Wong-Xoquic

The Traditional Music and Religion Survives

The majority of Africans brought to Cuba by the Spanish as slaves, during the 1500's, were Yoruba of Nigeria and Bantu of Congo and Angola.In the beginning, the Africans were divided into mixed tribal groups to prevent communication and plotting. This created such depression among the Africans and loss of labor for the Spanish, that the system was rearranged along ethnic lines. The Spanish in counsel with the Catholic Church set up 'Cabildos' (tribal community centers).

The allowance of African tribal unity by the Spanish was a key point in Cuba's musical and spiritual history.The survival of traditional African music, dance and religion inevitably mixed with that of Europe. The wealth of that legacy is what we claim as our own today.

Lucumí, honoring the Orisha

The Yoruba Afro-Cuban religion became known as 'Lucumí' or 'Santería' (the latter named for what the Spanish saw as an excessive attention to the Catholic saints). The Yoruba pantheon of deities, called 'Orisha', lived on behind a façade of Catholicism that was used as a camouflage for the continuation of their religious practices. Each saint was twinned with an Orisha of likeness. Lucumí ceremonies use drums to invoke the Orishas (each Orisha has a complex set of rhythms). The dancers embody the spirit of each Orisha, honoring the Gods and Goddesses by presenting the appropriate dances. The most important type of drum, the batá, which sings the songs of the African slaves, until recently was only played by the 'Balabao' (priest). Some batá drums are hundreds of years old, still protected as holy relics in temples in Cuba. The gorgeous rhythms of Modern Salsa music come (in part) from these sacred Lucumí drums. (Next)