What is Rumba?
'''Rumba''' is a [[music]] and [[dance]] term with two different meanings. First, it means [[Cuban]] event of African style, the rumba genre of [[Cuban music|Afro-Cuban music]].<ref>Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. Duke, Durham NC. p191</ref><ref>Daniel, Yvonne 1995. ''Rumba: Dance and social change in contemporary Cuba''. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN.</ref> This use of the term 'rumba' is quite different from the Latin [[ballroom dance]]. Second, it refers to one of the Latin [[ballroom dance]]s. In this sense, the Rumba is the slowest of the five competitive International Latin dances. The [[Paso doble]], the [[Samba]], the [[Cha-cha-cha]] and the [[Jive (dance)|Jive]] are the others. This ballroom Rumba was also danced in Cuba to a rhythm they call the ''bolero-son''. The international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period.<ref name=Lavelle>Lavelle, Doris 1983. ''Latin & American dances''. 3rd ed, Black, London.</ref> == Rumba outside Cuba == The ''[[Peanut Vendor]]'' was the first recording of Cuban music to become an international hit.<ref>Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. vol 4, p147 </ref> It was described on the label as a ''rumba'', perhaps because the word ''son'' would not be understood in English. The label stuck, and a 'rumba craze' developed through the 1930s. This kind of rumba was introduced into dance salons in America and [[Europe]] in the 1930s, and was characterized by variable tempo, sometimes nearly twice as fast as the modern ballroom Rumba. === Ballroom Rumba === The modern style of dancing the Rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher [[Monsieur Pierre]] (Pierre Zurcher-Margolle).<ref>Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing 2004. ''100 years of dance: a history of the ISTD Examinations Board''. London. p62</ref><ref>Julie McMain's ''Glamour Addiction'' notes that Pierre Margolle's professional name was ''Monsieur Pierre''; he and his partner were commonly refer