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How contradance and quadrille gave rise to merengue, danzón and other popular Creole dances
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean
Includes CD
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edited by Peter Manuel
"The European strain represented in the Caribbean by contradance and quadrille is fascinating as part of a growing scholarly recognition of the fundamental importance of that art to many cultures. The focus on dance in addition to music is timely, and the contributors—all very respected scholars—are authoritative, yet lucid. This is a very important book."
—Julian Gerstin, Keene State College
The contradance and quadrille, in their diverse forms, were the most popular, widespread, and important genres of creole Caribbean music and dance in the nineteenth century. Throughout the region they constituted sites for the interaction of musicians and musical elements of different racial, social, and ethnic origins, and they became crucibles for the evolution of genres like the Cuban danzón and son, the Dominican merengue, and the Haitian mereng.
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean i is the first book to explore this phenomenon in detail and with a pan-regional perspective. Individual chapters by respected area experts discuss the Spanish-, French-, and English-speaking Caribbean. For each area, they cover the musical and choreographic features, social dynamics, and historical development and significance and consider them in relation to the broader Caribbean historical context. This groundbreaking text fills a significant gap in studies of social dance and Caribbean cultural history.
Excerpt
Reviews
"Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean tackles a significant topic of interest to Caribbeanists and more generally to ethnomusicologists and dance ethnologists. Examining the important legacies of the contradance and quadrille in the Caribbean basin in a comparative perspective and across national lines, this volume furthers research on the topic and captures the state of the field"
—Gage Averill, Vice-Principal Academic and Dean, University of Toronto at Mississauga
Contents
1. Introduction: Contradance and Quadrille Culture in the Caribbean
2. Cuba: From Contradanza to Danzón
3. Puerto Rico: The Rise and Fall of the Danza as National Music
4. The Dominican Republic: Danza and the Contradanced Merengue
5. Creole Quadrilles of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and St. Lucia
6. Haiti: Tracing the Steps of the Méringue and Contredanse
7. The English-Speaking Caribbean: Re-embodying the Colonial Ballroom
Contributors
Contents of the Compact Disc
Index
About the Author(s)
 | Peter Manuel is Professor of Music at John Jay College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author of six books and many articles on musics of India, the Caribbean, Spain, and other regions, including East Indian Music in the West Indies: Tân-Singing, Chutney, and the Making of Indo-Caribbean Culture (Temple). He also plays sitar, jazz piano, and flamenco guitar. |
Subject Categories
Music and Dance
Latin American/Caribbean Studies
Anthropology
In the series
Studies in Latin American and Caribbean Music, edited by Peter Manuel.
Studies in Latin American and Caribbean Music, edited by Peter Manuel, aims to present interdisciplinary studies in the traditional and contemporary musics of Latin America and the Caribbean.