Danza

Danza is a musical genre that started in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. It became popular as a ballroom dance around the turn of the twentieth century and is a bit like the waltz. Danza and its close relative, the contradanza, are dances performed in patterns, often in square shapes, to instrumental music. Unlike some other dances such as the habanera, danza was not usually sung.

There is some debate about whether danza was a completely different dance from the contradanza or just a simpler name for the same dance. During the early 1800s, the dance and its music changed to mix African and European styles. This happened because many people living in the Caribbean, known as creoles, saw the islands as their real home.

Some famous composers of danzas include Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, known as "The Father of Puerto Rican Danza," and Juan Morel Campos, who many think brought the dance to its highest level. Other important composers were Cuban Ignacio Cervantes and Curaçaoan Jan Gerard Palm.

Danza in Puerto Rico

Danza is a type of music with many different ways to express itself. The Puerto Rican national anthem, La Borinqueña, started as a danza before it was changed to sound more like an anthem. Danzas can be romantic or festive. Romantic danzas have four parts, starting with an eight-measure paseo and followed by three themes of sixteen measures each. Festive danzas are more free-form, with just an introduction and a fast rhythm.

The paseo part of a romantic danza had 8 measures of music without a fixed rhythm, while couples would circle the room gracefully. The merengue part grew from 16 measures to 34 measures in 1854, where couples held each other and moved in turns similar to a waltz.

The danza likely began around 1840 as a reaction to the very strict contradanza and was influenced by Cuban immigrants and their habanera music. Young pianist Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, who studied in Paris, helped the danza grow, and his student, Juan Morel Campos, created over 300 beautiful danzas.