Introduction
The first African slaves were brought to the Americas in the 1500’s; African music survived in a subliminal stage for almost two centuries, transmitted in a semi-clandestine way among slaves crowded in barracks and dying of exhaustion. African music in Cuba emerged from this larval stage during the nineteenth century, with the massive importation of slaves—especially from Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin and the Congo-- that marked the sugar boom in the island as Cuba took over the sugar market that had been vacated by the Haitian revolution and the newly independent former British colonies. In this module it is essential to stress the difference between the way African culture fared in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies as opposed to the British colonies, where African instruments, dances and rituals all but disappeared. <more>

The Yuka is the direct ancestor of the Yambú, the slowest type of Rumba. It is a dance of pursuit and seduction, climaxing with the vacunao or suggestive hip movement.

The Makuta, a fast Congolese rhythm, was the ancestor of the Guaguancó and the Columbia. It has a fast tempo that becomes increasingly frenzied.