The contradance and the quadrille, in their diverse forms, were the most popular and important genres of creole Caribbean music and dance in the nineteenth century. Throughout the region, they were sites of interaction for musicians and musical elements of different racial, social, and ethnic origins, and they became crucibles for the evolution of genres like the Cuban danzon and son, the Dominican merengue, and the Haitian mereng. Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean, the first book to explore this phenomenon in detail and with a pan-regional perspective, includes chapters on the Spanish-, French-, and English-speaking Caribbean. Each covers the musical and choreographic features, social dynamics, historical development, and significance of the genres and discusses them in relation to the broader Caribbean historical context.
Author(s): Peter Manuel
Edition: Har/Com
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 288
Contents......Page 6
1 Introduction: Contradance and Quadrille Culture in the Caribbean......Page 8
2 Cuba: From Contradanza to Danzón......Page 58
3 Puerto Rico: The Rise and Fall of the Danza as
National Music......Page 120
4 The Dominican Republic: Danza and the Contradanced Merengue......Page 162
5 Creole Quadrilles of Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and St. Lucia......Page 195
6 Haiti: Tracing the Steps of the Méringue and Contredanse......Page 216
7 The English-Speaking Caribbean: Re-embodying the Colonial Ballroom......Page 238
Contributors......Page 278
Contents of the Compact Disc......Page 280
Index......Page 282
