Congos Bantu Afro-Cuban – Dance

The Congos-Bantú tradition covers the language, religion, music and dance of enslaved people from the Kongo region and other Bantu-speaking peoples in Cuba. Its religion is the Regla de Palo Monte; its best-known dances are makuta and yuka.

Palo Monte: the religious framework

According to EcuRed, the Regla de Palo Monte, also called Mayombe, goes back to the cults of the kingdom of Kongo and other Bantu kingdoms. Its main features are:

  • The nganga: a clay pot or iron cauldron with earth, bones, sticks, herbs and a stone, seen as a pact between life and death; also called prenda or caldero.
  • Nature and the dead: plants, water and earth are seen as animated; the cult of the dead is central.
  • The mpungu: higher spirits equated with the orishas.

Palo Monte differs from santería, but many believers are initiated in both. More on the Palo page.

The dances

Makuta

Makuta are tall drums as well as the dance and rhythms played on them. It is public religious music of the cabildos of Congo descent, usually with two drums. See Makuta.

Yuka

Yuka is a secular tradition of drumming, singing and dancing, with three drums: caja, mula and cachimbo. A couple performs a stylised contest: the man chases, the woman avoids. See Yuka.

The link with rumba

According to Wikipedia, rumba draws among other things on yuka (and on Abakuá traditions). Yuka predates rumba and gave rise to the yambú. The makuta drums are often cited as an important influence on the development of the tumbadora (conga).

📝 Sources