Brikamo - rhythm
Brikamo is a ritual rhythm of the Abakuá secret society — the most distinctly Cuban of all the African-derived religious and fraternal orders that took root on the island. Unlike the more widely known Yoruba-derived Lucumí (Santería/Ocha) traditions, Abakuá is a Cuban creation with no living counterpart in Africa, built from the memory of Cross River traditions and transformed entirely in the Cuban context.
What Is Abakuá?
The Abakuá (also written Ñáñigo in older sources, though the term is considered pejorative by practitioners) is a fraternal secret society founded in Regla, a port town across the bay from Havana, in 1836. Its founders were enslaved Africans from the Cross River region — present-day southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon — primarily from the Efik, Efut, and Ekoi peoples. In Africa, the original society was known as Ekpe (Leopard Society), a powerful institution that regulated trade, enforced social order, and controlled esoteric knowledge.
In Cuba, Abakuá became something new: a mutual aid fraternity open to both Black and white men (after a historic initiation in 1863), organized into juegos (lodges) in the port cities of Havana, Regla, matanzas"> Matanzas, and Cárdenas. Membership provided protection, solidarity, and a rich ceremonial life at a time when free Black and enslaved people had few other institutions to turn to.
The society is organized around the myth of Sikán, a princess who accidentally discovered the sacred fish Tanze — the embodiment of divine voice — and whose sacrifice became the foundation of Abakuá ritual. The ceremonies re-enact this founding myth through music, drumming, and the dances of the íremes (masked sacred figures).
The Brikamo Rhythm
Brikamo is one of the several ritual toques (rhythmic patterns) played in Abakuá ceremonies. It is performed during specific moments in the liturgical sequence and carries a direct spiritual charge — it is not entertainment but a means of communication with the founding ancestors and divine forces of the Abakuá cosmos.
The Ekón (Bell)
The most distinctive sonic element of Abakuá music — and of Brikamo specifically — is the ekón, a boat-shaped iron bell struck with a metal rod. The ekón plays a fixed, repeating timeline pattern that functions similarly to the clave in secular Cuban music: it is the rhythmic reference point around which all other instruments orient themselves.
The ekón's pattern in Brikamo is rapid and insistent, creating a shimmering, metallic pulse. Experienced listeners can identify which toque is being played by the ekón pattern alone.
The Bonkó Drums
The primary drums in Abakuá ritual are the bonkó enchemiyá — a set of two-headed cylindrical drums of varying sizes. In Brikamo, the bonkó drums carry the main rhythmic dialogue:
- The lead bonkó improvises over the fixed patterns, responding to the movements of the íremes and the progress of the ceremony.
- The supporting drums maintain the interlocking rhythmic bed.
The ensemble also includes erikundi (small rattles attached to the drums) and seseribó (gourd rattles), creating a dense, layered texture.
The Íremes (Masked Dancers)
The most visually dramatic element of Abakuá ceremony is the íreme (plural: íremes), also called diablitos ("little devils") in Cuban popular speech. Íremes are masked, costumed figures who embody specific sacred forces in the Abakuá cosmology. Their costumes — elaborate patchwork suits covering the entire body, with pointed hoods — are among the most recognizable images in Cuban visual culture.
The íremes do not dance in the social sense; they move in prescribed patterns that enact specific mythological roles. Their gestures are a sacred language. The Brikamo rhythm activates specific ireme movements, and the relationship between drum pattern and ireme choreography is tightly codified.
Images of íremes appear throughout Cuban popular art, carnival traditions, and even in commercial iconography — a testament to how deeply Abakuá aesthetics have penetrated Cuban culture at large.
Brikamo's Influence on Secular Music
The most direct connection between Brikamo and Cuban popular music runs through Rumba Columbia.
Rumba Columbia is the most technically demanding and athletically spectacular of the three rumba forms ( Yambú, Guaguancó, Columbia). It is danced solo by men and features acrobatic movements, improvisation, and a competitive display of agility and rhythm. Columbia originated in the Matanzas province — the same region where Abakuá was strong — and its choreographic vocabulary directly references Abakuá sacred movements, particularly those of the íremes.
The rhythmic density and the role of the lead conga (quinto) in Rumba Columbia also echo the improvisational dialogue between lead drum and other instruments found in Abakuá ceremonies like Brikamo.
More broadly, the Abakuá musical concept of a fixed timeline (ekón) over which improvisation happens is structurally identical to the role of the clave in Cuban popular music. The two systems reinforce each other, and Cuban musicians who know both hear them as expressions of the same underlying logic.
Abakuá in Cuban Culture
Despite being a secret society with restricted membership (men only, by initiation), Abakuá's influence on Cuban culture is pervasive:
- The concept of asere (a term of Abakuá origin) became the most common informal greeting in Cuban street speech.
- Abakuá fraternal values — loyalty, protection of members, solidarity — were absorbed into the code of the Havana working-class neighborhoods (solares, barrios).
- The ireme image is reproduced in carnival, in religious art, and in Cuban graphic design.
- Musicians from Cuba's major popular genres — Son, Rumba, timba"> Timba — have frequently been Abakuá members, and the society's rhythmic knowledge filtered into every Cuban music tradition.
Recommended Listening
- Conjunto Clave y Guaguancó – Rumba Columbia recordings showing the Abakuá rhythmic connection
- Los Muñequitos de matanzas"> Matanzas – Afro-Cuban folkloric recordings including Columbia
- Field recordings of Abakuá ceremonies (various ethnomusicological collections)
Danzón was the first national dance of Cuba — the form that unified the island's popular music identity in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the ancestor of mambo"> mambo, cha-cha-chá, and ultimately timba"> timba.
Lees meer >Timba is the music this site is dedicated to exploring. It emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s and crystallized in the early 1990s — born in a moment of social crisis, built on the full accumulated history of Cuban music, and still evolving today.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the birthplace of some of the world's most influential music and dance traditions. African, Spanish, and French cultural streams collided here over centuries of colonial history, producing an extraordinary creative culture that exported itself across the globe.
Lees meer >The following dances have their origin in Matanzas:
The Casa de la Trova in santiago de cuba"> Santiago de Cuba is the spiritual home of Cuban traditional music — Son, Bolero, Changüí, and Trova. Founded in 1968 on Calle Heredia in the heart of Santiago's historic center, it has been the gathering place for the city's musicians for over half a century.
Lees meer >Africa
Afro-Cuban Dances by African Origin
| African Region / Ethnic Group |
Cuban Religions / Traditions |
Cuban Dances / Genres |
| Nigeria ( Yoruba) |
Santería (Regla de Ocha) |
Orisha dances (to Shango, Yemayá, Ochún, Elegguá, etc.); staged folkloric Yoruba dances; influence on Rumba & Son movement |
| Nigeria (Igbo / Efik) |
Lesser-preserved lineages |
Ritual dances in some Afro-Cuban ceremonies, body isolations integrated into popular dance |
| Cameroon–Congo ( Bantu/Kongo) |
Palo Monte (Regla de Palo), Congo cabildos |
Palo dances, Makuta, Yuka; Congo-style dances; major influence on Rumba ( Columbia & Guaguancó) |
| Dahomey (Fon/Ewe, Benin area) |
Arará religion ( matanzas"> Matanzas) |
Arará ritual dances, with distinctive footwork and body undulations |
| Carabalí (Calabar, SE Nigeria– Cameroon border) |
Abakuá society |
Secret society dances (ekón, plante), influence on male rumba styles |
| European (Spanish / French) |
Secular ballroom, Creole culture |
Contradanza, Habanera, Danzón, Cha-cha-chá, mambo"> Mambo, etc. |
| Mixed Creole (African + European) |
Popular Cuban music & dance |
Son, Rumba, Salsa, Casino ( Cuban salsa), timba"> Timba |
The contradanza was the first European-derived dance form to take root in Cuba and begin transforming under African influence. It is the starting point of the Cuban salon dance lineage that would eventually produce danzón, mambo, and cha-cha-chá.
Lees meer >Danzón was the first national dance of Cuba — the form that unified the island's popular music identity in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the ancestor of mambo, cha-cha-chá, and ultimately timba.
Lees meer >Danzón was the first national dance of Cuba — the form that unified the island's popular music identity in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the ancestor of mambo, cha-cha-chá, and ultimately timba.
Lees meer >Timba is the music this site is dedicated to exploring. It emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s and crystallized in the early 1990s — born in a moment of social crisis, built on the full accumulated history of Cuban music, and still evolving today.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >The cha-cha-chá was born from a simple observation: dancers were struggling to follow mambo"> mambo. Its creator gave them a rhythm they could feel in their feet — and the result became one of the most danced music styles in history.
Lees meer >Mambo was Cuba's first global music explosion — the form that put Cuban rhythms on dance floors from New York to Tokyo in the late 1940s and 1950s, and the direct ancestor of the Latin big band sound.
Lees meer >Casino is the Cuban partner dance born in the social clubs (casinos deportivos) of Havana in the 1950s. It is what Cubans call their own social dance — distinct from, and older than, what the rest of the world calls "salsa."
Lees meer >Casino is the Cuban partner dance born in the social clubs (casinos deportivos) of Havana in the 1950s. It is what Cubans call their own social dance — distinct from, and older than, what the rest of the world calls "salsa."
Lees meer >The following dances have their origin in Matanzas:
The Casa de la Trova in santiago de cuba"> Santiago de Cuba is the spiritual home of Cuban traditional music — Son, Bolero, Changüí, and Trova. Founded in 1968 on Calle Heredia in the heart of Santiago's historic center, it has been the gathering place for the city's musicians for over half a century.
Lees meer >Origin of:
Heritage of:
Bembé
The Cameroon–Congo region was home to the Bantu and Kongo peoples whose descendants were brought to Cuba as enslaved people, primarily between the 17th and 19th centuries. Their cultural heritage survives in Cuba through Palo Monte, and in the dances Makuta and Yuka.
Lees meer >The Cameroon–Congo region was home to the Bantu and Kongo peoples whose descendants were brought to Cuba as enslaved people, primarily between the 17th and 19th centuries. Their cultural heritage survives in Cuba through Palo Monte, and in the dances Makuta and Yuka.
Lees meer >Palo
Palo
Palo is an Afro-Cuban religion with various denominations that developed among Central African slaves and their descendants, particularly those of Congo and Bantu origin.
The Spanish word palo (“stick”) refers to the wooden sticks used in the construction of ritual altars—called la Nganga, el caldero, or la prenda.
Denominations (“Branches”) of Palo
- Mayombe (or Mallombe)
- Monte
- Briyumba (or Brillumba)
- Kimbisa
Practitioners
Priests and initiates of Palo are called:
- Paleros
- Tatas (male priests)
- Yayas (female priests)
- Nganguleros
Core Beliefs
The Palo belief system rests on two foundational pillars:
- Honor of the spirits
- Belief in natural / earth powers
All natural objects—especially sticks—are understood to contain spiritual power, typically connected to the spirits themselves. This differs from Santería and other Yoruba religions, whose orishas are more closely associated with human or anthropomorphic forms.
Distinctive Traits
- No deity-specific colors, clothing, or stylized dances (unlike Santería).
- Ritual emphasis on natural objects and the nganga.
Music in Palo Rituals
Palo music typically begins with wooden percussion, followed by drums and metal tools.
Wooden instruments:
Drums:
- Ngoma (conga-style drums)
Metal instruments:
Higher Deities and Syncretism
Nkuyu
Also known as: Mukudji, Nkuyu, Mañunga, Lubaniba, Lucero, Lucero Mundo, Remolino, Cuarto Vientos, Kbuyu
- Deity of forests and roads; a guide and balancer
- Guardian of cemetery entrances
- Associated with the moon
- Syncretized with Eleguá/Eshu ( Yoruba) and the Holy Infant of Atocha
Kengue
Also known as: Mama Kengue, Yola, Tiembla Tierra, Pandilanga
- Sky Father and primordial creator
- Deity of knowledge and justice
- Equivalent to Obatalá ( Yoruba)
- Syncretized with the Virgin of Mercy
Sarabanda
Also known as: Zarabanda, Rompe Monte
- Strong, forceful, willful deity
- Equivalent to Ogún ( Yoruba)
- Associated with Saint Peter
El Christo Negro
- Black manifestation of Jesus Christ
- Considered all-powerful; all spirits bow to his authority
- Symbolically linked with black crows and black roosters
Mama Chola
- Goddess of fertility and love
- Equivalent to Oshún, the Yoruba orisha of beauty and love
Egungun is the Yoruba masquerade tradition honoring the collective ancestors — the Egun, the dead who remain present and active in the lives of the living. In Cuba, the Egungun tradition survived within the broader world of Santería (Regla de Ocha) and the related Arará and Abakuá communities, though in a form shaped by the specific conditions of the island.
Lees meer >Cuban music is built on percussion. The extraordinary density and variety of Cuban rhythmic culture reflects the meeting of West and Central African drumming traditions with Spanish, Haitian, and creole musical practices over four centuries. The instruments below form the core percussive vocabulary heard across Son, Rumba, Timba, Danzón, and their descendants.
Lees meer >Yuka is considered the oldest surviving Kongo-derived dance form in Cuba and the most direct ancestor of Rumba. Preserved by Congo-descent communities from the era of slavery onward, Yuka contains the movement vocabulary, the drum format, and the social dynamic that would eventually transform into one of Cuba's defining popular dance traditions.
Lees meer >Makuta is a secular Kongo-derived dance of the Congo-descent communities of Cuba — vigorous, grounded, and celebratory. It belongs to the oldest layer of African-Cuban cultural expression and represents a direct continuation of Central African movement and musical traditions preserved across centuries of slavery and colonial life.
Lees meer >
- Orisha of thunder, lightning, fire, drumming, kingship.
- Toques: Chachachá, Alujá, Obakoso.
- Strong, fiery, powerful rhythms — central to batá tradition.
Lees meer >Egungun is the Yoruba masquerade tradition honoring the collective ancestors — the Egun, the dead who remain present and active in the lives of the living. In Cuba, the Egungun tradition survived within the broader world of Santería (Regla de Ocha) and the related Arará and Abakuá communities, though in a form shaped by the specific conditions of the island.
Lees meer >Yemayá is the Orisha of the sea and the mother of all Orishas. She governs the saltwater ocean and all living things within it. As mother, she is nurturing, protective — and when angered, devastating.
Lees meer >A Cuban popular dance music genre that emerged in the 1980s–90s
- emerged in the 1980s–90s
- influenced by songo, rumba, funk, blues, jazz, pop, rock and Afro-Cuban rhythms.
- Known for complex rhythm shifts, aggressive bass lines, and high energy that push dancers to improvise.
Lees meer >Mambo
In Cuban music, especially in salsa and son,
the " mambo" section typically refers to a brassy, rhythmically intense instrumental break,
often featuring repetitive horn lines, call-and-response patterns, and building energy toward the climax of a song.
The Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba is the spiritual home of Cuban traditional music — Son, Bolero, Changüí, and Trova. Founded in 1968 on Calle Heredia in the heart of Santiago's historic center, it has been the gathering place for the city's musicians for over half a century.
Lees meer >Mambo
In Cuban music, especially in salsa and son,
the "mambo" section typically refers to a brassy, rhythmically intense instrumental break,
often featuring repetitive horn lines, call-and-response patterns, and building energy toward the climax of a song.
Origin of:
Heritage of:
Bembé
The Cameroon–Congo region was home to the Bantu and Kongo peoples whose descendants were brought to Cuba as enslaved people, primarily between the 17th and 19th centuries. Their cultural heritage survives in Cuba through Palo Monte, and in the dances Makuta and Yuka.
Lees meer >Abakuá is a male secret society that originated in Cuba in the early 1800s, specifically in Regla, Havana, in 1836.
It was created by enslaved and free Afro-Cubans who brought traditions from the Ekpe societies of the Efik, Ibibio, and Ejagham peoples in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon.
Lees meer >In Abakuá, the Ireme (also called Ñáñigo) is a masked dancer and spiritual figure who represents ancestral spirits and acts as an enforcer of justice, protector of the society’s secrets, and purifier during rituals and initiations.
Lees meer >
The conga (also called tumbadora) is the primary hand drum of Cuban music and the rhythmic backbone of timba"> timba, son, rumba, and salsa.
Lees meer >
The clave is a fundamental rhythmic pattern and organizing principle in Cuban music. It serves as both a musical pattern and a guiding concept, deeply rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions.
Lees meer >A Cuban popular dance music genre that emerged in the 1980s–90s
- emerged in the 1980s–90s
- influenced by songo, rumba, funk, blues, jazz, pop, rock and Afro-Cuban rhythms.
- Known for complex rhythm shifts, aggressive bass lines, and high energy that push dancers to improvise.
Lees meer >