Guaguancó

Guaguancó is a sub-genre of Cuban rumba, a highly complex rhythmic music and dance style. The traditional line-up consists of:
* three conga drum parts, namely the "tumbadora" (lowest), "tres-dos" (middle, playing a cross-clave counter rhythm), and "quinto" (highest, solo drum). These parts are also often played on cajones, wooden boxes.
* claves
* palitos (wooden sticks striking the side of the drum) or guagua (kind of woodblock)
* a solo singer
* the "coro" (choir)
* two dancers, one male, one female

Dance, lead vocal and quinto interact in a complex manner.

Some historians have suggested that the guaguanco may be derived from the "yuka", a secular dance of the Bantu people. It became distinct from other forms of rumba, such as yambu and columbia, in the mid-1800s. Usually danced by a male-female couple, it represents a flirtatious, sexual game and includes a distinctive body movement called "vacunao" (pelvic thrust) performed by the male dancer (also found in other African-based dances from Latin America). Remnants of guaguanco are evident in the hip and pelvic motions of modern salsa dancers, and references to guaguanco are often made in the lyrics of salsa music.

"The couple begins to dance -- the male dancer is more active as he circles around her without touching her. The dance climaxes as the male attempts to give the vacuano when the female is unprepared to avoid it. Much of her dancing expertise resides in her ability to entice the male while skillfully avoiding being touched by his vacunao." (Vernon Boggs, Salsiology, 1992)