So… what exactly is timba?
The word “timba” has been around for much longer. Rumberos used the term to say that a particular drum section was going wonderfully. For example, “¡La timba está buena!” – “the timba is good!”.
A derivative of timba, “timbero”, was also used to praise a musician.
There is also the famous guava and cheese bread well known to Cubans: pan con timba.
History of timba music
Etymology aside, the word defines the wealth of popular dance music produced on the island of Cuba.
Yet despite how widespread the word is today, the term has only really been adopted over the last 15 years. While for many the golden age of this music was the 1990s, a decade full of creativity and musical pioneers, it turns out that during that decade many of the musicians we now consider the standard-bearers of the timba movement were more likely to use the word “salsa” to promote their music.
The two clearest examples are Manolín, nicknamed by José Luis Cortés “El médico de la salsa” (the salsa doctor), and Issac Delgado, who called himself “El chévere de la salsa” (the cool guy of salsa). Alongside these examples, you can find many songs by other artists and bands of that decade, such as Paulo FG, Manolito y su Trabuco, Charanga Habanera and even Los Van Van, that referred to their music as “salsa” in their songs, for example “mi salsa tiene sandunga” by Elio Revé.
Throughout the 90s and much of the early 2000s, musicians called their music “salsa”. There were of course many debates about this among the musicians themselves, but the salsa label was internationally recognised and musicians needed to sell their music outside Cuba. The best example of this dilemma is musicians using the term “salsa” to enter the international dance music market in the 90s, while Cuba officially used a much broader expression, música popular bailable (popular dance music), to describe the same music.
An in-depth analysis is available in Vincenzo Perna’s book “Timba: The Sound of the Cuban Crisis”.
What does it have to do with Cuban dance?
In short: no direct link – timba is music. In Cuba there is no authentic dance called “timba”; Cubans dance casino.
Well, for some time now, because of the popularisation and wider acceptance of “timba”, online videos showing classes where people learn “timba” can suggest that there is a Cuban dance by that name.
There is no dance in Cuba called “timba“, at least not authentically.
It’s marketing to explain all kinds of fusions, aimed at an audience with little knowledge of the realities of Cuban dance in Cuba.
By responding to foreigners’ demand, teachers send out a distorted image of what Cuban salsa really, or authentically, looks like.
What do Cubans look like when they dance?
Here is a video of Cuban dancing from 2014:
And another from 2016:
Between these two videos the dance hasn’t changed: it’s Cuban casino. These are ordinary people, everyday Cubans dancing.
Cubans don’t really dance “timba”; ordinary Cubans still dance Casino.
Is there a timba dance in Cuba? The answer is no. There is no new dance: people still dance the same way (casino) and there is no craze for this “dance”.
Why do some people think there is a Cuban dance called “timba”?
Some Cuban teachers outside Cuba call what they sell “timba”. It’s marketing, designed to sell people the same product they have always sold them, but under a recognisable and more sophisticated name with enough leeway to claim it’s different – and sell more classes.
Some call it that, others would call it “suelta”, sometimes with Afro-Cuban movements added.
What is called t-i-m-b-a today is exactly what was called salsa at one time. This dance fusion has nothing to do with the music, and the choreographed steps and solos don’t reflect the dance practised socially in Cuba. It’s like repackaging under a new label.
Conclusion on this “dance”
What to remember:
- Cubans on the island don’t dance it; they dance casino. Timba is not an authentic Cuban dance.
- Teachers selling timba classes are taking advantage of the popularity of a term created by other teachers outside Cuba.
- Some teachers call their “Cuban salsa” classes “timba”.
This “dance” is a fusion.
