Contradanza - Cinquillo, Tresillo, and The Habanera Rhythm

Cinquillo, Tresillo, and The Habanera Rhythm

The cinquillo (a variant of the more basic tresillo) is a syncopated rhythmic cell whose introduction into the contradanza/danza began its differentiation from a strictly European form of music. Carpentier (2001:149) states that the cinquillo was brought to Cuba in the songs of the black slaves and freedmen who emigrated to Santiago de Cuba from Haiti in the 1790s. Although the cinquillo was introduced into the contradanza in Santiago at the beginning of the 19th century, composers in western Cuba remained ignorant of its existence:

"In the days when a trip from Havana to Santiago was a fifteen-day adventure (or more), it was possible for two types of contradanza to coexist: one closer to the classical pattern, marked by the spirits of the minuet, which later would be reflected in the danzón, by way of the danza; the other, more popular, which followed its evolution begun in Haiti, thanks to the presence of the 'French Blacks' in eastern Cuba (Carpentier 2001:150)."

Manuel disputes Carpentier's claim that the cinquillo was first incorporated into the contradanza in Santiago. Among other things, Manuel cites "at least a half a dozen Havana counterparts, whose existence refutes Carpentier's claim for the absence of the cinquillo in Havana contradanza" (Manuel 2009: 55-56). The cinquillo pattern is sounded on a bell in the folkloric Congolese-based makuta, as played in Havana. As one of the most common rhythmic patterns found in Africa and in music of the Diaspora, cinquillo survived in many former slave ports of the New World, including both Santiago and Havana.

Tresillo is used for ostinato bass figures of some contradanzas, such as "Tu madre es conga." Another tresillo variant popularized by the Cuban contradanza is the rhythmic cell referred to as the habanera rhythm, congo, tango-congo, or tango.