Maraca

Maracas ( pronunciation ), sometimes called rumba shakers and various other names, are percussion musical instruments—rattles—that originated in Latin America. They are classified as idiophones. Players hold them by their handles, usually in pairs, and shake them. Traditional maracas consist of hollow balls made from dried gourd shell (cuia "koo-ya") or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans and mounted on a wooden handle. Modern maraca balls are also made of leather, wood, or plastic.

They are known in Trinidad, Dominica and the French Antilles as shac-shacs.

Maracas appear in many forms of Caribbean and Latin music—and also in pop and classical music. They are characteristic, for example, of the music of Haiti,Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Dominica, the French Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Brazil.

Maracas, also known as Tamaracas, were rattles of divination, an oracle of the Brazilian Tupinamba Indians, found also on the Orinoco and in Florida. Maracas were made of a fruit so called, which resembles a gourd, and is capable of containing about three pints in its cavity. This is fixed upon a handle; human hair is sometimes fastened on the top, and a slit is cut in it to represent a mouth, through which their jugglers, whom they call Payes, make it utter its responses. A few pebbles are inserted to make it rattle, and it is crowned with the red feathers of the Goaraz. Every man had his Maraca. It was used at their dances, and to heal the sick.

Shakers

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing is a religious sect, also known as the Shakers, founded in the 18th century in England, having branched off from a Quaker community. They were known as "Shaking Quakers" because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services. In 1747, women assumed leadership roles within the sect, notably Jane Wardley and Mother Ann Lee. Shakers settled in colonial America, with initial settlements in New Lebanon, New York (called Mount Lebanon after 1861) and what is now Watervliet.

Shakers today are mostly known for their celibate and communal lifestyle, pacifism, and their model of equality of the sexes, which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s. They are also known for their simple living, architecture, and furniture.

During the mid-19th century, an Era of Manifestations resulted in a period of dances, gift drawings and gift songs inspired by spiritual revelations. At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were 6,000 Shaker believers. By 1920, there were only 12 Shaker communities remaining in the United States. In the present day, there is only one active Shaker village, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, which is located in Maine. Their celibacy resulted in the thinning of the Shaker community, and consequently many of the other Shaker settlements are now village museums, like Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts.

Shaker (disambiguation)

Shaker may refer to:

Shakers may refer to:

See also

Indian Shaker Church

The Indian Shaker Church is a Christian denomination founded in 1881 by Squaxin shaman John Slocum and his wife Mary Slocum in Washington. The Indian Shaker Church is a unique blend of American Indian, Catholic, and Protestant beliefs and practices.

The Indian Shakers are unrelated to the Shakers of New England (United Society of Believers) and are not to be confused with the Native American Church.

History and practices

As tradition tells, John Slocum (Squ-sacht-um) had died from sickness in 1881 when he revived during his wake reporting a visit to heaven, where he was told by an angel that, "you've been a pretty bad Indian", and where he received instructions to start a new religion. When Slocum became ill again several months later, his wife, Mary, began to shake and tremble uncontrollably in prayer. Soon afterward, Slocum recovered and his healing was attributed to Mary's convulsions. The religion is thus named for the shaking of members during religious congregations. The shaking is reported to have healing powers.

Rumba

The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, the term rumba was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. Since the early 20th century the term has been used in different countries to refer to distinct styles of music and dance, most of which are only tangentially related to the original Cuban rumba, if at all.

In Cuba

During the second half of the 19th century, several secular dance-oriented music styles were developed by Afro-Cuban workers in the poor neighbourhoods of Havana and Matanzas. These syncretic styles would later be referred to as "rumba", a word that also meant "party". Traditionally, the three main styles of rumba are yambú, columbia and guaguancó, each of which has a characteristic dance, rhythm and singing. Although still a purely folkloric genre, numerous innovations have been introduced in rumba since the mid 20th century, including new styles such as batá-rumba and guarapachangueo.

Rumba (1935 film)

Rumba is a 1935 musical drama film starring George Raft as a Cuban dancer and Carole Lombard as a Manhattan socialite. The movie was directed by Marion Gering and is considered an unsuccessful follow-up to Raft and Lombard's smash hit Bolero the previous year.

Plot

Famed dance team, Veloz and Yolanda were uncredited choreographers for this film, while the signature rumba danced near the end by Raft and Lombard seems to be a simplified variation of rumba performed by Veloz and Yolanda themselves the year before in another Paramount film starring George Burns and Gracie Allen, "Many Happy Returns."

Cast

Rumba (disambiguation)

Rumba may refer to:

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