Danzón

Danzón is the official genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in the United States and Puerto Rico. Written in 24 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble. The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera (lit.