Rumba is an ethnic style of music and dance that originated in Cuba more than a century ago. Its been said that rumba has some African roots as well. There are many forms of rumba dancing and movements from each one of them can be traced back to ceremonial religious dances of African natives. It is believed that the unwilling transport of Nigerian slaves to Cuba is what brought the fusion of African dance rituals and Latin music, creating rumba dance styles.
One of the three main styles of rumba dance is called "guaguancó." Guaguancó-style dancing is something of a free-style couples dance that exhibits the traditional violent movement patterns or original rumba. The dance partners are typically a man-woman combination where the man essentially is trying to seduce the female partner with sensual hip gyrations and a staged "carnal attack" of sorts.
Yambú is something of an opposite approach of the guaguancó rumba style dance. In this variation of rumba, traditionally the woman will dance with a man much elder to her and attempt, the seduction herself, while the man resists his carnal urges. In modern times, yambú rumba dancing is performed with partners of any age.
The Columbia-style rumba dance technique may be considered the most polite and socially acceptable of the three and is often a dance instructor's choice when teaching children to perform rumba dance. In this variation of traditional rumba dancing, the male partner performs more of an exhibition dance to attract the female partner. While there is significant similarity in all three styles of rumba dance, Columbia style is known to have the least sexually explicit or violent body movement.
Often mistaken for rumba are popular dances the mambo and The cha-cha. While these popular Latin dances were also originated in Cuba, they are far younger in age and hold less historic intrigue than the rumba. There are some similarities in styles among the three dances; however, true rumba music and dance stand apart from its offspring, the mambo and cha cha.