9781422279793

From the Contredanse to Danzón A small hint of what the fusion of Afro-Cuban and European influences would look like had emerged by 1800. The European contribution came not from Spain, however, but from France, via the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Located on the western side of the island of Hispaniola, Saint- Domingue was only about 50 miles (80 km) from Cuba at its closest point. A slave rebellion in the colony erupted in 1791, touching off a bloody revolution that lasted more than a dozen years before the independent Republic of Haiti was established. To escape the violence, thousands fled to eastern Cuba. There

French colonists flee from rebellious slaves in the colony of Saint-Domingue, 1790s. The African slave uprising against the French colonial government resulted in turmoil, and thousands of people from Saint-Domingue—including both white plantation owners fleeing the violence and blacks who had escaped slavery—left the island looking for safer places to settle. Some went to other French colonies in the region, such as the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. Others went to the Spanish colony in Cuba, bringing with them French music and dance forms that would soon be integrated into Cuban culture.

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Cuban Music, Dance, and Celebrations