----Original Message---- From: howardpos...@ca.rr.com Date: 28/05/2017 0:08 To: "Lute List"<lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Subj: [LUTE] Re: Cumb=C3=A9es?=
> On May 27, 2017, at 6:37 AM, mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk wrote: > > there were a lot of Africans in Spain during > the 16th and 18th centuries. North African is just a short distance > across the Mediterranean from Spain. Tangier is, but it’s 3,300 kilometers from Gibraltar to Dakar and 4,500 kilometers to Sierra Leone. Is the cumbee a Moorish dance? - That is a good question. Spain held territories in North Africa and Spain and Portugal navigated down the west coast of Africa long before they reached the New World. Vasco da Gama sailed to India round the southern tip of Africa etc. at the same time that Columbus discovered the West Indies. So the idea that any African dances must have come from Mexico doesn't really hold water. I think the received wisdom is that the cumbees, paracumbe and guinea and a few others all came from Guinea or that part of Africa rather than from north of the Sahara. Distance is not really a factor - it was Aristotle I believe - correct me if I am wrong - who said "We Greeks live like frogs around a pond". The Mediterranean is not much of a barrier - refugees are flooding from Africa into Europe in boatloads by that route today. Perhaps we should hire President Trump to build a wall for us. A suspension bridge might be a better idea - fewer people would drown. The Roman Empire encompassed a lot of North Africa and Spain was invaded by people from North Africa long before the Moors arrived and some of them must have been ethnically African. - So take your pick. Monica
