Diagonal: An Ibero-American Music Review

By the early 20th century, Cuban danzones took firm hold in the rural communities that dotted Panama’s western littoral. In this context, sectional danzón compositional forms were combined with the open-ended cumbia song-forms to produce what rural Panamanians called “danzón-cumbias”—exceedingly popular musical hybrids that by the mid-20^th century and on through the present time had come to dominate the sound of Panamanian cumbia. In this work, I provide an analysis of the key structural features of the danzón as it came to be fully integrated into Panamaian cumbia song-forms. I also discuss the impact that danzón had on contemporary Panamanian dance music.