Habanera
A Cuban-Spanish duple dance with a syncopated sway
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A habanera is a Cuban-Spanish dance in duple time, defined by its four-note bass figure and syncopated rhythm, giving a slow, swaying sensuality. Bizet's Habanera from Carmen made it a globally familiar tune.
It differs from the bolero: the bolero is triple, the habanera duple; it is related to the tango, but the tango is faster and more urban. The usual mistake is to think it is native Spanish — it was born in Cuba and only later returned to Spain.
Read deeper → tango
Sources
- 哈巴涅拉的节奏型与跨大西洋流传，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Habanera"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.