Rumba is a music and dance style from Cuba which blends African dance technique and Spanish stylistic influences. The Rumba Guaguanco, Yambu, and Columbia styles form the basis of contemporary salsa. Los Rumberos Europeos is a dance and percussion group in Washington DC, which performs African-influenced Latin dance choreographies.

SET CRUZ

Set Cruz (far left) started playing percussion 17 years ago in NYC. He first studied the drumset with Puerto Rican drummer Jose Ortiz, and congas with Stefan Monsen, who was studying Afro-Cuban rhythms with John Amira. He learned to play bembe, rumba colombia, abakua, rock and jazz. He continued playing jazz on the drumset at Stevens Institute of Technology NJ during the mid '90s. Lately he has also been studying percussion in DC with Oscar Rousseaux and Steve Nash.

RICHARD DARLING

Richard Darling (center left) was trained in Afro-Cuban Dance by Cubans Jesus Gonzalez, Oscar Rousseaux, and Silfredo La O, and in Latin Dance by Cecilia Villalobos. Besides working with Los Rumberos Europeos, he performs in in Cuban Modern and African-American styles with Angela Ingram, and in West African Dance styles with Becky Umeh. He is studying West African Dance with Assane Konte.

JANOS NACSA

Janos Nacsa (below) started dancing Acrobatic Rock and Roll in the early '90s. His tutors in partner acrobatics include former world champions Monica Bex and Klaus Görtz. His complex footwork techniques earned him a free style medal in the 1995 Hungarian championship. He fell in love with Salsa after moving to the U.S.

JEFFREY SMITH

A native of the Washington D.C. area, Jeffrey Smith (near left) studied conga and Afro-Cuban folkloric rumba with Brazilian percussionist Gilberto Campello. He plays congas and percussion with the rock/jazz group HüsBand and loves playing with the Malcolm X Drummers.

PERFORMANCE RECORDINGS

• Rumba Columbia, Washington DC, 2008: video, slide show
• Chapeando, Washington DC, 2006: video, slide show