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Variant of son, whose origin is located at the end of the 19th century, in Isla de Pinos (current Isla de la Juventud), and which has a peculiar way of interpretation. Sucu-suco is called to dance, music and partying in general. Music is similar, in its formal, melodic, instrumental and harmonic structure to a son montuno. Currently, his greatest cultist is the musician and composer Ramón (Mongo) Rives Amador.
According to the [oral tradition] of Pinera in 1870 in Santa Fe, the first town to be founded, the chords of a rhythm that has reached us and identifies the pinero territory were already being heard. This cultural manifestation was representative of the dominated class since at that time Isla de Pinos was a colony of Spain. The songs were a diversion for the inhabitants of this area and a way of expressing their feelings, since they also used it against the Spanish presence. A good fortune has been extracted from the cucumber harvest. But the poor of the Isle of Pines have not been left with a single real.

Among legends, [sayings] and stories, this rhythm, a variant of the son, passed from generation to generation, is happy, contagious, is the lyrical expression of the guajiro pinero, owner and lord of the guateques, where songs like El rabito de lechón, The majases have no cave, Sucu Suco for you for me, and I want to dance with María Elena they have made hundreds of people enjoy. The name of the genre is derived from the sound caused by the dragging of the feet with the floor when setting the rhythm; But, this tradition of music and dance that identifies the Isle of Youth is brought to the market and reaches its peak in 1940, but in competition against creations of such popular force as the Mambo or the ChaChaChá it is defeated. It does not disappear because a man with his voice and his lute was in charge of keeping him alive during all these years: Ramón Rives Amador or simply Mongo, cultivator of this rhythm that comes to him by family tradition, since his grandmother was a singer and in 1870 premiered some roots of [Sucu Sucu].

The first instruments used by the cultivators of traditional pine music, were created from the originality of those who used them.

 1. Machete: Work instrument that is used as a fundamental typical percussion in this rhythm. Its sharp sound and is produced with a knife ripping the back of the machete.
  2. Tumbadora: It was dominated in this way by the function it performed, but they actually used a hollowed-out potbellied palm and put a leather on it, and most of the time a stool with a leather seat was used to which a previous role was leaning. hammering using a drawer.
  3. Bandurria: musical instrument of the family of the cordófonos, of six double plucked strings (6 of gut and 6 wound) that usually end with a plectrum. It is very similar to the lute to the zither and, due to the flat shape of its case, it also resembles the guitar.
  4. Bell or Cowbell: Metal percussion instrument hitting with a key to cause the sound. A guataca and a nail were also used.
  5. Key: Two spoons were used and also a bottle or the combination of some other solid bodies that can be struck.
  6. Marimula: It is a wooden drawer with four, five or seven keys. Percussion instrument that replaces the string bass and was manufactured by the pineros themselves using the most varied resources.
  7. Guiro: A guayo was used to scratch cassava.
  8. Bandoneon: bellows and free reeds cormatic musical instrument similar to the accordion.

Later it was added:

 1. Lute: In replacement of the bandurria. String musical instrument, can have dies, twelve, eighteen and twenty-four strings.
  2. The three: A typical instrument from Cuba, originating in the eastern zone, consisting of six strings mounted in three pairs tuned to the onison, two in the high octave and another pair in the lower octave, in D minor. On the Island, for a long time, Chino Bebo, the luthier pinero, made them with nine strings and a longer arm, which was an innovation for those times.
  3. Guitar: Musical instrument from the family of chordophones. It has a flat and waisted body, with a round hole and a fretted neck along which there are six strings, a number that can vary according to the type of instrument, fastened at one end with screw pegs and on the other side to a jumper attached to the instrument case. The three treble strings are normally gut or nylon; the others made of metal.
  4. Accordion: A portable instrument formed by a bellows, attached to two oval racks with buttons, and, in some models, keys like pianos. Recently incorporated into the Mongo Ribes group. 

Dance steps

How couples form: The dancers used to light a candle to Saint Nicholas - the patron saint of the Island - and it was not allowed to stop the dance until the spark plug had been consumed, so the rest is a in the obligatory granting of a sieve by both dancers to those who were idle and required to dance. In the Sucu suco the couples held together in the following way: the gentleman took the lady by the waist, both hands placed in such a way that the thumb and index finger were only -in principle- that of the palm of the hand was of course a more or less prohibited license ... The lady crossed her hands behind the knight's neck without ever joining the two bodies. This posture was adopted in the fashion of the huge syas of the old malacó imported from Spain.
Suscu suco is a danceable genre. It constitutes one of the basic forms within pine music; Due to its extraction, development, sound characteristics, choreography and social use, it has been the most ideal means of expansion for the pinnacle peasantry.
As a result of the above, we cannot overlook their way of dancing; It is a dance for couples, taken, loose or mixed, and, depending on their character, they can be festive or gallant, whose origin is rural ...

In closed position of social dance It will be done on the left.

  1. The man steps out with his left foot to the left. (1 time)
  2. Then the right foot joins the left foot. (1 time)
  3. The left foot goes out to the left again. (1 time)
  4. Then the right foot joins the left foot. (1 time)

This step is repeated twice to the left dragging the foot.

Now done right

  1. The man goes out with the right foot to the right. (1 time)
  2. Then the left foot joins the right foot. (1 time)
  3. The right foot goes out to the right again. (1 time)
  4. Then the left foot joins the right foot. (1 time)

This step is repeated twice to the right dragging the foot.

Numerous choreographic corridors enrich the dance, such as: In a position of social dance. The man's hand comes off the woman's waist; she takes her left hand off his right shoulder. Face to face only holding hands, the male left hand, and the female right hand; taller than the man's head in an oval shape. Male right hand to hat; Female left hand takes the pint of the dress and makes a complete turn around, starting with the left shoulder. (8 times)

 1. In face to face position the man extends his right hand, hat on the left control at shoulder height; Female right hand taken from the right hand of the man at chest height, left hand holding the dress; By moving your shoulders continuously, you turn around in a clockwise direction. (8 times)

 2. The Woman, is placed on the right of the man, left hand placed on the right shoulder of this, left hand saying goodbye, the right hand man on the waist of the woman, left hand with the hat; the walk is done, but dancing

 3. To greet the public, the couple is only taken by the jumpsuit or by the waist, in such a way that the free hand is raised and can make the greeting movement, always dancing forward, towards the public.

 4. It is frequent in traditional festivals to let go of the couple for some moments, until the woman is requested by another dancer and the change of partners takes place. It is very common to remove the partner from the dancer.

The new generations have made contributions to this dance, introducing the movement of the shoulders by the woman in a continuous and provocative way; in the case of the couple they introduce lateral movements.

The Sucu sucu that Felipe Blanco composed was one of the most famous: The majases no longer have a cave, Felipe Blanco covered them up, They covered them, they covered them, They covered them up to watch it. White buried them, buried them, buried them, buried them when I saw him. There have also been famous songs in the most traditional form of the pinero rhythm, such as I want to dance with María Elena, Dame el rabito del lechón and El chivo.

Some better known Sucu suco

  1. CompayCotunto. Anonymous.
  2. Anonymous.
  3. Chinito, what are you selling? Mongo Rives.
  4. Give me the pig's tail. Mongo Rives.
  5. Santa Fe, dear people. Mongo Rives.
  6. Pull my ox. Rosa González / Mongo Rives.
  7. I want to dance with María Elena. Avelino Cabrera / Mongo Rives.
  8. The lady of the Sucu suco. Avelino Cabrera.
  9. Feast on the cucumber. Severion was running.
  10. Sucu sucu my heart. Olga Rodríguez / Camilo Amador.
  11. I follow the sucu sucu. Camilo Amador.
  12. To Cayo Largo. Amayry Varona.
  13. El sabrosito. Rodríguez Stewart brothers.
  14. Sing it but dance it. Adalberto Álvarez.
  15. How it is enjoyed in Crocodile. Jesús Quintana / Mario L. Guillama.
  16. Sowing for you. Alberto Tosca.
  17. Love at first sight. Carlos A. González.
  18. The melon. Bruna Castillo.
  19. Linda Pinerita. Fulgencio Verdera.
  20. Felipe Blanco. Eliseo Grenet (collected from the pineros folklore).
  21. Sunday Pantoja. Eliseo Grenet (collected from the folk pine ros).
  22. Just like you. Ramírez was running.
  23. Mario Márquez.
  24. The blow of the bibijagua. Julio Cueva.
  25. Santa Fe, city of waters. Benigno de la Paz / Silverio Collado.
  26. If it weren't for Emiliana. Carlos Puebla.
  27. The little step of the Bibijagua. Moncada Group

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