Las Alturas de Simpson: The First Danzón

Every Cuban dance lineage traces back to a single piece performed one New Year's Day in Matanzas: "Las Alturas de Simpson," the first danzón.^[1]

Faílde and Matanzas

The composer was Miguel Faílde Pérez (1852–1921), a Matanzas cornetist and bandleader who had formed his own orchestra in 1871.^[1] His danzón premiered on 1 January 1879 at the Liceo Artístico y Literario of Matanzas — today the Sala de Conciertos José White — and took its name from Simpson Heights, a neighborhood of the city.^[1]

A new rhythm

What made the piece revolutionary was its rhythmic base, the Cuban cinquillo, a five-stroke pattern of African origin that Faílde expanded into a danceable new form.^[1] Couples could now dance in an embrace with pauses written into the music — a structure that, decades later, the Arcaño orchestra would stretch into the mambo.^[2]

Why it matters

"Las Alturas de Simpson" did more than launch a dance: it gave Cuba an emblem of national identity, and in 2013 the danzón was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Cuban Nation.^[2] Every danzón, mambo, and cha-cha-chá that followed is, in a sense, descended from Faílde's New Year's debut.^[1]