[3][4] Panamanian musician Narciso Garay, in his book "Tradiciones y Cantares de Panamá", published in 1930, assumed that the word cumbia shares the same linguistic root of the word cumbé, dance of African origin registered in the dictionary of the Spanish language as dance of black people[5] Colombian folklorist Delia Zapata Olivella in her publication of 1962, La Cumbia: Síntesis Musical de la Nación Colombiana, Reseña Histórica y Coreográfica ('Cumbia: Musical Synthesis of the Colombian Nation, Historical and Choreographic Review') notes that the only word similar to cumbia present in the dictionary of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española, is cumbé "a dance of African origin and the musical interpretation of this dance."

[8] Cuban ethnologist Graciano states that the words Kumba, Kumbe and Koumbi, replacing the letter "k" for "c" (when turned into Spanish) means "drums" or "dances".

On the other hand, he states that cumba - kumba, African word for Bantu or Congo tribes, means "roar", "shock", "shouting", "scandal", "joy".

The Panamanian folklorist Manuel Zarate adds to this theory in his "Tambor y Socavón" (Drum and Tunnel), as the root of the word cumbia.

the passage reads: In the evenings, Creole families would gather to recite poetry and perform music typical of Spain and other parts of Europe.

The dance step of the man was a kind of leap backwards as the woman slid forward carrying a lighted candle in her hand holding a colored handkerchief.

In front of one of the houses were seated two of the men, strumming a monotonous cadence on drums made of the cocoa-tree, half of the size of a common pail, held between their knees, and another with the small Spanish Guitar, which furnishes the universal music on these occasions.

This consists generally of a lazy, slow shuffle, until excited by aguardiente, and emboldened as night progresses, the women dance furiously up to their favorites among the men, who are then obliged to follow suit, all joining in a kind of nasal squeal o chant.

"[2]Simple in design but full of energy and life, the cumbia is the folk dance which best captures the spontaneous, fun-loving mood of fiesta time in Panama.

The simple, repetitive melodies and accented drumbeats create a general feeling of happiness and gaiety which is reflected in the spirit of the dancers.

the tempo is rapid as couples move quickly around the large circle, making individual turns and exchanges as directed by subtle changes in the music.

In this figure partners perform the zapateos while circling counterclockwise, then face each other and separate with a series of rapid steps backward, el escobillado, before continuing with the seguidilla.