A few months ago I took a lesson from a well respected instructor locally to me.
He said that the cuban motion I was doing was incorrect and out of style.
Instead of the old way which I knew to be stepping to a bent knee with a slight delay then straightening, accenting a bent knee posture, he said that you step more towards a straighter leg much sooner then settle into the hip for a quicker more accented action on the forward step (slow-american style)with the weight fully transferred over the foot.
To me it looked very much like the traditional American style that I learned many years ago was outfazed by a more International action and technique.
Am I insane or is this a true trend that I have missed out on over the past 12-15 years?
Why are teachers essentially teaching International styling wrapped up in an American package?
Please shed some light.

Clueless . The International style is better. I believe the American Style will ultimately follow the International Style in particular arriving on a straight knee.I'll put this up once more. How is it the music is being played some five bars a minute slower and yet the steps are faster. Answer they hold onto the (and) that is in between the beats and really snap into that next step. Especially on 4 1 which is counted and 4 and 1 and ( hold it ) 2. Remember the ball of the foot arrives before the beat and the heel lowers right on the beat. It is in the Manuals as Ball Flat. There is far more scope for acting in the International Style, The teacher I go to says there is at least 60 percent acting with the way the Rumba is done today. Good Luck

The 2 styles are very distinct .

The relaxed knee action to straight leg has essentially remained in place in the Amer. style as of today , in most schools .

I suspect the " shift " that may be occuring is due to teachers who have been exposed to the Intern. style of motion and are starting to include it in their methods.

Having been around Cubans for more yrs than I care to mention, they are strongly opposed to the way that the motion is now ( and has been )being danced and displayed .
The " natural " action that characterises their dances ( which the Americans incorporated into their syllabus ) tends to make the other methods look artificial ( in Cuban eyes )... but gee , how would we know ??