How to Dance Salsa - Essay Example

Technically, dancing may be seen as the movement of one’s body swiftly and elegantly, creative movement of the hands and legs and to sway with the rhythm of the beat. However, dancing is more than it meets the eye; dancing is also considered as an important of a country, city or even a small community’s culture. It is an impressive way to express your feeling and release the tension build up inside of you. Ruth St. Denis rightly quotes, “I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words.” This clearly portrays what dance is all about. Ever region or country has it individual culture and dance is a part of that culture. Salsa is also a part of the long list of dances available worldwide. Although, Salsa originated in the Caribbean, but it gradually gained popularity all over the world with certain alterations in style. Salsa in general gave the identity and defined the culture of the Latin America particularly The Caribbean. “Salsa is a rhythm, is a reality. That the root is from the Cuban son, it is true that the clave is important and one has to keep it, is true. But Salsa is Salsa.” -Gerardo Rosales. Salsa is a word that describes a variety of dance styles from many regions of the Latin America but it basically belongs to the Caribbean. It is mainly distinguished with the highly energetic and vivacious hip movement which is accompanies with a fervent beat. It was formed as a result of a merger between Cuban mambo and Latin jazz in the 1960’s with a touch of choreography and styling from the Puerto Ricans who resided in the Big Apple, the New York City. However, Salsa is still constantly evolving and developing and being modified with new steps and styles (V. Cushon, 2013). Salsa has its roots embedded deep down Latin America and the Afro-Caribbean. Salsa originated in the island of Cuba. A Frenchman who had fled From Haiti had brought the country dance of France to Cuba, This dance was called the Danzon. The dance then began to blend with the several types of Rhumbas such as the Guaganco, Columbia and Yambu. A major part consisted of a mixture of Sonero and the African Drumbeats, known as the Son of the Cuban people. This fusion happened in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Columbia etc. but not as popularly as in Cuba. In the 1930s, when Second World War was on its verge, the name ‘salsa’ emerged with this dance moving to the city of lights New York and Mexico. Salsa was a nickname for various Hispanic originated music such as the mambo, cha cha cha, meringue and many others. Apart from all of this, there was large investment in the promotion for Salsa. The word did not gain much popularity until the 1960’s. Tjader’s music spread far and wide because of the extensive advertisement and marketing making it another of many reasons behind Salsa’s popularity across other cities. Billboard’s magazine issue was dedicated to Salsa in 1976. The Salsa that we see today is a slow and gradual reconstruction of the old and classical Salsa (Bartch, n.d.). Salsa is mainly differentiated in to ballroom, New York, Puerto Rican, Colombian, Cuban and Los Angeles. These are the styles that dominate Salsa. Each of these have certain differences in style but the primary style is in a continuous process of evolution. Salsa has mainly originated from the Mambo. The count of Salsa is in 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. However style might differ with the rhythm that a dancer initiates with and also on the complexity of the foot work. The style of Puerto Rico is started from the first or second rhythm of the song that is either 1 or 2. It consists of specialized foot movement; the couples are separated and then are made to dance individually. This style of footwork is named as ‘solo’ or ‘shine’ in Los Angeles and New York respectively. Puerto Rican style requires more intricate foot work when compared with the New York style. The Los Angeles style consists of some disco moves and a little bit of show off. It utilizes components like ballroom, swing and a mild touch of Puerto Rican style. Ballroom mambo also known as Ballroom salsa only differentiates in the count of steps. No moves are made on 1 and 5 and then steps are made on 2, 3,4,6,7 and 8. In casino, the couple dances very fast and with much artistry involved and the female moves more often. A great deal of masculinity is seen in Salsa. This shows the culture of The Caribbean’s which also portrays a higher degree of heterosexuality and the competitive ballroom dance. The female dancers are feminine and sexy whereas the male dancers are more masculine and strong. The performances mostly revolve around themes like ‘sophisticated romantic’, ‘upper class prostitutes’ and ‘gypsy’. In Latin American dance, technique is called ‘form’ whereas expression is termed as ‘content’. According to Vermay, there exist no distinction between form and content in Latin dances and both of them are mostly related to each other. But he said that the exaggeration of the masculinity and femininity is due to the ballroom style of dance. Montreal dancers also encouraged styles that showed off the female body and display her. The dance depicts communication levels and how a woman allows the man to drive her, because of the sense of protection that she feels around him. The equality is shown by the exchange of energy between the couple (Pietrobruno, 2006). Many scholars have titles salsa as the representative of the Latin American culture. Aparicio, who is a salsa scholar, says that making dancing, composing and performing to salsa creates a line between the Latino and the North American. Salsa is also considered as a political component of Latin America. According to some, Salsa has the potential to retaliate the Euro-American culture that has started to dominate the local society and this political culture of salsa can never be separated from it (Renta, 2005). Salsa dancing has now become a popular dancing style without which many of the dance competitions are felt incomplete. Salsa has grown from dust and now has its branches in every part of the region and culture with certain amendments and differences. The dance is also a representative of the Latin American culture and represents this through various identities of the culture. Although this dancing style shows of a certain degree of masculine’s and feminism but yet, there are other aspects that show the equality between the couple. How both of them trust each other and how their steps match with great approximates, beauty and grace. But this dance has still a long way to go since it is still in the stages of development. References V. Cushon, S. (2013). Latin American dance :: Dances of national identity (1800-1940). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 March 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1481999/Latin-American-dance/279313/Dances-of-national-identity-1800-1940 Bartch, C. History of Salsa Dancing - The Origins of Salsa Dancing - Salsa Dancing Addict. Salsa Dancing Addict. Retrieved 15 March 2015, from http://www.salsa-dancing-addict.com/history-of-salsa.html Pietrobruno, S. (2006). Salsa and its transnational moves. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Renta, P. (2005). Salsa Dance: Latino/ a History in Motion. CENTRO Journal, XVI(2). Retrieved from http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/Journal/2003-2006/Vol_16_2_2004_fall/10_Renta_p138-157.pdf Read More