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| History of Salsa |
What is Salsa? Where is Salsa from? Who invented salsa? The
Cubans or the Puerto Ricans?
These are the debated questions you frequently hear being
discussed and even argued about. Salsa itself just means 'sauce'.
Salsa, with its many influences, is not easily defined and
the debate will continue. However, one thing is for sure,
Salsa’s infectious rhythm and its ’sabor’,
or flavour, have made it one of the most popular Latin dances
in clubs around the world.
Salsa music is credited as to having its origins in Cuba as
early as 1909 with the blending of African drum rhythms and
Spanish guitar.
Salsa dance is a fusion of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances.
Each of these dance forms has played a large part in the evolution
of salsa dance today. Salsa is considered by many as ‘Cuban’
and credit should be given to Cuba for its origin, ancestry
and creation.
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| What is Salsa Dance? |
Salsa is derived from the Mambo basic with similarities in
footwork and music. The mambo/salsa similarities are in the
basic pattern of six steps danced to an eight count phrase
of music. Both dances are referred to as slotted or linear
dances sharing many of the same movement patterns. In Salsa,
turns have become an important feature, so the overall look
and feel is quite different from those of Mambo. Where they
truly differ is in the timing of the forward and back break
creating the definitive for these dances. In New York the
salsa dancers break forward on a ‘2’ and back
on a ‘6’ where as the L.A. style of salsa dancer
breaks forward on the ‘1’ and back on the ‘5’.
New York and L.A. are not the only cities that can claim a
territorial influence on salsa. As well, Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Columbia, Miami and the Dominican Republic all lay claims
to style and technique each having their own recognized uniqueness.
As the phenomenon of partnered dancing continues to grow world
wide, especially Latin and salsa dance, the influences of
style and character from each country will grow exponentially.
All are good. None are better, only different.
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| Cumbia Style Salsa |
Originally, in the salsa club scene of Toronto, Cumbia style
salsa was the only salsa dance style being danced on the dance
floors. It differs from the forward and backward motion of
the mambo influenced salsas in that it has a side-to-side
basic with back breaks on counts ‘3’ and ‘7’.
When compared to the New York and L.A. styled salsas, Cumbia
styled salsa also has a more rotational pattern and feel to
it. Both styles, Cumbia and the linear Salsas, can be danced
together as a blend or separately.
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| Casino Rueda Salsa |
Casino Rueda is Cuba’s form of a ‘country/western
or square dance’ style of salsa. This popular street
dance dates back to the 1950’s in Cuba.
Rueda means ‘wheel’ and casino
is a reference to the turns and breaks of this salsa dance.
Casino rueda is a synchronized group dance performed in a
circle with a designated ‘caller’, or lead dancer.
The ‘caller’ orchestrates the movement of the
group leading and guiding the dancing couples through sequences
of turns and partner changes. The leader makes the ‘calls’
by using a combination of hand signals and verbal calls. All
attention must be on the ‘caller/leader’ for the
dancers to be able to respond with a fluid ease while simultaneously
executing turns, direction changes and partner changes. |
Resources
1. www.musicofpuertorico.com
4. A look at the origin of Salsa: Jaime Andrés Pretell
2 . Tracing the Origins of Salsa Music: Luis Alba
5. “Raices” Latin Music Museum
3 . www.salsa-in-cuba.com
6. www.clubgiggles.com |
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