History of Salsa

 Salsa is not easily defined. Who invented salsa? The Cubans, Puerto Ricans? Salsa is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. Each played a large part in its evolution.

Salsa is similar to Mambo in that both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. In Salsa, turns have become an important feature, so the overall look and feel are quite different form those of Mambo. Mambo moves generally forward and backward, whereas, Salsa has more of a side to side feel.

It is not only Cuban; nevertheless we must give credit to Cuba for the origin and ancestry of creation. It is here where Contra-Danze (Country Dance) of England/France, later called Danz?n, which was brought by the French who fled from Haiti, begins to mix itself with Rhumbas of African origin (Guaguanco, Colombia, Yamb?). Add S?n of the Cuban people, which was a mixture of the Spanish troubadour (sonero) and the African drumbeats and flavora and a partner dance flowered to the beat of the clave.

This syncretism also occurred in smaller degrees and with variations in other countries like the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Puerto Rico, among others. Bands of these countries took their music to Mexico City in the era of the famous films of that country (Perez Prado, most famous...). Shortly after, a similar movement to New York occurred. In these two cities, more promotion and syncretism occurred and more commercial music was generated because there was more investment. New York created the term "Salsa", but it did not create the dance. The term became popular as nickname to refer to a variety of different music, from several countries of Hispanic influence: Rhumba, S?n Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danz?n, S?n, Guguanco, Cubop, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue, among others. Many of these have maintained their individuality and many were mixed creating "Salsa".

If you are listening to today's Salsa, you are going to find the base of s?n, and you are going to hear Cumbia, and you are going to hear Guaracha. You will also hear some old Merengue, built-in the rhythm of different songs. You will hear many of the old styles somewhere within the modern beats. Salsa varies from site to site. In New York, for example, new instrumentalization and extra percussion were added to some Colombian songs so that New Yorkers - that dance mambo "on the two" - can feel comfortable dancing to the rhythm and beat of the song, because the original arrangement is not one they easily recognize. This is called "finishing," to enter the local market. This "finish" does not occur because the Colombian does not play Salsa, but it does not play to the rhythm of the Puerto Rican/Post-Cuban Salsa. I say Post-Cuban, because the music of Cuba has evolved towards another new and equally flavorful sound.

Then, as a tree, Salsa has many roots and many branches, but one trunk that unites us all. The important thing is that Salsa is played throughout the Hispanic world and has received influences of many places within it. It is of all of us and it is a sample of our flexibility and evolution. If you think that a single place can take the credit for the existence of Salsa, you are wrong. And if you think that one style of dance is better, imagine that the best dancer of a style, without his partner, goes to dance with whomever he can find, in a club where a different style predominates. He wouldn't look as good as the locals. Each dancer is accustomed to dance his/her own style. None is better, only different. ???Viva la variedad, ???Viva la Salsa!!!

Casino Rueda

 

 

During the 1950's a dance called Casino Rueda, or Rueda de Casino, or simply Rueda became popular in Cuba. It started in El Casino Deportivo, a Havana social club. The name Casino, which comes from the social club in which the dance began, refers to the style of dancing. It refers to the kinds of turns and steps you would normally do in ordinary salsa dancing, but which make Casino Rueda unique in that the dancing is done in a circle or wheel, as a group. In Rueda the followers are passed around in the circle, with the leaders rapidly exchanging of partners, and numerous complicated moves are done in synchronization, all done to the beat of Salsa music. Each move has a name and many have hand signals, and are called by the leader of the Rueda. Moves, which are also known as "calls", are sometimes called in extremely quick succession, creating a very dynamic and exciting atmosphere for everyone involved. The hand signals are designed people to be able to dance a Rueda in a loud club setting. In addition, Rueda allows many to take part in the action! As few as two couples can dance Casino Rueda, but also as large as a space can hold! Sometimes as many as fifty couples dance the Rueda, even in circles within circles!!

A wonderful new group dynamic occurs when dancing Casino Rueda. There is a unique level of awareness, unmatched in other dances, required by the group for the dance to look stylish, flow smoothly, and above all, to keep it entertaining and fun for those dancing and even for those watching! Dancers learn to open their sphere of awareness, their peripheral vision, beyond the normal restricted space of solo or partner dancing. In this way, dancers coordinate and adjust their individual feel, timing and style so as to make the Rueda work. It is very exciting when the entire Rueda is moving smoothly and on beat! A unique group atmosphere develops as you feel the whole Rueda flow, listening to the wonderful Afro-Cuban/Latin-American music. It is simply an exciting dance which is fun to do and a pleasure to watch.

L.A.Style

 

 

The Los Angeles style uses the contemporary mambo basic as well but typically executes this step by breaking forward on count "1". The L.A. and New York styles consist of the same core components that make up their incredibly diverse repertoire of moves. The main difference is their approach to styling, the ebb and flow of movement. For example, if you were looking into a window at a group of dancers from both L.A. and New York and could not hear the music to determine the count you should still be able to ascertain the style of choice for each dancer. The New York dancers certainly have a more composed, elegant, and smoother look and feel for the dance. The women in particular tend to reveal a sensual quality to express the intricacies of this dance. Unlike the subtle nuances of the New York style dancers, the L.A. dancers would perhaps catch your attention first with their incredible display of explosive and technically challenging roster of tricks. The execution tends to be crisp and sharp with a vivacious appeal. The L.A. men tend to really surpass the basic expectations of a good dancer with jumps, and flips, and splits, and spins, and…get the picture?

New York Style

 

 

The New York style and L.A. styles are very closely linked. Both styles use the mambo step as a basic and are very slotted/linear in execution. New York has earned a reputation for dancing on "2" yet there are many New Yorker's who also dance on "1". There are two variations of the mambo step danced in New York, the contemporary mambo ( a.k.a. Eddie Torres style) and the Palladium style. The Eddie Torres style is characterized by a continuous and smooth body rhythm and passing of the feet where the non-weight changing counts are on "4" and "8". The Palladium style is very much like the 1950's Mambo whereby the non-weight changing counts are on "1" and "5". Unlike the contemporary style, it can be very staccato (fragmented) in execution depending on the dancers interpretation and placement of the feet on counts "4" and "8". The New York style tends to have the most varied interpretation/ opinion of the basic step than any other style so I am providing you with my most basic explanation.

 

 

Mambo

 

 

Can Mambo recapture the glory of its golden days? Can the flashy Cuban dance step find a new following in the 1990's?

The Mambo dance originated in Cuba where there were substantial settlements of Haitians. In the back country of Haiti, the "Mambo" is a voodoo priestess, who serves the villagers as counselor, healer, exorcist, soothsayer, spiritual advisor, and organizer of public entertainment. However, there is not a folk dance in Haiti called the "Mambo."

The fusion of Swing and Cuban music produced this fascinating rhythm and in turn created a new sensational dance. The Mambo could not have been conceived earlier since up to that time, the Cuban and American Jazz were still not wedded. The "Mambo" dance is attributed to Perez Prado who introduced it at La Tropicana night-club in Havana in 1943. Since then other Latin American band leaders such as Tito Rodriquez, Pupi Campo, Tito Puente, Machito and Xavier Cugat have achieved styles of their own and furthered the Mambo craze. The Mambo was originally played as any Rumba with a riff ending. It may be described as a riff or a Rumba with a break or emphasis on 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. Native Cubans or musicians without any training would break on any beat. It first appeared in the United States in New York's Park Plaza Ballroom - a favorite hangout of enthusiastic dancers from Harlem. The Mambo gained its excitement in 1947 at the Palladium and other renowned places such as The China Doll, Havana Madrid and Birdland.

A modified version of the "Mambo" (the original dance had to be toned down due to the violent acrobatics) was presented to the public at dance studios, resort hotels, and at night-clubs in New York and Miami. Success was on the agenda. Mambo happy dancers soon became known affectionately as "Mambonicks".

The Mambo craze did not last long and today the Mambo is much limited to advanced dancers. Teachers agreed that this is one of the most difficult of dances. One of the greatest contributions of the Mambo is that it led to the development of the Cha-Cha.

The Mambo is enjoying a renewed popularity due to a number of films featuring the dance as well as a man named Eddie Torres. Eddie is a New York dance pro and Mambo fanatic who has launched a crusade to make sure the dance reigns in the ballroom once again. Torres has become the leading exponent of the style, steadily building a reputation as a dancer, instructor, and choreographer. He has become known as the "Mambo King of Latin Dance". Torres is determined to reintroduce dancers to what he believes is the authentic night-club style of mambo dancing, which in the 1990's is increasingly known as Salsa.

"It's a great time for Latin American dances," says Torres. "The Mambo is hot now, like it was in the '50's. It is a dance with many influences -- African, Cuban, Jazz, Hip-Hop, even some ballet. You'll never run out of steps."

Popular Mambo songs include "Mambo Italiano", "Papa Loves Mambo", "Mambo #5", "I Saw Mommy Do The Mambo", and "They Were Doin' The Mambo". 'Dance City', the superb CD album featuring Hernandez and the Mambo Kings Orchestra, stands on its own as one of the best recordings of its kind in years, an energetic big band-style session that recalls the glory days of Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez.

Most people treat Mambo as a very fast dance. In essence,

Merengue

 

 

Of all the dances available to us, Merengue is by far the easiest to learn!

Since the 1930s Merengue is readily recognised as the national dance of the Dominican Republic. However, there is some controversy regarding it's origins. To get an unbiased opinion we really do need to differentiate between the music's historical roots and the nostalgia of the dance itself. Musically, it has links with Cuba but the dance belongs to the island of Hispaniola - one third of which is now called Haiti and the other two thirds make up the Dominican Republic.

A quick look at the island's history might assist in providing some understanding to the debate about Merengue's origins.

In 1697 Spain ceded one third of the island of Hispaniola to France, who created the colony of Saint-Dominique. The French colony became the most productive agricultural colony in the Western Hemisphere. By contrast the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was small and it's economy mainly depended on subsistance agriculture. Prosperous French plantation owners sought to maximise production by importing great numbers of slaves.

By 1790 Saint-Dominique was a powder keg waiting to explode! About 500,000 black slaves were being managed by only 57,000 whites and freedmen (in Santo Domingo there were about 60,000 black slaves to 65,000 whites and freedmen). The inevitable happened and in 1791 the slaves revolted. The initial reaction of Freedmen, French colonists and Spanish colonists to news of the slaughter of Frenchmen to armies of rebellious slaves was to flee to Cuba taking some of their slaves with them. It took 20 years before the first of these emigries returned to the island. Hence the Cuban connection. It is regularly discussed whether the Merengue music was taken to Cuba (influencing the music there) or whether on return to Santo Domingo the emigries brought back Cuban music which in turn influenced the development of Merengue.

The independent nation of Haiti was established in 1804 and ruled the entire island to 1844. Hence, the Haitian connection. Of the dance; one story alleges it originated with slaves who were chained together and, of necessity, were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the beat of the drums. This being true the dance probably originated with the slaves of the French Colony.

However, the most popular story relates that a great hero of the revolution, who had been crippled in one leg was welcomed home with a victory celebration. It was known that he loved to dance but all he could do now, was step with one leg and drag the other to close. Out of respect, everyone dancing copied him and the Merengue was born. The trouble with this story is that "which revolution" is not mentioned. If it is the slave revolt then the dance originated in Haiti. If it was the revolt of Spanish emigries against the Haitians then the dance could be either Dominican or Hiatian depending on which side tells the story.

Who invented the dance and how it came to exist really doesn't matter to anyone but the Dominicans and maybe the Haitians! The important thing is the imagery of the above stories, both describe stepping side and dragging the other leg to close both are worth remembering as you learn the basic dance steps.

From the middle of the 18th century the Merengue developed as rural music in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. However, the Haitian m?ringue is sung in Creole and tends to have a slower, more nostalgic sound, based on guitar.

The most representative form of Merengue only survives in the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. It consists of paseo (walk), body and "jaleo". In time the walk disappeared, the body has been extended and the jaleo has been alienated by the insertion of exotic rhythms.

These days, Merengue is done with the man holding the woman in a vals-like position, they step to the side (paso de la empalizada - stick fence step). Turn clockwise or counter clockwise while maintaining closed dance position (merengue de sal?n) or individually perform turns while holding onto at least one hand of their partner (merengue de figura).

Strangers and older couples tend to keep a respectable distance from each other, while more intimate couples break the barriers of personal space and entwine their bodies. Whatever age the contagious beat causes the adrenaline to rise and you can imagine yourself dancing bare foot to the pulse of a Caribbean sunset.

Bachata

 

 

Bachata is a popular guitar music from the Dominican Republic. While Bachata is based on the bolero rhythm, bachateros have traditionally included other kinds of music like son, Merengue, vals and ranchera in their repertoires. The influence of all of these styles, and particularly that of Merengue, can be felt in the rhythms, harmonies and melodies of Bachata proper.

Guitar music has always been a part of the Dominican musical landscape, but the first Bachata recognized as such was recorded in 1961 by Jos? Manuel Calder?n. The Bachata of Calder?n and his contemporaries was virtually identical to the bolero of other Latin American countries like Puerto Rico and Ecuador. In fact many of the songs which these bachateros recorded were covers of earlier boleros, and the music was viewed by society at large in the same way that bolero was viewed throughout Latin America—a romantic music popular with lovers and serenaders.

In time, however, Bachata began to be associated with another world, that of prostitution, poverty and delincuency. The reasons for this are many and complex and involve the conflicts within Dominican society around poverty and wealth, tradition and modernity, as well as genuine bad faith on the part of other elements in the music industry. So strong was the stigma against Bachata that only one national radio station would play it. While this situation was deplorable and extremely difficult for the musicians involved, it also helped to consolidate the genre. Relegated to the brothel and the barrio, Bachata began to tell the stories of that world, the experiences of the lover of a prostitute, the poor country boy who gets to the city and gets ripped off, the plight of the barrio dweller without light or water—all replete with slang and sexual double entendre. From about 1970 to about 1990, Bachata was thoroughly unique among Latin American musical genres in its free _expression of the underground life of a nation. This free _expression naturally provoked even more fiercely the contempt of the Dominican mainstream. Ironically, it was the most despised of these cabaret bachateros, Blas Dur?n, the master of sexual double entendre, whose music marked the end of Bachata's isolation when he began to record with an electric guitar in 1987.

After Dur?n's innovation Bachata's popularity began to soar, as Anthony Santos and other bachateros used the new style to record more acceptable, romantic songs. The influence of Merengue became marked in the rhythm and the guitar lines of the music, and in fact modern Bachata was first made popular by the bachateros' Merengues rather than by their Bachatas. Several middle class musicians, notably Juan Luis Guerra, also experimented with the form, and were so successful that the music began to be accepted by all sectors of society.

In its current form, Bachata is listened to throughout Latin America, and is probably the most popular kind of Latin music in New York City today. It has been fused with other styles, like Vallenato (Monchy y Alexandra, among others) and R&B (Aventura), with great success.

Latin Cha Cha

 

 

In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for North Americans, especially those residing along the east coast. The most famous American dance bands as well as the many outstanding latin bands native to Cuba played at the city's casinos. Some of these orchestras tried combining the American JAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result was a new rhythm called the MAMBO.

A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat rather than the traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly with dancers thoroughly familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among the many figures of the mambo was one called the "chatch", which involved three quick changes of weight preceded by two slow steps. By the early 1950s, this figure had developed into a new dance comprised of many simple variations on the basic footwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic three-step change of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, "cha-cha-cha".

The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and the mambo. Like most latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor. The dancers' hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. The upper body shifts over the supporting foot, as steps are taken.

Cha Cha

When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realised that sometimes the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned to Britain, he started teaching these steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). The name could have been derived from the Spanish 'Chacha' meaning 'nursemaid', or 'chachar' meaning 'to chew coca leaves' (Smith, 1971, 161), or from 'char' meaning "tea' (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful'Cuban dance: the Guaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before the turn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the Finishing Assembly in 1898 of Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).

It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically from the sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie, 1980, 5/86).

In 1954, the dance was described as a "Mambo with a guiro rhythm" (Burchfield, 1976, I/473). A guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by a serrated stick (Burchfield, 1976, I/1318).

The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado (Burchfield, 1976, II/809). The word "Mambo" is the name of a Voodoo priestess in the religion brought by the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the Cha Cha had its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa. There are three forms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five (!) steps to a bar, and this is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha (Rust, 1969, 105) (Sadie, 1980, 100).

The "Cha Cha" is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps are taken on the beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beats in between. The weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat, and with minimal torso movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasise the step on beat 1, which may be held a moment longer than the other steps to match the emphasis of the beat in the music.

 

 

Samba

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and is the birth place of the Samba. Much of the music in the heavily populated coastal areas shows a remarkable combination of African, Native Indian, and Iberian influences.

Modern Samba was developed from an earlier Brazilian musical style called Choro. Both Samba the dance and music can take many forms, from the vivacious call response of samba de enredo, the music of Carnaval to samba-cancon or song samba, a more relaxed guitar and rhythm variant. Bossa Nova, which translates to New Wave, hit America big time in the Sixties with "The Girl From Ipanema". This song by the legendary composer Antonio Carlos Jobim became a classic in jazz and elevator music.

In the 16th century, the portuguese discovered on the east coast of South America, a place they called the January River (Rio de Janeiro). Colonists soon settled and as the colony prospered, slaves were brought from south-west Africa to work in the plantations of Bahia, in the north-east of what became Brazil.

To adherents of the Afro-Brazilian religion, Candomble, Samba means to pray, to invoke your personal orixa (god/saint). The African rhythms enveloped in Latino music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other West African people, who were transported to the New World as slaves. In their homeland the rthythms were used to call forth various gods. Candomble preserves these rhythms to this day! It is these rhythms that has heavily influenced Brazilian music making Samba a unique genre of music.

The native dances were considered sinful by the Europeans and at different times the authorities tried to suppress their popularity. Still, many in the colony became popular amongst both blacks and whites. The Batuque described as a circle dance with steps like the Charleston done to hand clapping and percussion, became so popular that the prtuguese emperor Manuel I who fled to Brazil during the Napoleanic Wars, passed a law forbidding it!

A composite dance was developed in the 1830's which combined the plait figures from these Negro dances and the body rolls and sways of the indigenous Lundu. Later, carnival steps were included. This dance was modified and began to be performed with the dancers holding each other in the European way (closed dance position). Around 1885, it was adopted by high society in Rio, and popularised as the Zemba Queca. It was modified again and called the Mesemba.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Mesemba was combined with another Brazilian dance, the Maxixe and was popularised in the U.S.A and Europe. It has been described as having the steps of the Polka done to the music of the Cuban Habanera (from Havanna). The present day Samba still contains a step called the Maxixe, consisting of a chasse and point.

In the 1930s, a form of the Samba called the Carioca was revived in U.K and spread to the USA. Movies helped popularise it, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performing it in their first film together. In 1941, its popularity was boosted by performances by Carmen Miranda in her many films. However, the exorbinate fees paid to holders of US copyrights probably had a lot more to do with the rise in popularity of Latin music in the US and the world! To avoid the fees, US radio stations played Brazilian and other Latin music. To the chagrin of the US music industry, the audience loved it!

The Ballroom Samba, while maintaining elements of what the Brazilians consider the true Samba, was formalised in 1956 by Pierre Lavelle. Since then, various forms of Samba have been developed to fit the mood of modern music.