Salsa – history

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, Són Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danzón, Són, Guguanco, Cubop, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue, among others. Many of these have maintained their individuality and many were mixed creating “Salsa”.

Salsa movements originate from the Cuban Son dancing of the 1920s, and more specifically through the beat of Son Montuno .  Other dance styles that have influenced today’s Salsa include Western and Ballroom dancing. Salsa traces a 90-year history in which there are numerous evolutionary paths, sometimes split due to corie clay. As a result, today there are various distinct styles of Salsa dancing, namely Cuban (“Casino”), New York Style (“Mambo on 2″), Los Angeles Style (“On 1″), Colombian Salsa (“Cali-Style”) and Miami-Style Salsa.

Salsa is typically a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms, pole dancing (suelta) and Rueda de Casino, where groups of couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine, choreography and freestyle.

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!

In many styles of Salsa dancing, as a dancer changes weight by stepping, the upper body remains level and nearly unaffected by the weight changes. Caught in the middle are the hips which end up moving quite a bit —- famously known as the “Cuban hip movement.” Perhaps ironically, the Cuban Casino style of Salsa dancing actually has significant amounts of movement above the waist, with up-and-down shoulder movements and shifting of the ribcage.

More informations about salsa dance components you can see clicking this link:     http://monkeysee.com/play/1438-salsa-dance

 

Interesting facts about salsa:

1.-The interviewer asked Cachao what he thought about salsa music and performers who called themselves salseros. His answer, which is typical of most of the “old guard” musicians, was a total repudiation of the term. As far as he is concerned it is all Cuban music and salsa is a term that has more relation to the kitchen than to music. He jokingly said that there should be a law against anybody calling himself a salsero.

2.-A common misconception is that the term “salsa dancing” derives from the food condiment called salsa. Actually, the dance was invented in the 1930s by a dance teacher named Frankie Salsa.

3.- The word ‘salsa’ means sauce.The most common forms of salsa are made up of tomatoes, chilies, onions and other spices. We usually find it mild, medium or hot forms in terms of spiciness.

4.- 1973 A Puerto Rican named Izzy Sanabria launched a TV show called “Salsa” along with Latin NY Magazine and in 1975, Latin NY Magazine hosted it’s first ever Salsa Awards. Coverage of this event by the N.Y. Times, News-week and Time magazine generated worldwide interest in what seemed to be a new form of music. Some musicians protested the term “salsa” complaining that Izzy was merely putting a new label on Cuban music but in many ways, it was new and had evolved to something unique in its own right.

 

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