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Initiated in the nineteenth century, the
Rumba, more than a song or dance, is a
festival, a secular ritual of recreation
first created by blacks and later
assimilated by all Cubans. In
fact, any informal gathering among the
black lower class in the city was often
referred to as a Rumba. At the turn of
the century, rumbas were played on a
variety of drums, wooden boxes, chair
and tabletops, spoons, jars, or almost
any available item that could produce a
percussive sound. This style of
drumming and singing that developed in
the rumba influenced the popular music
of Cuba and its most popular derivative
called Salsa. |
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Duany (1984), a subject matter expert of
tropical music, attempts to explore the
meaning of Salsa from an anthropological
perspective. According to his analysis,
the term Salsa may refer variously to
the musical style of Cuba, Puerto Rico,
or the entire Spanish Caribbean; it has
been extended to the music of any
“Latin” country. However, Salsa is
reduced to a more specific and concrete
phenomenon: popular Puerto Rico song
and dance forms, as they evolved in the
last two decades. Salsa emerges in a
context of urbanization,
industrialization and profetarianization
of the Puerto Rican labor force, and
more important, the migration of more
than one million of Puerto Ricans to New
York in the early eighties. From this
intense syncretization has emerged the
Music of Salsa, neither black nor white,
African or European, but “negriblanca”.
Salsa should be understood as part of
this displacement of poor Puerto Ricans
from the countryside to the coastal
cities and, beyond, to the United
States.
Duany
(1984) also summarizes that Salsa is an
amalgamation of Caribbean folk
traditions, musical styles, and
rhythms. It’s most characteristic
traits are precisely this
transculturation of songs, instruments,
and dances of various groups of
Caribbean migrants to the United
States. Salsa Music, as Duany tries to
show, is deeply rooted in Puerto Rico’s
popular sectors, despite the recent
disco and rock fever and the proverbial
upper class disdain for “native” music.
Salsa is above all a symbol of
resistance to the loss of national
identity, whether through the migration
experience or the cultural penetration
to the Island. Like “comida criolla” (creole
cuisine) or the Spanish language, Salsa
is one of the ways through which the
popular sectors can resort to their
cultural traditions to re-align their
mode of life. When a group of
youngsters gathers to listen, sing, and
dance Salsa, it is celebrating and
recreating the values, beliefs, and
practices of its cultural heritage.
Likewise, when new Salsa Orchestras
invade TV and radio stations, they are
expressing and reaffirming a staunch
collective will not to assimilate, not
to lose themselves within the
Anglo-Saxon cultural orbit.
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.
Styles
of Salsa
Cuban
style
The original salsa style, as considered
by most, which has been developing in
Cuba since the 1950s. Cuban-style salsa
can be danced either “on one” or
“a contratiempo” – the latter is
often referred to as “on two”. An
essential element is the “cuba step”
(also known as Guapea), where the leader
does a backward basic on 1-2-3 and a
forward basic on 5-6-7. The follower
does the same, thereby mirroring the
leader’s movement.
Colombian style
This style is common in Latin American
countries. The leader and follower do
most of the movements while standing in
place. It stems from the Cuban style.
Los Angeles style
Developed in recent years, this is a
style of salsa much effected by
Hollywood and by the swing and mambo
dances, thus being the most flashy
style, which is considered “more show
than dance” by many.
Eddie Torres style
The “NY Style” is a combination of
the “On 1” and “On 2” systems.
The timing of the steps are on the
1-2-3, 5-6-7 as in “On 1” but the
breaks (where the body changes
direction) occur on the 2 and 6 as in
“On 2”. NY instructor Eddie Torres
developed this step pattern around the
late 70s and the 80s.
Ballroom Mambo
This style is similar to Los-Angeles
style, but it is danced “On Two”.
The basic step timing is 2-3-4, 6-7-8
with the breaks on 2 and 6.
Puerto Rican style
This style can be danced as “On One”
or “On Two”. If danced as “On
Two”, it is always danced on count 2,
and not on count 6 as in Ladies-style
NY.
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