Background Of Salsa Dance

Salsa Dance

Description of Salsa Dance

Salsa dance is considered to be one of the hottest dances at the club scene today. The dance is characterized by sexy movement of the hips that is compelled by rhythms and several turns. Research reveals that salsa dance creates a platform for people to make a lot of friends as the dancers always comfortable and confident on the dance floor. It is the confidence and being comfortable that leads to free interaction at the dance floor; thus, making new friends. For couples, salsa dance is said to create a wonderful time for those who have a special relationship to get intimate (Hernandez 268).

Salsa dance is suitable for people of varied ages as both the young and people of age are normally seen at the salsa dance floors. There is no clear meaning of Salsa dance since it is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. The difference dances are noted in historical records to have greatly contributed to the evolution of Salsa Dance. Salsa dance is also accompanied by Salsa music that creates the desired rhythm for the moving of the hips and the frequent body turns. Salsa music and dance are very much connected as the main aim of playing the music is to dance. Nonetheless, Salsa music and dance have different stories in historical records (bennett et al. 7).

Similar to the Mambo dance, Salsa involves the dancers creating a pattern of several steps over a particular count of music. The kind of turns that the dancers engage in Salsa is a special feature in the dance, making it somehow different from other types of dances. Again, salsa involves a lot of side to side feel in rhyme with the music. The modern Salsa dance and music tend to follow the jazz structure where the music has a smooth sound that is polished, with the incorporation of instrumental breaks as a show of the ability of the musicians. The modern Salsa dance, therefore, tends to be different from the original Dances at the club scene (Hernandez 270).

History of Salsa Dance

In New York, Salsa dance is strongly under the influence of Puerto Ricans and the NuYoricans because of their high concentration in the city. The Salsa dance that is influenced by the two groups involves an emphasis on fast flash footwork. The Latino group has been making efforts to influence the Salsa dance scene in New York. For instance, the local Brooklyn discos in New York were influenced by specific figures in the late 70s and early 80s. It is recorded in journals that those who took part in the discos brought in their moves to the Salsa dance scene when the Salsa dance started spreading into clubs that are based in Manhattan, New York (Padura and Clark).

Apparently, the evolution of Salsa in New York has an influence on the salsa dance scene worldwide. New York City has a reputation of being the city in which displays of fashion and different talents are shown to the whole world to follow. The Salsa that has evolved in New York is currently practiced in almost all the countries in the globe. The modern Salsa dance in New York City is referred to as the Mambo, a blend of Puerto Rican salsa and has some Latin influence.

In the 1990s, Salsa was one of the most dynamic and significant musical phenomenon while it has remained the most popular dance style in some communities. The Hispanic community still embraces the Salsa dance, which is a representation of the Latin and Cuban dance musical genres. The Cuban dance music is regarded as the major component of Salsa dance since the style of dance had its original roots in Eastern Cuba. It is during the 1920s that the Cuban Salsa was mixed with the Spanish and Afro-Cuban musical elements to come up with the common Salsa dance. The combination of the musical elements involved even the exchange of musical instruments and rhythm. Upon reaching Havana by mid 20th century, foreign influences were absorbed in Salsa dance, incorporating the American jazz and the trendy music that was heard over the radio (Padura and Clark).

With an increase in immigrations to the United States, many people of the Salsa origin, including musicians had settled in the US by the end of the 1950s. The settlement of Salsa musicians and other participants in the development of Salsa in the US created an environment where Salsa music compelled its development. The development of Salsa music and dance was further improved by the development of many bands as the immigrants adopted the sound of the new Salsa world. Some immigrants continued working in the composition of Afro-Caribbean music by they gradually switched to the Salsa music that was influenced by the American jazz (Padura and Clark).

The Salsa that is known in the contemporary society started emerging in the 1950s and 1960s, with the famous musicians of the time being Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. The musical giants were nicknamed the king of Mambo and the queen of Salsa respectively because of their expertise in the musical and dance scenes. Historical data also indicate that the rise of Salsa music and dance is also because of the Fania Records which was founded in 1964 by a musician and a lawyer (Padura and Clark).

The two people are said to have met at a party in a hotel in New York where they struck a deal to work together. The La Fania then became a popular music label that promoted many music artists. By 1970s, Salsa was a popular music genre whose artists toured all over Latin America to carry out performances and shows. The Salsa that was promoted by the La Fania music label was referred to as the hard Salsa by the music lovers in the century (Padura and Clark).

As the Salsa music and dance continued to evolve, the soft Salsa came into existence to promote romance. The artists who came up with the soft Salsa in the 1980s include Gilberto Santa Rosa, an artist whose performance had an influence on the US mainstream music. At the time, Latin music was also having an impact on the musical genres across the globe. The popularity of Salsa music went hand in hand with the popularity of Salsa dance, with both the hard Salsa and the soft Salsa remaining popular in the world today (Padura and Clark).

Learning Salsa Dance

There are many organizations that have come up with the idea of offering Salsa lessons to those who are interested at a fee. Salsa lessons are now considered as part of the curriculum activities in some institutions as students have been registering in large numbers for the Salsa classes. For example, the Salsa dance schools in Brooklyn offer a platform for new beginners to learn Salsa dance at all levels.