Week 3: Salsa Blog Entry #2
Week: 1/22/2023 - 1/29/2023
Preface: The last two weeks I spent expanding my knowledge of salsa by learning of Cuba's cultural influence on salsa as well as how diverse Cuba is, and this week I learned about the birth of the Mambo, a true cornerstone of salsa. In this blog, I aim to show you what I have learned and share with you some thoughts I have regarding the information presented to me. I sincerely hope you enjoy the presentation.
Material Used, and comments:
Over the last two weeks, I have watched and read many videos related to salsa. The reading and videos below represent what invoked me the most as well as what gave me the most insight.
Video 1: From Mambo to Hip Hop
This video was probably the most informative video I have read so far. It sets up the context, and history of not just salsa or mambo, or hip-hop but gives a focus on everyone in the Bronx. The Bronx is a birth place of a lot of these music, and dancing styles. This video taught me what the mambo is, the mambo is Cuban son that has been "New Yorkerized". This video has also made me realize how important the Bronx was for the history of salsa, and how lively it was during the 1950s to early 1970s. This documentary had a really great interview with a man named Bobby Sanbria who said, "salsa was just Cuban music with a friggin New York attitude". I loved this statement since it really boils down and contextualizes salsa for me in an easy manner. The video also gives an incredible view of the South Bronx during this period, and particularly how devastated it was during the 1970s due to poverty, and fires. The last part about hip-hop was great too, the picture below shows a picture of hip-hop in the Bronx during 1970s:
Video 2: The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King
This documentary is incredibly interesting, it explains the upbringing and genius of the artists that performed at a very famous club in New York called the Palladium. The video follows many artists that performed at the club, an artist that was particularly interesting to me was Mario Bauzá and his story. The documentary as well discusses how Jazz, Frank Sinatra, African heritage, and other cultural influences created Latin jazz and eventually mambo. These videos are always great to watch since they have first-person accounts of people from that time. The people in this documentary have a lot of passion, and seemingly vividly remember the Palladium. It was also interesting to learn how many celebrities, like Marlon Brando, came to the club and played or danced in the club. Here is a picture of what the Palladium club looked like:
Video 3: Havana Club Rumba Sessions: La Clave – The Voice
In week 2, I learned a lot about rumba and son as well as Cuban culture. I think this video is really great in explaining how important the voice is to salsa. The video shows the spread of vocal styles such as the Arabic "melisma" which basically was the extending of one syllable in different notes. The lyrics that these rumba singers sing are incredibly personal, and often are very varied in what they speak about.
Reading 1: Cuban Dance: An Orchid of Caribbean Creativity by Yvonne Daniel(Chapter 3)
I think this reading was incredibly important from a historical standpoint since it demonstrates the importance that Cuban culture has had in the Americas. This paper talks quite a lot about Cuba and really helps paint a picture of its culture and people. It talks about Cuban dances, social lives, and political beliefs all of which feed into the mambo and son. I think it was a great piece for studying salsa, and its many influences.
Reading 2: Palladium Ballroom
https://palladium-mambo.com/ballroom.shtml
This reading was super helpful in helping cement what I had watched in the documentary on the Palladium. I think for those who are curious about its history or just want a brief overview this article is a great start.
1) Salsa Rhythms(performers, lyrics)
This week we explored the mambo, its birth, and its evolution. The mambo is a dance that evolved from the sounds in Latin America, in the Bronx, and from the instruments used in African culture. The mambo is danced to salsa music, and Latin jazz. There was not just one instrument that was used when the mambo is played, mambo dancing is typically accompanied by an orchestra playing many different instruments. The way the instruments are played can vary due from band to band, but they all follow the "cha cha cha" jazzy sound. I would say that sound is a salsa-like rhythm that expressed fluidity, and freedom. Often there is a drum or trumpet that had its own voice during the music, and helped to express the freedom of the performer. The instruments used to play mambo made the performer free, and gave them a voice. This is very similar to salsa rhythms, since they are so fluid and free too. This can also be attributed to the origins of the mambo/salsa where the focus of the instruments was expression.
The stories of mambo are incredible, and tell of a hard-worked and oppressed people. The heart of mambo was the Palladium in Manhatten, and the influence of the club was wide-reaching. The story of the palladium was told through its patrons and life experiences. The club hosted three hugely important figures of mambo and salsa they were Tito Puente, Tito Rodrí guez, and Machito. They played at this club together, and often the club hosted dancing competitions for its patrons. The Palladium's atmosphere, and hierarchy were not dependent on anything else besides how well someone danced. The stories, and body language expressed by dance are what formed the mambo and later salsa. Their stories often could be intimate, freeing, frustrated, or competitive. Dancing is what helped the Puerto Rican, Cuban, and African-American people during the time of the 1950s. The impact of their stories in dancing is what lead to salsa, hip-hop, and other incredible forms of expression we have today. Below I will show a picture of the mambo vs a picture of hip-hop, both are very freeing and that is in large part thanks to what the people of the Palladium gave to us during that time.
mambo:
2) Culture(identity)
The mambo is a dance for two similar to salsa, and it can become just as intimate a dance as salsa can become. The mambo is freer in its movement, in the video about how mambo inspired hip-hop, one of the interviewees says that "expression is the medicine".This means that the mambo is performed as a relief to the body and soul, the mambo is a way to become free through the music being played. This is very similar to salsa whose dances, and traditions are just as freeing as the mambos are. From a societal and political perspective, the mambo was a way for the dancers, and people from that time to remove their chains of oppression and embrace their culture. The mambo could be enjoyed by anyone, and the clubs which had mambo only cared for the dances. The mambo was a way to live as if life was freer, but in the music and performance, the struggle of life can still be felt/performed. This as a culmination of things meant that the mambo represented everyone, but mostly represented the Puerto Ricos, Cubans, and African Americans in the south Bronx. These were people who struggled due to racism, classism, and oppression from United States society during that time. The 1950s was a time of prosperity, but coming from the Great Depression and Second World War, the struggles of the time still had it's mark on the people. I think mambo allowed them to truly express themselves, their culture, their creativity, and most importantly their strength. Despite all of these people's hardships, they were still able to do the mambo, and I think that representation is found at the heart of the dance. There could be an argument that the upper-class white people were not represented, however, they went to places like the Pallaidum and danced too, so I feel more comfortable saying the mambo represented everyone in some way.
3)Personal perspective
I am honestly not quite sure I really relate to the mambo, and its creation as well as its importance to salsa. The reason I feel as though I do not really relate is due to the fact that the mambo was a social movement just as much as it was a dance. The mambo was a way for the people of the south Bronx to get through their oppression, and express themselves which is a little more exclusive than salsa which took the world by storm. I feel as though to really relate to the content, you'd need to be a New Yorker from the South Bronx who grew up experiencing the harshness, and the culture of the area. Obviously, that is kinda limited, so to be a little more open, I feel like to really connecting with the mambo being from New York and experiencing its culture would really make this more impactful. I think that on a very deep level, I relate to the way that the mambo was a product of its time. Being someone who has now lived through a couple different societal eras, I can really relate to experiencing a feeling that is once in a lifetime.
Overall my main takeaway from the past two weeks is that salsa has an incredible history. Last week learning about the Cuban influence, and Cuban society has really opened my eyes to the Latin-Caribbean world. It has as well given me an entirely different perspective on Cuban culture. I now feel like I have immense respect for Cubans and the contributions that have given to the United States. The mambo was even more impressive to learn about because it made me realize the importance of the Afro-Latino culture in New York. From Harlem to the Bronx, the underrepresented citizens of New York have been the heart of this country for so long. Now whenever I look at salsa or the mambo, I will think of them and remember just how important culture can be in expression.
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