Week 5: Salsa Blog Entry #3

Week 5: 2/5/2023 - 2/11/2023

Preface: This week was a vital learning experience in my salsa journey. I spent my time this week learning about the creation and the history of modern salsa/mambo. I also learned about the key figures who shaped what we call salsa/mambo. I learned about Eddie Torres, Tito Puente, and the impact NYC had on modern salsa. This week my knowledge of specific dances, and the actual style of salsa became clear to me. Overall my knowledge this week has grown a lot, and I'm excited to share the materials that I used.

Material Used, and comments:

Reading 1: Spinning Mambo into Salsa: Caribbean Dance in Global Commerce by Juliet McMains

    This was the beginning of my week, and as a jumping-off point, I think this book was excellent. The part that I read was chapter 3, starting from "Hustle: The Forgotten Link". The section on the Latin hustle that started in the late 1970s was very interesting, and sad since a lot of the Latin influence ended up not being credited. I learned that the LGBTQ community had an impact on the history of hustle, and for me, that made a lot of sense. As a gay man myself, I have noticed how much impact the Latin community has had on the LGBTQ community and the ways that both communities have affected one another. I also noticed how much dance culture showed different aspects of our society like fashion trends, cultural movements, and racism. This article highlights the importance of Eddie Torres and Tito Puente had on this movement, so I will show a picture of Tito Puente famously playing the drums.

Video 1: Eddie Torres And Eddie Torres Jr. On Preserving Latin Art

https://youtu.be/q_Ldlr3Gp6k

    This video was great since it has a legend of salsa and his son explaining the history of salsa very briefly but very well. I also really appreciated Eddie Torres's perspective on the movement that he was involved in. One particular thing that I enjoyed his saying was," that for every classic dance, there is a pioneer". I think this really puts a good perspective on the mambo, and how important every person in that era was to its creation.

Video 2: Eddie Torres Interview: Eddie sharing his vision for the future of Latin Dance

https://youtu.be/-fYSz0x1uJU

    This interview was great since it showed how salsa was still in its infancy. Although the decade before this interview was the height of the Fania all-stars, salsa at that point was not yet called salsa. It was either the Latin hustle or the mambo and I think this interview shows that very well. I also think that this interview shows the difference between modern salsa and the pallidum era. I think in the end when he started talking about how Latin dance, in general, gave people their freedom was really awesome and insightful. I am going to put a picture below of what Eddie Torres looked like. I want to put out that during the interview Eddie is obviously dressed up and ready to dance, and the interview was in a suit looking very formal. I love this since it shows how clearly confident Eddie, and other salsa dancers in NYC were to express themselves.

1)Rhythms and Musicality

    The rhythms and musicality of the era were similar to the Palladium era, where the base of the music had been established with the claves, drums, and other important elements. I think the person who defined this era of rhythm and musicality was Tito Puente and his orchestra. His orchestra was vital for this time and was instrumental in the careers of other cornerstone figures like Eddie Torres. I this era saw the musicality shift from the music to the dancing, which makes sense! The reason this makes sense, at least to me, is due to the fact that salsa music is so distinctive in its style most people would be able to at least tell you what it feels like. Whereas the difference in the dances would be so hard to tell for someone who is not been trained to notice the difference, or who has not learned about the history of salsa. I read in the book by Juliet McMains how the disco era as well affected the emergence of modern salsa due to things like Saturday Night Fever which made things like the Latin hustle appear in the mainstream consciousness. I as well think that the music became a lot more formal, and not as bombastic. This is probably due to Tito Puente, and his impact on the drums. Tito was the fire, and during the dances/music, you can see/hear his energy.  I think overall the musicality, and the rhythms of salsa did not change drastically in this era as much as the dancing had done. Thanks in large part to famous dancers, and musicians like Eddie Torres and Tito Puente. Here is a picture of Tito Puente, and his orchestra which I think shows his importance on this period of time.

2)Representation: Identity and Culture

    The culture and heart of modern salsa can be largely attributed to NYC and the people who lived there. From the Palladium era to the 1980s disco and hustle era to eventually modern salsa, the cultural identity of the Latin community has always been incredibly important for dances. I think a large issue of this era was the Latin erasure when the dances and dance styles exploded in popularity. Things like "Latin Hustle" became just "Hustle", and other aspects of Latin culture were not given the credit they deserved. I think people like Eddie Torress really showed the identity, and culture of the people of the time. Eddie Torres incorporated mambo, and pallidum styles in his hustle as well as teaching people during the time how to dance the new Latin styles. I think through people like Eddie, modern salsa was able to keep its cultural roots and representation. Here is a picture of some of Eddie Torres' dancers. Notice how the dancers are wearing outfits that are very much a product of the 1980s, but also notice how the dresses still have jewels and other bedazzled items. I think this picture really shows how the heritage is still there, but it's being evolved.

3)Performance: Body Expression

    The body expression during this time was definitely different compared to the Pallidum era. The body expression and dances that were performed seem to be a lot more distinct. What I mean by this is that the dancers are not dancing with one another, they are dancing side by side and they are dancing more with themselves. I think this body expression is significant since it shows the final evolution of salsa and it corporates all the aspects of salsa while being different. As well the body expression is different in terms of feet movement, and hand movement. The hands seem to be more formed in this era of salsa, and the foot movement has become incredibly specific. This is really awesome to watch since it shows how much more structured salsa had become in the body expression. Overall I think the body expression seems to have become more formed, but free to those who knew the form. Here is a picture of Eddie Torres dancing with another dancer, notice how separated they are. 

4)Community Voice: How as a society/local/national/global we relate

    As a society, I think we can all relate to how modern salsa has emerged with its different trends and eras. The way that the people of NYC were able to influence an entire genre of music and dance is incredible and shows how big an impact a voice of a community can have. The NYC lifeblood has been in salsa since the Pallidum era, during the Fania-All-Star era, and throughout modern salsa. However, I do want to preface this by saying, NYC would be nothing without its people, and the Latin community in New York has given so much to the city. I think that salsa, salsa-mambo, and Latin hustle, just to name a few, have all been part of the NYC Latin community voice. This voice is relatable from the global perspective since salsa incorporates a lot of different cultures from not just the Latin world, but from a lot of African cultures as well. I think the cultural connections as well as how the dance developed are very relatable to our society and show the importance of the NYC Latin community voice. The image I put below is meant to show how big of a Hispanic population NYC has, I want it to be able to show how many people in NYC are Hispanic. I think by seeing this image, the impact of the Latin community makes a lot of sense. 

5)Personal Voice: How I currently relate to the material

    I currently relate to the material, because I have a lot of friends who are of Latin culture and origins. As well as living in Arizona, I meet a lot of people who are a part of the Latin community. Now do all these people I meet know how to do salsa? No probably not, but cultural identity and expression that is found within salsa I see my friends having. I as well work with someone who is a dance instructor, and he actually knows salsa which is really cool. So I would say that I relate to the emergence of modern salsa since I see many connections to its culture and the impact that it has had. I as well appreciate the freedom, and self-expression that it offers.