How to dance salsa cubana

Author Viktor Radzyun, founder and permanent observer of the site www. salsaviva.narod.ru, winner (together with Natalia Mikhalchuk) of the salsa competition at the 1st International Salsa Congress in St. Petersburg.

It is rather difficult to define salsa in one word: try to describe the music and dance in a nutshell. Although the Latin Americans themselves tried to do this already in the name itself: the fact is that “salsa” [salsa] in Spanish is “sauce”, a thing that embodies every mixture for the Latins (it’s good that the name was not invented here: in Russia salsa would certainly be called a vinaigrette).

It all started in the late 60's in New York's Harlem, an area that we associate in our minds with Negro music and jazz. However, it was this area of ​​New York and the Hispanics who inhabited it (mainly Cubans and Puerto Ricans) played a huge role in the development and spread of modern Latin music, in particular, the phenomenon that is now known as salsa. Latin Americans, who had just moved to the States, preferred their native music. However, their children, who were already born in New York, were “cramped” within the framework of traditional Latin American culture: they grew up listening to both Latin American music and North American jazz. One of the results of this mixture was mambo, which quickly became fashionable in the 50s. Salsa was born a little later, as a single style, it developed in the 80s. But if the fashion for mambo has passed, then salsa continues to be popular all over the world to this day.

First experience

So, back to my first salsa experience. Imagine: Petersburg, mid-October, rain, slush, dark and gray. We go to the Mom's Club, which is known to me as the "nest" of ravers. Behind the iron door of the club there is a dark corridor of brown bricks and a staircase upstairs, the ceiling is painted black. The impression, to put it mildly, is gloomy…

We go upstairs: loud music is playing, surprisingly joyful and bright, there are a lot of people, and they don't look like ravers at all. Young people, whose average age is 25, dance in pairs, and not “for the public”, as in ballroom dancing - somewhat pretentious and theatrical, but on the contrary - naturally, as if playing, clearly enjoying it all. At the same time, the girls, as expected, look feminine, and the guys look courageous. Everyone is surprisingly friendly, immediately there are people who are ready - here and now - to teach me how to dance. And yet the main thing is naturalness: both in clothes (forget about ballroom costumes), and in relationships between people.

... Many years have passed since then, I studied salsa and danced it in my native St. Petersburg, then moved to Moscow for work, traveled to Belarus and Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Latvia - and met people everywhere, just like me "sick" salsa, always ready to support and help in difficult times.

The secret of her success

So, what is the secret of salsa's popularity? In thinking about this topic, I found several explanations for this.

1. The first reason is surprisingly banal: people have nothing to do with themselves in their free time. Anticipating objections, I will explain my thought. Someone after work goes to the gym, someone - to the theater, someone - just meets with friends. Salsa, to some extent, combines all these things together: it is both a physical development and a spiritual one; after all, salsa is just great company. Going to a Latin disco, you can be sure that, unlike a regular disco, you won't get screwed by dancing with someone else's girl; the girls, in turn, are guaranteed from annoying harassment of excessively ardent admirers. Here, in passing, it is worth mentioning that dancing salsa on a drunken head is very difficult: this dance requires good coordination of movements and a clear head. Therefore, there are usually no drunks at salsa discos.
2. The second reason is the availability of salsa. This is its fundamental difference from ballroom dancing. We all love to watch these performances, while realizing that we will never dance like that ourselves. Therefore, it is better not to try. Salsa, on the other hand, is a dance for everyone, and everyone can master it (although, of course, if you want to dance well, you will have to sweat, especially at first).
3. The third reason I would call people's inclination to dance. As you know, folk dances occupy a large place in the culture of every nation. However, at some stage in the development of society, these dances die out as outdated, unable to meet the needs of people. The phenomenon of Latin American culture is that it is quite young, but its development takes place in modern conditions. It organically absorbs both archaic songs and dances of Indians, Africans, old Spanish music, as well as jazz, rock, reggae and even rap. Salsa is often called a "social" dance, but I would define it as a modern folk dance, which I think captures the essence more accurately.
4. From the nationality of salsa, a direct path to its naturalness. Salsa is very organic, its movements do not tolerate pretentiousness and excessive sensuality, characteristic of stage dances. At a disco, such a dance would look just ridiculous.
5. Despite the seeming simplicity of salsa, it is primarily a pair dance. Salsa "alone" does not exist (although there are solo elements in this dance). The “roles” in the couple are clearly established: the partner always leads, determining the movement of the couple; partner - "led", following him. In salsa, the main features inherent in each of the sexes are especially clearly manifested: a man must be decisive, strong, smart; a woman - insightful, graceful and feminine, sometimes wayward.
6. Salsa is beautiful and varied. This applies equally to the dance itself and to the music. Salsa music can be recklessly cheerful, or it can be melancholy, almost sad. Salsa is constantly evolving, absorbing new musical and dance trends. To date, it has developed three main dance styles: Cuban (we often call it "casino"), New York and Los Angeles.
7. And finally, the last one. People involved in salsa are very friendly and tolerant, always happy to help others and, because of this, successful in everyday life. Why is it so? Firstly, thanks to the pairing of salsa, we begin to feel each other better, learn to interact. In addition, in salsa there is no “binding” to a couple, as in sports ballroom dancing. Everyone dances with everyone, and this makes you constantly adapt to different people, find a common language with them, be self-confident, without, however, humiliating others. Secondly, and this has long been noted, people who are interested in a foreign culture (in this case, Latin American) have a great outlook and receptivity to everything new.

After all that has been said, is it any wonder that salsa is so popular all over the world?

Salsa on Russian soil

Of course, Latin American students (primarily Cubans) brought salsa to Russia, who studied at many institutes and universities of the Soviet Union. It all started with dances in hostels that Hispanics arranged for themselves. It took time for salsa to “take root” in foreign soil, and it was time for the students to return home. Some of them still remained in the USSR, while striving to settle in the capital cities. Therefore, it is not surprising that Moscow became the first center of salsa in our country, and Cuban became the main dance style.

By the mid-1990s, several permanent Latin American discos already existed in Moscow, where they danced not only salsa, but also merengue and cumbia. Around the same time, the famous club "Fiesta Latina" was opened in St. Petersburg, which became a milestone in terms of "marketing" of salsa. The fact is that in the "Fiesta" there were two dance halls, the larger of which was given to ordinary dances, and the smaller one to Latin American. Thus, the club operated at a profit, while attracting new people to Latin American dances. Further, the process developed like an avalanche: both in Moscow and in the northern capital, Latin American discos and salsa schools began to grow like mushrooms: "latina" became fashionable. If earlier the visitors of such discos were mainly Latin Americans and their girlfriends, now most of the dancers are Russian guys and girls, and they dance at a very high level. This change was also reflected in the rules of salsa competitions: earlier they were held separately for non- and Latin Americans, but the last competition according to this scheme was held in 2000, at subsequent competitions Russian dancers competed with Latin American dancers on an equal footing.

Having achieved popularity in the capitals, salsa moved on. In 2001, the dance club "Bugalu" was opened in Rostov-on-Don, which became a real "third front" of salsa in Russia. Its creators, the Vanyushins, managed to prove that salsa is not only the lot of the capitals, having created one of the most successful and respected salsa schools in Russia and the CIS. Around the same time, the Irkutsk dance club "La Palma" introduced salsa lessons into its program. In the summer of the same year, the first International Salsa Congress (which has become annual) was held in St. Petersburg, organized by the St. Petersburg studios "Salsa Viva" and "Sierra Maestra", in which the most famous Moscow salsa schools took part: "Arriba Dos", "Own School", as well as teachers and guests from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Ukraine and other countries.

In 2002, the famous annual festivals "Third Front" were launched in Rostov-on-Don, and in the summer of 2004 the school "Salsa Cubana" was opened in Krasnodar, the name of which, by the way, can be translated from Spanish as "Cuban Salsa" , and as "Kuban salsa". What is this, no matter how evidence that salsa came to Russia “for a long time and seriously” and successfully took root on Russian soil?

Siberian Salsa

Recently, a salsa school was opened in Novosibirsk, headed by Alex Dean. Alexander, an energetic Siberian, worked in Moscow for several years, and devoted all his free time to salsa, studying at the popular Moscow school "Arriba Dos" under the guidance of Olga Nosova, famous in Russian salsa circles.

From November 2003 to April 2004, while in Novosibirsk, Alexander managed to organize salsa classes for beginners in the Siberian capital in a relatively short time, which are very popular. Sasha is not only a great enthusiast of Latin American music and dances, but also, what is important, an experienced organizer. Having managed to create successful salsa courses in Novosibirsk literally from scratch, Alexander did not stop there and agreed to jointly hold permanent Latin American discos in one of the best clubs in the city - Rock City.

Sasha devoted his new trip to the capital to preparations for the opening of a full-fledged and serious salsa school in Novosibirsk. The search for materials, the creation of teaching methods, the development of the concept of the school required considerable effort and time, because Alexander wants to present salsa to his fellow countrymen in its full beauty and attractiveness. He perceives salsa not just as a dance, one of many, but as a way of thinking, a lifestyle, a social phenomenon that can make us all better and kinder.

Alex Dean's large-scale plans for the development of the salsa movement in Novosibirsk are captivating and captivating, but you should not consider them just some kind of “castles in the air”. In the future, Alex assumes, in addition to conducting dance classes, tours of groups playing Latin American music in Novosibirsk. He also does not rule out the possibility of holding a festival of Latin American music, culture and dance in Siberia. And, knowing Alexander, I'm ready to fly to Novosibirsk.

And, knowing Alexander, I'm ready to fly to Novosibirsk.

Source: www.sibsalsa.ru

Salsa [salsa] is music that has its origins in the Afro-Cuban tradition.

In the early 1930s, Mario Bauza, a Cuban musician who came to New York with an orchestra led by Don Azpiazu, settled in Harlem (unlike the other orchestra members who returned to Cuba). He was later joined by Machito and Chano Pozo, with whom he began playing bebop (a jazz style very popular at the time) in New York. Influenced by the innovations brought to American jazz by Cuban musicians (this concerns, first of all, the complex rhythm of the clave [clave], a new "hybrid" style of bebop has developed called cubop [cubop].

Interestingly, around the same time, there was a large influx of Cuban musicians to Mexico (such as Beny More, Perez Prado, Humberto Cane and many others) due to opening there huge prospects brought about by the rise of the Mexican film industry. Mario Bause in New York and Perez Prado in Mexico City and is credited with creating the mambo style, which finally took shape in the late 1940s.

The fifties were the years of the mambo, cha-cha-cha and rumba rhythm craze. Latin American dance bands were extremely popular; Latin music was everywhere, including music for Hollywood films and American television programs. Latin American dance studios are ubiquitous, teaching Americans the sultry Latin rhythms.

However, due to the huge influence of the "British expansion" of the 60s (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc.), the popularity of Latin music has declined significantly. At this time, through the efforts of Pete Rodriguez [Pete Rodriguez], Joe Cuba [Joe Cuba] and others, a new popular style of Latin music was born, known as boogaloo [boogaloo].

In the seventies there was a new surge in the popularity of Latin American music. A huge role in the development of Latin music at this stage in the United States and Puerto Rico was played by the record company "Fanya" [The Fania Records] and the musicians "promoted" by it. New York and Puerto Rican ensembles at the time were playing Latin music in a hard style, with a heavy "drive", which the zealots of the purity of salsa consider as the only real salsa music (or at least the best part of it). This style of salsa is called "salsa caliente" [salsa caliente] or "salsa gorda" [salsa gorda].

The 1980s brought to the world a new style - "salsa romantica" [salsa romantica], which replaced the style of "salsa caliente". This style can be characterized by a more moderate tempo and much less harshness of the music. In the lyrics, there is a departure from the previously usual display of difficult everyday reality in the direction of sentimental love lyrics. This style is still very popular, mostly among women, who buy significantly more records than men, and thus keep this, in general, a commercial style of salsa wither.

Despite the prejudice among connoisseurs towards romantic salsa, it cannot be denied that it has kept salsa from dying and spoiling. This change in mainstream salsa is also reflected in the fact that most of today's salsa players are not hardened professionals who have gone through the harsh school of life: once started playing music in third-rate clubs and achieved worldwide popularity (like Willie Colon ] or Oscar de Leon [Oscar de Leon]). Today's young musicians are predominantly white performers, whose main quality is an attractive appearance (examples of this are Hiro [Giro] or "Salsa Kids" ["Salsa Kids"]).

The nineties were the time when salsa spread around the world with great speed. Perhaps, now it is already difficult to call salsa a phenomenon of only Latin American culture, since a huge number of people in all parts of the world are covered by "salsomania".
Strictly speaking, by the nineties, salsa had become a truly established musical style, within which the structure of musical works became quite homogeneous, and not sharply different from song to song, depending on the ensemble performing them. This phenomenon also has its downsides: many songs seem similar to each other; salsa connoisseurs believe that the musical themes have become somewhat weaker, "thinner". However, by the end of the decade, there was a trend of further development of salsa based on the classics of the genre. Music producers and disc jockeys deliberately give the new songs the sound of classic salsa, which is a great success with listeners. Remakes of old salsa, with a more modern form, arouse listeners' interest in original works.

So who is the creator of salsa? There is no simple answer to this question. The Cubans gave life to the musical phenomenon known today as salsa. On the other hand, more than other Latin American peoples, Puerto Ricans absorbed, developed and promoted this musical style. Colombians remain the custodians of the musical tradition of salsa, while other contemporary musicians continue their experiments within the style.

All this only means that salsa is still alive: having a rich history and traditions, it continues to develop, attracting more and more new fans.

RUEDA: What is rueda?

Today there are four recognized dance styles in salsa: Cuban salsa - casino (casino), Los Angeles style, New York style and the so-called "freestyle". Rueda stands apart - a way to dance casino "collectively". The word "rueda" in Spanish means "wheel, circle". Rueda is a dance that is danced by several couples, led by one person - the leader, while changing partners. Each dancer must know the movements (vueltas) and strictly follow the instructions of the leader.

That is, rueda has its own well-defined choreography, unlike other styles where variations are possible. It cannot be otherwise - after all, rueda is a collective dance, and the mistakes of one couple will lead to its premature and ugly end.

Interestingly, the origins of the rueda lie in the dances that were in vogue in French salons in the 18th century. Later, these dances were brought to Cuba and fell in love with the local "high society". From generation to generation, the dance has changed, as the dancers, having adopted the very principle of group dance, have changed the original movements to casino movements. Thus was born that "rueda de casino", which is now danced everywhere. In Cuba, in order to dance the rueda, the dancer must first master the figures and steps of the casino.

In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, when the world was experiencing a "salsa boom", rueda also gained great popularity - no longer as a "salon dance", but, on the contrary, as a folk entertainment. Rueda was danced by "district teams", so to speak, barrio upon barrio. Competitions were regularly held, the winners of which were the rueds, who managed to hold out without mistakes for a longer time, while demonstrating the refinement and beauty of their movements. This tradition, of course, has survived to this day, and, of course, not only in Cuba.

Of course, each barrio invented its own movements. If a couple wanted to enter the rueda, they asked permission from the leader, and started dancing with everyone only after receiving his consent. At the same time, if the pair was from another barrio and the leader wanted to correctly "get rid" of it, he would announce some specific movement invented specifically in this rueda, and the "foreign pair", inevitably making mistakes, "dropped out of the game. "

The number of couples participating in the rueda is from two to 20-30. The role of leader is the most responsible in rueda. His task is to command (cantar) and to see that the couples do not get confused in the movements and the dance is not spoiled. However, sometimes, when there are many couples in rueda, the leader does exactly the opposite, and then a very funny and beautiful game turns out. The leader announces all sorts of complex figures, and the couples try their best to portray something similar to the desired movement. The pair that makes a mistake is out. The spirit of rivalry between couples gives rueda excitement, and its participants perform movements more clearly, which makes the dance beautiful.

To make a beautiful rueda, couples don't have to do a lot of movements or perform too long and intricate movements. A lot depends on the leader, his ability to clearly, easily pronounce commands, "decorating" them with short funny comments, for example, "dame" (otra que esta no me gusta) - "give me" (another partner, I don't like this one). Naturally, the leader should not invent moves on the fly or use moves that are unknown to most rueda participants.

Source: www.salsaviva.narod.ru