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Research from article by Jaime Andres Pretell

Cuban Origins

Cuba established its identity by combining the influences of its entire population -- white, black, and mulatto. Music played an important role in the formation of such an identity. The genre that was to succeed in creatively fusing equal amounts of white- and black- derived musical features was the son, which subsequently came to dominate the culture not only in Cuba, but most of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean as well.The son originated in eastern Cuba during the first decades of the century. From the start it represented a mixture of Spanish-derived and Afro-Cuban elements. The basic two-part formal of the son has remained the same from the 1920s to the present, and the vast majority of salsa songs (which Cubans would called son or guaracha) also follow this pattern. Another development that occurred in the 1940s was the invention of the mambo.

Essentially, the mambo was a fusion of the Afro-Cuban rhythms with the big-band format from Swing and Jazz. Although bands in Cuba like Orquestra Riverside were already playing Mambo-style in the 1940s, the invention of the Mambo is usuallycredited to Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado, who spent most of his years in Mexico and elsewhere outside the island. Bandleaders like Beny Moré combined Mambo formats with son and guaracha (a similar up-tempo dance  genre). The Mambo reached its real peak in New York City in the 1950s, where bands led by Machito and the Puerto Ricans Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez incorporated Jazz-influenced instrumental solos and more sophisticated arrangements. With Prado based chiefly in Mexico and the New York mambo bands developing their own styles, Cuban music had begun taking a life of its own outside the island and the stage was set for the salsa boom of the 1960s.

Puerto Rican origins

From the early 1800s until today, Puerto Ricans have avidly borrowed and mastered various Cuban music styles, including the Cuban danzón, son, guaracha, rumba, and bolero. Indeed, the richness of Puerto Rican musical culture derives in large part from the way it has adopted much of Cuban music, while contributing its own dynamic folk and contemporary popular music. Puerto Rico should not be regarded as simply a miniature Cuba, especially since genres like the seis, bomba, and plena are distinctly Puerto Rican creations, owing little to Cuban influence in their traditional forms.

 Since the 1920s Puerto Rican music has been as much a product of New York City as the island itself, due to the fundamental role the migration experience has come to play in Puerto Rican culture. As a result, Puerto Rican culture can not be conceived of as something that exists of only or even primarily in Puerto Rico; rather, it has become inseparable from  "Nuyorican/Newyorican" culture, which itself overlaps with black and other Latino subcultures  in New York and, for that matter, with mainland North American culture as a whole.

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Fania Records

The Rise of Salsa is tied to Fania Records, which had been founded in 1964 by Johnny  Pacheco, a bandleader with Dominican parentage and Cuban  musical tastes. Fania started out as a fledging independent label, with Pacheco distributing records to area stores from the trunk of his car. From 1967, Fania, then headed by Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci, embarked on an aggressive and phenomenally successful program of recording and promotion. Particularly influential was composer-arranger Willie Colón, a Bronx prodigy. Colón's early albums, with vocalists Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Miranda and Ruben Bládes, epitomized the Fania style at its best and captured the fresh sound, restless energy, and aggressive dynamismof the barrio youth.

Every commercial music genre needs a catchy label, and there was a natural desire for a handier one than "recycled Cuban dance music". Hence Fania promoted the word salsa, which was already familiar as a bandstand interjection. The 1970s were the heyday of salsa and of Fania which dominated the market. By the end of the decade, however, salsa found on the defensive against an onslaught of merengue and hip-hop and an internal creative decline.

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Salsa Romantica

By the late 1970s, salsa abandoned its portrayals of barrio reality in favor of sentimental love lyrics. Most of what is promoted on radio and records is the slick, sentimental salsa romantica of crooners like Eddie Santiago, Luis Enrique, and Lalo Rogriguez rather than more aggressive Afro-Caribbean salsa Caliente or Salsa Gorda. Perhaps there has been some criticism as to this new sub-genre but one cannot deny that it has managed to keep salsa alive and well. The change is also reflected in the fact that most of today's bandleaders are not trained musicians and seasoned club performers like Willie Colon or Oscar de Leon but cuddly, predominantly white singers  distinguished by the pretty-boy looks and supposed sex-appeal like Giro or Salsa Kids. Salsa remains essentially alive and well, within its limited sphere. Its market has grown in Latin America and Spain.

 The 1990s have seen former hip-hop/house singers La India and Marc Anthony return to latin music as part of the new wave of salsa stars, attracting new followers with their updated images. There is a glimmer of hope with stars such as Victor Manuelle and Rey Ruiz rising to fame in the current "scene" and many hope that this will lead to a resurgence of the glory years of the 50s and 70s.

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New York or Cuban style?

Cuban or New York ? Article By Richard Putko 7/12/2006

Firstly “Salsa” technically is not a dance, it was a name given to a fusion of various Cuban style rhythms such as Son, guaracha, guaguanco, guarija. Salsa..Spanish for spicy/hot was thought of as being an apt description of these lyrical sounds by a New York Record company in the early 70s . So we can postulate that Salsa really is Cuban in origins. I first came across the term New York style when I was teaching at David Lloyd in Bushey some 8 years ago. I had a call from a guy whose dance class had shut down . He and some friends were looking for a Salsa class. They turned up at my Sunday class and said they had been dancing a little while and did I do the new “cross body leads”?. They danced a track for me and the so called new “cross body” was just the old “hockey stick” movement from my Ballroom days. I was intrigued to see 5 couples dancing a series of twistee/twirlie movements with no emphasis on the 4th beat. They joined in with my basic class (as a warm up) and could not keep time or had any sense of feel for the dance. Needless to say, I never saw them again.

 Eight years later, it's much the same. New York style has created a generation of what the Latinos call “RoboSalseros” 1 2 3---5 6 7 is the clarion call in classes. What has happened to beats 4 and 8? “Oh we just imagine it”, I was told on several occasions. Now thats' a great idea if you have an understanding of timing but for most people they end up dancing 123stop 567stop which is why they end up looking robotic. Some 7 years ago, I overheard a lady asking a teacher at St Albans about Cuban style and he responded by saying it was “old fashioned, a thing of the past”. I nearly fell off my stool but said nothing. When the next track came up, I asked this lady to dance and she kept saying “ Oh, I havent danced that before, you dance differently to the guys here” I asked “ Did you enjoy it ?” She said she felt as though I was dancing with her and not pulling her about into all sorts of contorted steps. I just smiled and said “Thats the old fashioned Cuban style” My feeling is that New York is a series of learned sequences which are taught by rote. Hence, you notice that when students from different classes meet up and dance together they are often all at sea; stopping, starting, women going into movements before being led. There’s often no floor craft, people clash into each other.

 Why is it that you don’t come across many Latinos in provincial clubs? There are many living across the UK. You will know them by the way they move with the music, the way they dance for their partner. Some New York style dancers are only interested in how many spins they can make their partner do and you can recognise them by the way they look at the crowd to see who's watching them . 90% of people are unable to do these complicated sequences and as a consequence look rather foolish. Finally,I recognise changes happen in life but sometimes as the old saying goes: “ If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it " Things go in cyles, I have noticed since the middle of 2006, an interest has been shown in Cuban style. Some students have grown weary of “manic” movement and want to be able to just “dance”. They come to me and say they have been to a real Latino club and found the women didn't know their moves. The women say why don't men in class dance that way?

Conclusion:

 Cuban style is more circular compact movements readily danced worldwide and does not rely on a series of learned sequences. Once the Basic patterns are learned, you can create your own choreography. Also suitable for crowded clubs. New York Ballroom based, expansive linear movements with learned sequences. Good for “Show dancers”. Often suits the temperament of English dancers who say “More is best”. Not recommended in a crowded venue. All dancing is good, so whatever you choose, take it as fun and let the music inspire you. That could take us into another article about “soul” music played on Salsa nights.....grhhhhhhhhhhhh! Another time, perhaps. soon

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Merengue

 Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, and also to some extent, of Haiti, however, it is thought that the dance originated in Cuba. There are a couple of versions of the of the origin of the Dominican national dance, the Merengue. I was told by a guy in Dominican Republic in 2003, that a great hero was wounded in the leg during one of the many revolution there. A party of locals gave him a welcome celebration party and out of sympathy, everyone danced with a limp, dragging one foot. Sounds plausible to me, hehehe. Merengue has existed since the early years of the Dominican Republic (in Haiti, a similar dance is called the Meringue).

There are those who say the dance originated with slaves who were chained together and were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the beat of drums It is possible the dance took its name from the confection made of sugar and egg whites because of the light and bubbly character of the dance or because of its short, precise rhythms. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Merengue was very popular in the Dominican Republic. Not only is it used on every dancing occasion in the Republic, but it is very popular throughout the Caribbean and South America. There is a lot of variety in Merengue music.

Tempos vary a great deal and the Dominicans enjoy a sharp quickening in pace towards the latter part of the dance. The most favoured routine at the clubs and restaurants that run a dance floor is a slow Bolero, breaking into a Merengue, which becomes akin to a bright, fast Jive in its closing stages. I found that they like the fast, pacy Merengue tipico in the North of the Island The Merengue was introduced in the United States in the New York area. However, it did not become well known until several years later. Ideally suited to the small, crowded dance floors, it is a dance that is easy to learn and essentially a party dance that brings a smile to everyone's face.

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Argentine Tango

The antique Argentine Tango was influenced by the Tango Habanera, which bears no resemblance to the Argentine Tango we know today. The Tango Habanera came about from two types of Tango: the Milonga with its influence in the guajira flamenca and the Tango andaluz or Tango flamenco. The Milonga was danced and played by country side people of Argentina. The Tango Habanera was an amalgamation of the Habanera and the Tango Andaluz or Tango Flamenco. The rhythm of the guitars playing the Tango flamenco or andaluz could not be reproduced in orchestra instruments and with the piano, so the Tango andaluz or flamenco was modified with the habanera rhythm. The Tango Habanera was heard in 1883 but died towards the end of the century. The Tango Habanera has been entirely associated with the first forms of Argentine Tango. The flexing of the knees is associated to a dance called Candombe which was danced by the black people from Africa living in Buenos Aires. The male Candombe dancers danced with their knees flexed, to show their dance skills using walking steps (corridas) and turns. A character who lived in the very early 1900's known as the "compadrito" created the straightened out forms of the antique Argentine Tango and invented the traditional figures of this dance. His dance style and stance supported his macho view of his world at those times. The "compadrito" ironically imitated the Candombe Dancers along with their flexing of the knees, walking steps, and turns.

Old Tango people agree that the true forms of Argentine Tango Dance that we see today originated in 1938 - 1940 with the short-lived Tango singer Carlos Gardel. The Golden Age of Tango took place in in the late 1940's and early 1950's. World recording companies set up offices in Buenos Aires, which resulted in mass recordings of Tango orchestras and singers. The antique Argentine Tango was never danced with castanets or with a flower. Today in Buenos Aires or Río de la Plata, there are three forms of Argentine Tango: Salón, Fantasía, and one for scenario (stage). This has been the norm. With the internationalization of Tango, other forces have been shaping the Tango dance. The form known for stage, sometimes is referred as "for export", was aimed at English speaking people.

Outside Argentina, people from North America had their first exposure with Stage Tango brought by the show and dance companies from Buenos Aires. At the end of the shows, the people asked for classes on what they had seen on stage. They wanted to learn what they saw on stage. Some of the dancers were available to teach, but knew only show routines. Other times seasoned dancers from Buenos Aires were asked to teach. They found it very difficult to explain that the correct form was to learn Argentine Tango from Buenos Aires rather than what they had seen at the show or on stage.

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Bachata

Bachata is popular guitar music from the Dominican Republic. Now overwhelmingly successful among Latinos in the United States and worldwide, Bachata took shape over a period of about forty years in the bars and brothels of Santo Domingo, not gaining acceptance in its native land until about ten years ago. Young groups like Aventura have a similar relationship to original Bachata as Rock Bands do to the blues, which has languished in the shadow of its more commercially viable descendant. The word Bachata originally denoted an informal party where guitar music was generally played—only later did it come to signify the music itself, and then in a denigrating manner.

 Bachata began to be associated with another world, that of prostitution, poverty and delinquency. The reasons for this are many and complex and involve the conflicts within Dominican society around poverty and wealth, tradition and modernity, as well as genuine bad faith on the part of other elements in the music industry. So strong was the stigma against Bachata that only one national radio station would play it. While this situation was deplorable and extremely difficult for the musicians involved, it also helped to consolidate the genre. Confined to the brothel and the neighbourhood, Bachata began to tell the stories of that world, the experiences of the lover of a prostitute, the poor country boy who gets to the city and gets ripped off, the plight of the barrio dweller without light or water—all replete with slang and sexual double entendre. From about 1970 to about 1990, Bachata was thoroughly unique among Latin American musical genres in its free expression of the underground life of a nation.

This free expression naturally provoked even more fiercely the contempt of the Dominican mainstream., Bachata is listened to throughout Latin America, and is probably the most popular kind of Latin music in New York City today. It has been fused with other styles, like vallenato (Monchy y Alexandra, among others) and R&B (Aventura), with great success.

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