Salsa Dance Origination Facts
The word salsa translates to "a spicy flavor," so it is no wonder that Salsa is derived from a melting pot of Latin countries. Popular throughout Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Europe, Salsa was originally a combination of several Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances thought to originate in Cuba.
Cuban Beginings
Salsa has many roots in the tree of dance, as various countries, styles and interpretations have played a large part in the evolution of salsa and have formed it into the dance style popularly recognized in 2010. The multi-step process originated with the Contra-Danze (Country Dance), which was brought to Cuba by the French, and it merged with the Rhumba of African origin over time. Traditional Rhumba is an Afro-Cuban genre that was brought to Cuba in the late 19th century.
Additional Influences
In addition to the Rhumba, another type of Afro-Cuban music, Cuban Son, originated in eastern Cuba a century ago. The original country dance had already had one face lift and was about to undergo another as the Cuban Son flavor of salsa appealed to the upper classes despite its origins in the lower class working realms. Accepted with much enthusiasm and vigor, the Son style of Salsa quickly rose in popularity. This diversity helped Salsa to later spread to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Isles, as it was a dance genre derived at the meeting point of European and African culture. As a result, the Cuban Son is the root of Salsa music as we know it today.
Music Arrangement
Listening to Salsa in 2010, the base of Son can still be heard mixed with modern beats. Salsa can vary by location because of the addition of percussion to enable an ease of dancing, since the original arrangements are notoriously difficult to interpret with their lack of a consistent beat. The percussion creates a rhythm dancers can follow and allows the standard numeric counting used by dancers.
International Popularity
Worldwide recognition of Salsa dance came when Don Azpiazu's orchestra performed at the world fair in Chicago, prompting the Salsa craze of the 1930s. Heavily promoted because of entertainment investments, it was in Chicago and in New York City that Salsa began to receive a commercial edge due to large quantities of funding. Normally a partner dance, Salsa then became improvised or performed with a set routine, as so many are accustomed to seeing on popular television shows like Dancing with the Stars.
Present Day
Over time, Salsa transformed from an obscure, Cuban performance mainly performed by poor musicians into an international phenomenon that transcended both cultural and geographical boundaries. Modern conveniences like film, radio and live performances enabled international consumerism and have made Salsa into the dance form it is in 2010.
