Lịch sử của điệu nhảy Salsa:
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Salsa is not easily defined. Though many get caught up in the age old debate as to who "invented"
salsa (Cubans or Puerto Ricans), the truth of the matter is that salsa has and will always continue
to have a great number of influences that have each played a large part in its evolution.
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 usually credited 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 INFLUENCES
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.
By the 1940s, Nuyoricans like timbalero Tito Puente and vocalist Tito Rodriguez had become the top bandleaders and innovators, and the Latin dance music scene in New York came to outstrip that on the island. (Even today, there are more salsa bands and clubs in New York than in Puerto Rico).
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 dynamism of 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.
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.
6 cấp độ của điệu nhảy salsa
LEVEL 1
Beginner level. Two people are just learning how to move in unison without stepping on each other and not hurting each other.
LEVEL 2
The man and lady are now dancing in time to the music while doing basic patterns and variations.
LEVEL 3
The man is now dancing more complex variations and patterns. They begin to use the space more interestingly with rotation and changes of direction while maintaining flow.
LEVEL 4
The man stops worrying about his own steps and starts leading the lady with ease and control. This is when his leading skills excel and he understands what the follower needs. It is often the time that the man starts to "show-off" his lady with more elaborate variations.
LEVEL 5
This is when the man and lady start to play with the rhythms. Syncopations, changes, slows, quicks, accents, and stops are all used and then the dancers can find the beat again to continue dancing.
LEVEL 6
The ULTIMATE LEVEL...when it all comes together. This is when the dancers become "the physical instruments" of the music. If a deaf person were to watch them dance, he/she could SEE the music through their movements and interpretation.
This is when the man leads his lady to the stops, accents, energy level and mood of every song. Therefore, every song looks different because the dancer is inspired in that moment to feel that piece of music.
This is when I personally achieve the "dancer's high", Euphoria, or Ecstasy. When I can feel an accent building in the music, and my partner gives me the opportunity to do a move that punctuates the "break", I get such a feeling of thrill and satisfaction.
Những bước nhảy cơ bản của Salsa
Forwards basic
Sideways basic
Cross-body lead
Cross-body lead to cuddle
Change places
Backwards basic with leg styling (whiplash for follower)
Overhead hand sweep
Cross-over breaks
Throwout turn
Swivels
Various forms of haircombing
Inside turn
Double inside turn while changing places
Checked inside turn (Peek-a-boo)
Inside turn to neck wrap cuddle
Single hold outside turn
Single hold multiple outside turns
Double hold outside turn
Hammerlock outside turn
Crossed hold outside turn
Outside turn to neck wrap cuddle
Free outside turn led by arm push
Free outside turn led by hip pull
Follower circles leader with hand on his torso
Follower circles leader with hand on his neck
Follower circles leader in double hand hold
Leader lifts arm over follower after outside turn, causing her to circle
Sidestep back to back after hammerlock outside turn
Cuddle
Cuddle leader
Cuddle, cuddle leader (Figure 8)
Sidestep while in cuddle
Sidestep while in leader cuddle
Walk clockwise while in cuddle
Pull into outside turn from cuddle
Pull into hammerlock wrap from cuddle
Pull into free outside turn from cuddle
Step in front from cuddle, pull follower around
Cách Cầm tay nhau/Ôm nhau (Holds)
The terms "closed hold" and "open hold" are standard. Open hold is any hold that is not a closed hold. Most of the terms below I invented myself, to differentiate between the various types of open holds.
Closed hold
Standard ballroom dance hold: leader cups follower's left shoulder blade with his right hand (or else places his right forearm against the follower's back, if the couple is dancing very close together), and holds her right hand with his left hand, with his left arm bent at right angle. Standard dance etiquette says that the follower decides how close to get to the leader when dancing in closed hold. She indicates her preferred distance in a subtle but unmistakeable way, such as by pushing against the leader when she feels he is coming too close. The leader then maintains the distance set by the follower. (Some women I've spoken to say they prefer it when the man forces them close, presumably because this indicates the man finds them attractive. However, a leader who forces a woman close when she doesn't want to be forced close is likely to cause offense. Don't say I didn't warn you!)
Double open hold
Leader holds follower's left hand in his right hand, and her right hand in his left hand.
Crossed hold
Leader holds follower's left hand in his left hand, and her right hand in his right hand. When starting a pattern in crossed hold, the right hands should be on top, in general, so as to allow an outside turn of the follower.
Doubly crossed hold
The hold that results after an outside turn using a double hold. Same hand hold as double open hold, except arms are intertwined. It is very clumsy to simply release hands to get out of this hold. Instead, perform another turn (either of leader or follower) in order to untwist.
Single hold
Leader holds either of follower's hands in either of his hands. Most common combinations are his left to her right and his right to her right. The latter is the "crossed single hold".
Freestyle
No hand hold between leader and follower. They can each do whatever they want, such as show off fancy footwork (sometimes called "shines").
Underarm hold
Starting in double open hold, leader bends his elbows so as to bring follower's hands to his shoulders, then tucks elbows inside and then over follower's arms, then brings his arms down, so that follower's arms are trapped between his upper arm and ribcage (not in his armpit, but rather a few inches lower). This hold is an alternative to the double open hold and can be used to add some extra style when dancing a series of basics or sideways basics.
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