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Salsa History
Danced: 123 567 (holding beats 4 & 8)
S alsa 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. Salsa was born of the encounter of Cuban and Puerto Rican music with big band jazz in the Latin barrios of New York. Literally the word salsa means "sauce" and in Latin American musical circles it takes its origins from a cry of appreciation for a particular "piquant" or flashy solo. It was first used to describe a style of music in the mid-1970's, when a group of New York based Latin musicians overhauled the classic Cuban big band arrangements popular since the Mambo era of the 1940's and 50's. They set about reworking them into something tougher and more appropriate to their modern, integrated, bicultural lifestyles.
S alsa roots come from the Catholic holy days when slaves were allowed to dance through streets to their own music. These ceremonies were called "Santerías". Each ceremony has a complex set of rhythms associated with him or her called "toques", which drums play out to call God down. In modern Cuba, carnivals have been a training ground for many great musicians, particularly drummers. In Puerto Rican town of Loiza, the legacy of the Africans is preserved in the "bomba" dance, driven by a line of drummers. Drummers sought to mimic the dancers' body movements with their solos, as opposed to today, where most dancers interpret the music with movements.