Latin Social Dance – Salsa & Tango
DANC 1500 – The Dance Experience
Dr. Bridget Cauthery
Lecture Notes – November 9th, 2011
Social Dance
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As commonly used, the term social dance describes partnered dancing to musical
accompaniment by men and women.
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Social dance is often a mechanism for the heterosexual socialization of young adults within a
society.
Ballroom Dancing
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Is a formal kind of social dancing in couples, popular as a recreation and also as a competitive
activity.
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Ballroom dance repertoire includes dances developed from old European folk dances such as
the waltz and minuet, Latin American dances such as the tango, rumba, and cha-cha, and dances
of 20th-century such as the foxtrot and quickstep.
Salsa
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“Salsa” is a collective term that encompasses several Afro-Latino musical forms.
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Salsa is a fusion, a synthesis that incorporates musical elements from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
Colombia.
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By the late 1970s “salsa” had become the generic marketing term for all Afro-Latino dance
music.
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Salsa & Ethnic Idenity
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Salsa cannot be limited to a musical definition. It became closely identified with Puerto Rican
communities in New York and in Puerto Rico, and later with Latina and Latino urban
communities throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
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Thus, studies of salsa music in the US often focus on the utilization of salsa as a vehicle for
ethnic identity.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb35M43Kcds&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4e7VcnWCT0&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVsj8YvgRrw&feature=related
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cYAOskFoBY
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEoCUEA7D3Q&feature=related
Tango
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South American dance in slow 2/4 time characterized by sensual duets intended to mimic malefemale seduction.
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Tango is based on dances brought to Argentina by African slaves.
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Originally performed in the slums of Buenos Aires in the 1860s.
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In the 1920s tango became popular world-wide as a form of ballroom dancing.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXhQNRsH3uc
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEnrsVzJDTk&feature=related
Film – Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)