Research Paper
Behind Latin Dance
Maritza Barron
Professor Bianco
UNST 123G
8 June 2006
URL: http://web.pdx.edu/~barrm/Latin%20American%20Dance.html
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Abstract
This paper discusses how dancers express social and cultural communication and
the different meanings of Latin dance with a focus on Mexican folklórico, rumba
and salsa. Dance is a way to learn about other cultures and gain knowledge from
their dancing. Anthropologists are also now beginning to study dance to learn
more about a culture and its social and political background.
Introduction
“The Mexico from yesterday and today, of beautiful songs and dances, born from
ruins created between the black braids of the natives, screams, weeping, silence, song.”
This is what Amalia Hernández, a dancer, stresses about a shining and colorful culture, in
her words and in dance. Anthropologists are beginning to study dance to learn more
about a culture and its background. They find that the social and political factors that
shape a country such as Mexico are portrayed in many of the dance forms, such as
folklórico, rumba, salsa, and others. This paper will discuss the social and political
meaning behind Mexican and Latin American dances.
Although much of this social and political meaning is rooted in a history of conquest and
oppression, Mexican and Latin American dance also has a history in ancient native cultures. One
example of this is prehistoric Aztec dance. The ancient Aztecs used dance as a medium of
communication. Aztec dances revolved around religion, from celebrations, to offerings, and
sacrifices to the gods. These factors were integrated creating new reasons for dance, with some
effects on modern-day descendants and their dance, especially that of Mexicans and Latin
Americans. Many social and political issues were also expressed in dance, which may be used as
a form of language for the dancer that is as a “powerful communicating medium that can break
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down barriers, unite diverse groups and promote social change” (Jaeck 44). In the coming dance
forms the communication will be discussed and its goals will be covered as well. The Mexican
folklórico, rumba, and salsa all have common factors that were integrated in dance to become
what it is now.
Mexican folklórico
Expression in dance is something that we as viewers don’t always see right away. To
understand the meaning of a dance takes a little background and concentration. Viewers of dance
may need to learn about political context. For example, dance has been a means of
communication to promote social responsibility for the culture. This is the case for Mexican
folklórico dance, which was “employed as a cultural symbol to help forge a strong nationalistic
spirit during the post-Revolutionary period in Mexico and the Chicano Movement of the late
1960’s” (Ramirez 17).
This social responsibility of dance comes from the background of Mexican culture. When
the Spanish invaded Mexico in the 16th century, dance was already “an important integral part of
the indigenous people’s lives in Mexico” (Ramirez 17). Ballroom and other dance forms from
the Europeans was “incorporated into existing traditional dances and new dance forms were
developed” (Ramirez 17), including the norteño dance forms. Folklórico was then used “as a
precious resource of a people’s past that could provide the foundation upon which to build a
unique identity for the future” which would “characterize the soul of the people.” This is why
there is so much life in the folklórico dance of Mexico, which expresses Mexican traditions with
pride.
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Figure 1. Student Organization dancing at the University of Texas.
Dancers have a social responsibility to let others know that the “traditions are linked to
the political motivations of establishing a collective symbol of identity” (Ramirez 18). Modern
day folklórico dance was started in the 1950s by Mexican dancer and choreographer, Amalia
Hernández who did anthropological research, ancient and contemporary, to create new dances.
She studied the “way people live, their rituals, ceremonies and beliefs” (Ramirez 22), and in her
dance “she extracts the essence of the culture and gives it a drama and meaning for use on
stage.”
The social and political movement of the 1960s, the “Movimiento” also had an influence
amongst the Chicanos in the US. “Some class and racial struggles in Latin America have
consciously utilized the social codes of dance forms to further their goals” (Jaeck 44). This is
why Chicanos “reached back into the Mexican cultural heritage to take back what had been
denied by the hegemonic forces in the US- such as language, history, and expressive forms of
culture” (Ramirez 17). Ramirez explains that “folk dance was a tradition that was revitalized to
promote the goals of the Movimiento” (27), making “the unifying principle that Chicano issues
would be promoted” (28). Therefore when folklórico groups went out into the public to perform
their dances, it wasn’t just a performance for entertainment; it was a way to let others know that
they wanted back what was denied to them by the oppressive American powers.
La rumba
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Just like the Mexican folklórico, the Cuban rumba is another example of dance “whose
evolution and popularity has been blatantly linked to social movements” (Jaeck 44). Rumba
brings in African elements, because Cuba is part of the African Diaspora. “Rumba is now
promoted to express identification with African-derived elements that permeate Cuban culture”
(Daniel 1). “Fidel Castro’s regime has used the rumba to define, embody and assert images of
national and international identity” (Jaeck 44). This could be seen as rumba functioning “as a
‘physical language’ expressing Cuba’s ‘official message’ of social and racial equality” (Jaeck
44).
“It is believed that Rumba grew out of the social circumstances of Havana city and
surrounding provinces of Havana and Matanzas…The urban capital contained a variety of
people: slaves, mulattos, colonists, and free blacks” (Daniel 1). This background explains why
Castro used rumba to promote racial equality amongst this diverse group of people.
There are three different types of Cuban rumba. The first two, yambú and guaguancó, “focus on
the improvised chase between a male and female dancer” (Daniel 2). The third, Columbia is
where males dance in a competition with each other rhythmically. There is representation of
African heritage, in the music as well as in the dancing. We see this in the dancers with the
“inclined and flexed postures, poly rhythms in the music and the body, the manner of playing
instruments and an emphasis on torso-generated movement and isolation of body parts” (Daniel
2).
Rumba’s main focus is “identification with the masses” which is a way to get the message across
of racial equality. Equality is an important part of rumba, which is a “merger of African rhythms
with European music and dance” (Jaeck 46), just like merengue and samba. Dancers of
merengue, which comes from the Dominican Republic, also wanted it to be “recognized as the
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‘artistic symbol of Dominican identity’” (Jaeck 45), immediately relating to how Castro used
rumba.
El guaguancó
El yambú
La Columbia
La rumba
Figure 2. Rumba dance forms. Source: <www.esalsa.net/music/ rumba/rumbaHistory2.php>.
Rumba is also used to express respect and honor of the sexes through courting and chase
sections in the dance. At first glance it can deceive the viewer into believing that it focuses on
the female but in reality it focuses on the male; in fact, the dance “personifies Cuban maleness
and perhaps Cuba itself” ( Daniel 5). “Especially associated with los Negros gurros, free blacks
and mulattos,” rumba emphasizes traits such as guapo, or courageous, valiant, bold, daring,
resolute, enterprising, good-looking, etc. Rumba is used to “express fundamental Cubanness”
and is also the “social and physical body of the Cuban people” that also helps to “divert tension
and pressure” (Daniel 6). The dance expresses what Cuba is about and also some of its values.
Salsa a new style of Latin dance derived from Cuban rhythms, which emerged in the mid-1960s.
It was “inspired by the 1960’s civil rights movement” (Hernandez 113). This is why “in the span
of a decade, Latin America came to embrace salsa music as their preferred musical style and
expression” (Berrios-Miranda 160). “Salsa’s unprecedented international popularity resulted
from the confluence of several distinct social conditions and historical events, including the
Puerto Rican dilemma of colonial status, the civil rights and black pride movements in the U.S.,
the Cuban revolution and its aftershocks, urban migration, and the need for a Latino alternative
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to the hegemony of Anglo rock” (Berrios-Miranda 160). Many people around the world are now
learning salsa, mostly because of its lively style and music and because “salsa musicians
communicated a positive image of their people” (Berrios-Miranda 161).
Figure 3. Popular salsa, danced informally. Source: <http://inf.by/salsa/?cid=29>.
Latinos’ oppression, which was the reason behind the social dance, gave birth to
movements, and salsa, like other dances, became a “refuge for Latinos after work and on
weekends, at home and in dance halls, offering liberation of the body and mind” (BerriosMiranda 162). Much of “salsa’s lyrics spoke to the struggles of the poor and the stuff of life
itself” (Berrios-Miranda 162) which is why “the relationship between dance and life is perhaps
the most important aspect of salsa’s popularity and power” (Berrios-Miranda 163). As we can
see, salsa has become an expression of the need for change. It is a “dance of nonverbal
communication” (Reed 505).
Conclusion
The more we learn about Latin dance and the truth about the cultures that gave birth to it, the
more we see that modern Mexican and Latin American dances, from Mexican folklórico dance to
salsa and rumba, as well as others such as merengue, tango and samba, are a way of non-verbal
communication to express people’s beliefs, ideas, or culture, in the same way that the ancient
Aztecs used dance. “The utilization of dance as a ‘physical’ language is a human system of
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communication that very likely characterizes all cultures past, present, and future” (Jaeck 46).
This is what many people may fail to see when watching a dance performance. “Dance and
music have emerged as potent symbols of identity for ethnic groups and nations worldwide”
(Reed 510) which is often overseen. People tend to see these dances as entertainment when in
reality there is much to learn about the culture through their dancers. This is the reason why
learning about dance is very important. Dancers learn much more than just movement
techniques. It is apparent that because of this form of expression, many cultures have
communicated and achieved their social and political needs and goals. Given that this is true,
maybe we need to continue to give dance more scholarly attention than it currently receives.
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Works Cited
Berrios-Miranda, Marisol. “Salsa Music as Expressive Liberation” Centro Journal 2004: 158-173
Daniel, Yvonne P. “Changing Values in Cuban Rumba, A lower Class Black Dance
Appropriated by the Cuban Revolution.” Dance Research Journal Autumn, 1991: 1-10
Hernandez, Deborah P. “Dancing with the Enemy: Cuban Popular Music, Race, Authenticity,
and the World-Music Landscape” Latin American Perspectives May 1998: 110-125
Jaeck , Lois M. "The Body as Revolutionary Text: The Dance as Protest Literature in Latin
America." Ciencia Ergo Sum 10.1 (2003): 43-50.
Ramirez, Olga N. "Social and Political Dimensions of Folklorico Dance: The Binational
Dialectic of Residual and Emergent Culture." Western Folklore Jan 1989: 15-32.
Reed, Susan A. "The politics and Poetics of Dance." Annual Review of Anthropology 1998:
503-532.