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发表于 2007-3-22 00:29:58
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Salsa and its influences
The Son, which is played following the old style without metal instruments, clearly reveals its roots: soft African rhythm with a bass pulse that come before the downbeat which frame the lyrics sung in a cooperative way, where the lead singer is answered simultaneously by other singers, or where these singers sing different pieces as an alternative and the combination is completed with Andalusian melodies.
Jazz is another influence which was introduced into Salsa by the Latin inhabitants of New York and from which salsa took improvisation and melodic riffs between the piano and the metal instruments.
The Cumbia and the Vallenato can also fit into the definition of Salsa. The first is characterized by a slow rhythm closer to reggae, while the second has an accordion base.
The dance
Different ways to dance 'Salsa'
The way to dance salsa varies enormously depending on the dancer’s place of origin and how he or she learned to dance. For example, the salsa danced in the Caribbean and in Latin America is developed like a paseo (walk), which results in a much more circular movement with much slower turns.
Similar to those styles are the Cuban and Colombian prototypes. The first dance includes movements that dig more deeply into the floor and the othe rone requires less contact.. In the U.S., although, the dance’s foundation involved the basic Latin step, many early combinations contained right turns.
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How to dance Salsa
In order to dance salsa in its most elementary form, the four beats of the music are followed but only three steps are taken, each step lasting for one beat. The remaining beat can be added to the previous step (which makes the count quick-quick-slow) or an ornamental movement is added. The steps can include displacement or can be made on the spot; it is like walking for three steps and pausing after each three. If you walk in this way on time to the music, you'll already be dancing salsa.
It's this simplicity that makes dancing Salsa very flexible; you can walk in any direction, you can even dance salsa on the same spot, moving around or turning.
The remaining beat can be dressed up with a bump of the hips, a small kick or a pause. You must keep on mind that giving a step involves placing your foot on the ground and shifting your weight on to it.
In many Latin American countries couples can even choose what downbeat they wish to dance to, and this doesn't necessarily have to be the first one. This can seem to be total rhythmic anarchy, and it would be if it were not for one very important aspect: salsa and its antecedents have always been intended as dance music.
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Dancing in couples
Another feature to be taken into account when it comes to dancing salsa is who leads and who follows. Social dancing in couples is a phenomenon of western culture; it is regarded as a structured dance but is not executed in a routine-like way.
There are basic rules that allow two people to dance together even if they have never seen eachother before. This flexible attitude requires that each element of the dance has a unique and identifiable starting signal.
When the couple takes the dance floor, both cannot lead or follow the dance at the same time, .Therefore, one must lead and the other has to follow.
Traditionally, the leading role has always been taken by the man, with the woman following. This however, began to change. The indication (also known as a mark in tango) for a certain movement can take on a variety of different forms. Normally it involves a change in pressure in the places of contact with the partner, or in the position of the leader with regard to the follower. The most elegant indicators are those which, while clear and considerate to the partner, are unobvious to the spectator. The challenge for the following partner is to find a way to express him- or herself with the music.
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Learn more afro-carebbean dances
One last thing to keep on mind. Salsa music could preserve its agility because of absorbing other influences, and the dance itself did the same. Apart from other Latin dances such as the merengue or the cumbia (sometimes included under the term salsa), salsa shows many similarities with the lindy-hop, the swing and the hustle, and has even been shown as capable of absorbing elements typical of Latin salon dances and tango.
On the following pages, you will find some basic guidelines on how to learn some of the most well known Afro-Caribbean dances:
Dances • Salsa
Just like other musical rhythms such as jazz or flamenco, salsa expresses a particular way of feeling through its rhythm and sound. As a form of expression, it picks up elements of music that somehow come into contact with it, but never loses its essential being, which represents the experiences of the Caribbean cities.
The rhythm flows in a half bar of 4x4, that is to say, with two beats. On the first beat, two half beat steps (fast) are taken and on the second beat only one step (slow) is taken. This slow step is actually taken on the first half beat and on the following half beat no step is taken at all, but the pelvis keeps moving to mark the hip of the leg that just moved.
In the Caribbean it is said that in salsa "anything goes"; salsa’s style is very liberal.
The position used to dance Salsa is the same as that for dancing merengue, cha-cha-cha y mambo. The bodies are very close together and the arms are held in tropical style (together with the forearms in a vertical position). In salsa you also make the Caribbean hip movement.
In this way, when you move a leg you leave it bent without putting your weight on it and marking the hip of the opposite leg, which stays stretched and supports the body’s full weight. But unlike the mambo, during the last half beat the pelvis doesn’t stop; rather, it keeps moving. This way, the weight is shifted to the leg that gave the last step, which begins to straighten gradually (this is when the other leg begins to bend) and the hip begins to be marked. However, the hip isn’t totally marked until the next step is made.
Dances • Cha-Cha-Cha
The Cha-Cha-Cha was created by a Cuban violinist and orchestra director Enrique Jorrín in 1948, as a result of his experimentation with the danzón’s form, melody and rhythm. Of all Latin dances, it is the most recently incorporated into the Latin family. The cha cha is an in-between dance, not too fast and not too slow, which makes it easy to grasp for everybody, as opposed to the Mambo, where the music is faster and the rhythm more complex.
The cha cha has a 4x4 timing (four beats per bar). The steps used to dance the cha cha are simple and easy to follow: on the first beat the first step is taken, another on the second beat, on the third beat two steps lasting a half beat each and on the fourth one more step. The steps taken on one beat of the music are called ‘slow’ and the steps taken on half beats are ‘quick’. The cha cha is a tropical dance of widespread use in the dance salons. The dancers position their bodies together and hold their arms in tropical style, making the characteristic hip movement of the Caribbean dances.
The open position of the dancers is also typical of this dance. The cha-cha-cha derives from the mambo, which is why all mambo moves can be done by dancing cha-cha-cha. However, the basic dance , for example, belongs to an unit of the mambo and has two extra steps. Despite the fact that figures are similar in both dances, generally the cha-cha-cha is a slower, smoother and more elegant dance than the mambo |
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