Posts

Salsa as a mechanism for social commentary...

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I've always been fascinated when I hear a salsa song that has either a cultural critique or in this case a social message of some sort.  In effect Salsa was born out of elements of oppression, resistance and embraced happiness at any extent (if you want proof of this, play a great salsa song and see if there's anybody sad πŸ˜ƒπŸ’ƒπŸ•ΊπŸ˜ƒ), to grow to the worldwide dance scene it is today. Pacifism/Anti-Violence/Anti-War Acceptance of Others Pacifism/Anti-Violence/Anti-War:  These songs comes to mind... La Vida Es Un Carnaval by Celia Cruz Que Suenen los Tambores by Victor Manuel La Rebelion by Joe Arroyo Acceptance of Others: This is not a common message in many music genres, however Salsa has a history of pushing boundaries and offering social commentary.  This is a very popular song with a fantastic composition and music score.  Undoubtedly people are dancing to this and are not aware of the social message behind it. El Gran Varon by Willie Colon Other themes to be added ...

Dancing Scene in Seoul, South Korea

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Seoul, South Korea is one of the most interesting dancing scenes one can find.  There are lots of official dance schools/halls, however there are some pretty cool 'basements' that are really nice to explore. Based on my own experience, I would list the following areas to explore.  If you see other places that are cool, please make suggestions on the comment section below. Hongdae Itaewon Gangturn Hongdae: This is an area that is full of college students and otherwise young people in general.   If you go online you'll hear all about Club Bonita.  Ok, a word about this.  Yes, it gets super full.  To be honest, the music and the people are too structured/technical.  Not enough swing or sabor, so if you come here, you better bring your 'game on' to this place. A better place in my mind at Hongdae, is a place called Havana Club.  If you are looking just to chill and listen to some really nice music (and dance a bit) this is a very informal social ...

In the beginning...

In the beginning, there cha-cha-cha, mambo and boogaloo (not in logical order)...now there is salsa, merengue and bachata... :) This is the first of a few blogs written about dancing, more specifically Latin dancing (Salsa, Bachata and Merengue if available) from a social aspect.  The author is not a professional but rather an amateur and passionate about the music and the associated dancing. A word if I may regarding the last type of dancing, Merengue.  For some unknown reason to this author, Merengue has fallen off the cliff of the planet (relatively speaking as of 2024), and from the social dancing scene.  Reasons for this are probably a few, and beyond what is intended from this blog, however it still shows up in between whenever DJs are interested in "pumping up a crowd" or trying their hands at "tropical music" for what seems like 5 mins anyways. A much more fascinating opinion and potential explanation came from the words of an anonymous German dancer which c...