Development of American Modern Dance

Martha Graham in the Development of American Modern Dance

The roots of dance were laid in the ancient times. Dance is a kind of art that people use to express their soul, inner feelings and impressions. Thus, one may feel freedom and isolation from the rest of the world while dancing. Dance, music, as well as painting had a turning point when artists refused classic style and shifted to something revolutionary in the world of art. Dance is a special way of non-oral expression of thoughts, but all people think differently. Thus, the form of expression was also various that provoked the emergence of new dancing styles.

The following research is aimed to study the contribution of Martha Graham in the development of American modern dance. Many people did not dare to encroach on such a sacred thing for dance art as ballet. Martha Graham was one of the first dance pioneers who realized how to develop classical dancing styles into the dance, which would portray the spirit of her epoch at best. Her efforts resulted in the emergence of modern dance. It is important to observe the timeline of her development as dancer. However, she had the predecessors in modernization of dance such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Moreover, Ruth St. Denis was Martha Graham’ mentor. Nonetheless, Graham had quite a new purpose as she aimed to transmit a social message to her audience. Concerning an evidence of her influence on the innovation of American modern dance, one should get in touch with her mostly distinguished ballets, such Frontier (1935) and Appalachian Spring (1944), which describe her methods and technique at best.

Martha Graham was born in 1894 in the family of doctor who paid great attention to the physical movements. Martha’s father taught her about the significant role of movements in order to understand people. The process of her evolution as a modern dancer was long and thorny, but Graham was lucky to have a comfortable childhood and her family supported her, in spite of their strict Puritan beliefs. She chose the language of movements because she believed that “movement never lies” (Graham). Additionally, she was very inspired by a famous dancer Ruth St. Denis. When she saw her performance for the first time, it greatly effected her further career choice. Freedman (1998) states that “Martha Graham stared at her poster transfixed, studying every detail of Ruth St. Denis’s costume and appearance” (p. 21). Her Hindu-styled costume, exotic dance, bare feet and a manner she moved on stage caused an unforgettable effect on Graham’s perception of dance. Eventually, Martha Graham became one of her numerous pupils at Denishawn school. Being a partner of Ted Shawn, Martha got a chance to improve her dancing skills extremely. Soon, the pupil who was less perspective became one of the leading dancers in Denishawn company.

Step by step, Martha Graham gained the experience required to start solo career. At first, a lot of critics did not take her seriously and considered her to be either too short or heavy and old, but her talent and aspiration were impossible to conceal (Freedman, 1998). Martha Graham always put dancing on the first place during her entire life. Dance was so important for Graham that she even refused to have children. When she had had to retire, it led her to attempt of suicide. However, Graham had a successful and fruitful career as a choreographer, which brought her back to life.

For the current study, it is important to give consideration to the triggers, which pushed American dancers to refuse from traditional dancing styles. Obviously, there were several reasons of modern dance initiation. First of all, most American dancers were frustrated with classical traditions of European dance, which they considered to have imperialistic and rigid nature. Additionally, “they wanted to be taken seriously as artists rather than be seen simply as entertainers” (Brown, n. d., p. 2). Dancing a classic ballet prevented dancers from expression of their feelings and thoughts. Moreover, classic dancing styles limited them and did not allow any improvisation. Because of these restrictions, American dancers were unable to show the life and spirit of average Americans, as traditional ballet was mainly aimed at the perception of high-class European audience. Modern dance was quite the opposite to ballet and allowed dancers to improvise with style and tempo, give up any patterns of speed and technique of classical ballet. Actually, modern dance gave them freedom, which they needed most of all. Modern dance contrasted sincerity, freestyle and expression with canon of poses and cold beauty of classical ballet. There are no fuetes in modern dance, but there is a true movement of spirit. Instead of point shoes, modern dancers were barefooted, and imperial pompousness of the conventional ballet was replaced by real setting of mind. Therefore, modern dance became a perfect alternative to the conventional dancing styles.

Martha Graham greatly contributed to the evolution of American art of dance and developed an eloquent language of movements that provided the communicative power of dance. Freedman (1998) states that “Graham invented a revolutionary new language of dance, an origin way of moving that she used to reveal the joys, passions and sorrows common to all human experience” (p. 12). She compared her movements to the movements of animals, which were wild, beautiful and graceful. At the same time, Graham avoided to describe or imitate any material or animate objects on the stage and she tried to feel herself like these objects.

However, modern dance did not consisted only of movements as Graham expressed the feeling of freedom and emancipation. Modern dance really unchained women who did not have the right to vote at that time. Martha Graham fought for emancipation not by the means of politics but dance. In many ways, she became the role model for the contemporary women. One of the best examples is Graham’s ballet called Frontier (1935), where the famous dancer created a masterpiece in collaboration with a composer Louis Horst and sculptor Isamu Noguchi. The solo part, which was performed by Martha Graham, describes the pioneer woman during the exploration of the Frontier in nineteenth century. Most movements of the dance are minimalist and focused to draw attention at the solo female dancer.

Graham danced in her special percussive and angular movement style, in order to reflect the inversion of roles that men and women experienced during this period. By means of the dance, Graham explored the gender and national identity, while she as a dancer represented the image of American expansion to the West and the advance into unknown limitless space. In the Frontier, Martha Graham extends her expressive movements, applying her own method of contraction and release, which imitated the act of breathing. Another innovation in this ballet was the use of floor, in order to show the extensive gravity that was not considered aesthetical, although had a spectacular effect.

Classical ballet was aimed to diminish the gravity, and ballet dancers were supposed “to fly” on stage, while Martha Graham did the opposite. She revolutionized theories of movement and created a new mode of dance, which was not known before. With the help of these movements and methods, Martha Graham managed to depict the Frontier as a symbol of travelling to the unknown. At the same time, Graham never resorted to realism in her ballets; she accepted only inner reality (Kisselgoff, 1991). Instead of portraying something, Martha Graham preferred to be something while dancing. It means that she refused from any literal imagery, but approved abstraction. In this case, her similarity with Picasso and other avant-garde artists is evident.

Another famous ballet of Martha Graham is Appalachian Spring (1944), a story about a wedding day of a rural American couple. Fruitful collaboration of Martha Graham and composer Aaron Copland resulted in one of the most symbolic works of the twentieth century, which precisely reflected the tensions of Americans at that time. Both Copland’s music and Graham’s choreography harmoniously blended with each other. In Appalachian Spring, Martha Graham showed her talent of choreographer, which probably, made her even more influential than career of dancer. According to Graham, “Appalachian Spring is essentially a dance of place. You choose a piece of land. Part of the house goes up. You dedicate it. The questing spirit is there and the sense of establishing roots” (as cited in Khadarina). The ballet was a quintessence of the exotic gracefulness of Appalachia and domesticity of America, which was reflected in the relationships between the bride and her husband.

According to the classic dance dogmas, female dancers should be an incarnation of weakness and fragility on the stage. In that time, women were supposed to dance using smooth and graceful curve movements, while men used to move in straight lines. Martha Graham denied this concept and applied the opposite one. She was the first who refused to follow the traditional stereotype of feminine nature in her dancing, and even strived to dance in a typically masculine way. The role of women in modern dance was opposite to that in classical ballet and it explains why there were so many women among pioneers of modern dance.

Modern dance did not put the stress on feet as it is used in ballet, and instead of this it put stress on torso. Martha Graham released the dance from theatrical conventions and strict academic doctrine. Modern dancers were barefoot and wore unconventional clothes. Graham was willing to destroy all existing notions of dance. In order to express some emotional themes in dance, Martha Graham used falls and trembling or shivering movements. She formed some movements through imitation of sexual or violent actions. Being such a tiny and fragile woman, Martha Graham managed to create a hurricane on the stage, demonstrating a masculine strength and control along with feminine flexibility. She tried to make an impression of gravity, while suddenly falling down or flying up the stage. Martha Graham was convinced that “great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” By means of passion and aspiration, Martha Graham explored a new world of dance, which had its own language and nature.

Martha Graham’s impact on modern dance popularization can be hardly underestimated as she spread it all over the world and her performances gathered thousands of spectators in all corners of the planet. Kisselgoff (1991) stated that “Martha Graham was Frequently ranked with Picasso, Stravinsky and James Joyce for developing a form of expression that broke the traditional mould.” She became a dancer and icon of the twentieth century. Additionally, practice was of paramount importance for Graham. She considered that “Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired” (Graham). The famous dancer and choreographer was convinced that dancing is not just an act of body movement in the space, but means of self-expression of human soul.

Probably, Martha Graham was not an inventor of the modern dance itself, but she developed it and created the newer form of dance, which remained almost unchangeable from her time. Undoubtedly, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis were dancers who laid the foundation of modern dance, although the concept of dance they followed was quite different from Martha Graham’s one. For instance, Ruth St. Denis based her ballets mainly on the oriental cultures, such as Japanese, Hindu or Egyptian mythologies, and Isadora Duncan was greatly inspired by the idea of the dance of the future, which is immensely tighten with the concept of interrelationship between nature and human.

As for Martha Graham, her conception of modern dance was quite revolutionary and innovative that allows to consider her a pioneer of American modern dance. She made an emphasis on American culture and her ballets were mostly aimed at the portrayal of human nature. First and foremost, Graham appealed to people’s feelings and emotions, trying to depict them as realistically as possible. Finally, the modern dance created by Martha Graham is still actual. According to Kisselgoff (1999) “the Graham technique, which is now used by dance companies throughout the world, became the first enduring alternative to the idiom of classical ballet.” She managed not only to create a new vocabulary of movements, the system of training, but also to make the structure of modern dance popular and actual even after seventy years.

The Art of Latin American Dance

A dance is a great and influential form of self-expression without using words. Various types of emotions can be relayed through dancing. Dances vary widely across different cultures with each culture having a certain unique dance style that identifies it. With the passage of time, there have been exchanges of dances across cultures all over the world. Through these exchanges, some dances have become more popular than others. This has led to the appreciation of other people’s cultures through learning the dances. As a result, these dances are preserved and passed on from one generation to the next.

Latin American Dances

Latin American dances are the result of the unique fusion of traditions, folklore, feelings and experiences of many peoples, their long histories and cross-cultural interaction. The paper discusses the origins of the Argentinean Tango, the Cuban Salsa and the Brazilian Samba. It explains the similarities and differences in the ways Tango and Samba crossed international and class boundaries and became accepted by the elite classes of Argentina and Brazil. The paper also explains the impact these dances and music had on their country’s national identity.

Tango and Samba

Prior to becoming popular and beloved around the world, Tango went through numerous rejections and bans. The history of Argentine Tango can be traced back to the appearance of African settlers around contemporary Buenos Aires. Christine Denniston describes in a very interesting way how Tango was invented and spread. According to her, Tango was born in Buenos Aires, where there was a lack of women and, therefore, brothels were very popular. Sometimes, there were long queues to these places and brothels hired musicians to distract angry men, who were dancing while waiting for a free woman (Denniston, “Clichés about Tango Origins of the Dance”). However unlikely, it seems to be true. In the 19th century, there was a wave of immigration to Latin America, caused by the construction of a railway road (Denniston, “Couple Dance Begins in Europe”). And the majority of immigrants were men who were looking for money and adventures. To know a woman, they had to have money to pay a prostitute or to learn dancing. Moreover, very often strangers did not know the language, which caused a serious barrier in communication. The dance made it simpler to know each other and to spend time together. Argentine Tango is a way of communication between people, their language. To their gatherings in Buenos Aires, people usually come not to dance in the first place, but to communicate with friends and acquaintances. During this dance, all techniques and roles in the pair are designed to provide an opportunity for the two to merge into one, to feel, to understand each other without words. Tango is communion between a man and a woman. It reflects the social role of Tango that historically formed Latin Americans.

As well as the Tango, Samba was born in poor Latin American districts. Samba is an organic fusion of African rhythms brought to Brazil along with slaves from Africa. According to Vianna’s words referred to by Thomas Turino in his book, Samba was the product of “cultural mixing and complex social negotiations” (Turino). It is commonly thought that officially Samba was born in 1956. However, it occurred much earlier. In the 16 century, Portuguese conquerors brought with them to Brazil from Congo and Angola many slaves whose dances started to spread in South America. According to Thomas Turino, who cited Ibid’s words, “No sooner had Samba de Morro been invented than it became the very emblem of a pure and ancient Brazilian essence, uncontaminated by outside influences.” (Turino).

Both dances became famous due to their popularity among the higher social circles. Tango became known in Europe because of rich students from Argentina. Like many other new forms of self-expression, Tango received great interest in high circles and has gone through the periods of being in fashion and almost full oblivion. The history of Samba is very similar. Gradually after it appeared, higher society in Rio de Janeiro also began to dance Samba; however a closed dance position was added.
Various styles and types of Tango have developed in different regions of Argentina and Uruguay, absorbing the local features. The distinctive feature of Samba which distinguishes it from other forms of African American music and dance is a syncopated rhythm. According to the African tradition, there are poly-rhythms and cross rhythms in Samba. Rhythmic polyphony is created by wide array of percussion instruments. Argentine Tango in its classic form is the result of a mix of a wide variety of national and cultural traditions. Samba and Tango are the symbols of national identity for Brazilians and Argentineans.

The culture of Latin America has been through ups and downs, difficulties and happy moments during the long history of the continent. Many people associate Latin America with passionate dances. This is the homeland of Tango, which was born in Argentina, and Samba, formed in Brazil. Both dances exactly convey the nature of southern people. They reflect the expressive character, temper and feelings of Latin Americans and wealth of African customs. The combination of different traditions generated the acceptance of the dances like Samba and Tango by many people of different background, because, exactly, the intercultural communication between people of different social structures and races formed Samba and Tango.

Reflection of Salsa Dance

Salsa dance originates from the Cuban Son, it is also associated with other types of tropical music. Salsa dance needs a dance partner normally of the opposite sex. However, there are some forms of salsa such as line dance, “Salsa Suelta”. In this form of dance, the dancers dance solo. “Rueda de Casino” is a round dance from where multiple couples in a circle exchange dance partners (Richmond).

Salsa has gained popularity in many parts of the world. Therefore, it is open to many modifications and improvements. Many new salsa styles have emerged. In most cases, they are associated with their geographical origin, which also forms the basis of naming the style. However, regardless of the many modifications it has gone through there are specific attributes that never change. These aspects keep the dance authentic.

At first, one can fail to see the impact that salsa has had on dance genre. This could lead people to interpret the dance as just an erotic dance. This to some extent is true. Salsa dance has some sleek sexy kind of style that exhibits sensual emotions between the partners. Though not necessarily meant to imply anything, salsa has been greatly appreciated as the dance needed to get people in a cool relaxed mood. This dance demonstrates the innate feelings of one individual to another. Some couples even use the dance to ease into intimacy. This is demonstrated by the close contact between the partners as they perform the dance. At the same time, the need to be in sync in terms of body movement demands both individuals to coordinate.

We can see the professionalism involved in this dancing technique. While some dancing styles could be simply eased into any music playing in the background, salsa movements dictate the kind of music that can harmonize a salsa dance routine. This also makes salsa dance moves easy to execute in predetermined salsa music with most of the dance moves fitting in almost all kinds of salsa music.

Thus, the dances are filled with traditional motives of African and Latin cultures and have received world-wide popularity. Tango, Samba and Salsa have brought to the contemporary days the spirit of immigrants and reminder of those sunny days at the time of colonization of Latin America by white Europeans.

 The research will be carried out in order to define who were the people behind the development of the music as well as those who became instrumental in expanding dance territories as well as mixing it with other societies’ cultures to come up with the current style. Literature will be reviewed on the articles already written by scholars and researchers about the journey of salsa and its significance in human life and health. Lastly, this paper will also include an interview with a salsa musician and dancer who has an experience in the industry and a person who has seen different generations of the music and tried them to identify the differences.

Salsa is a famous style of social music and dance which is believed to have originated from New York drawing strong influence from Colombia, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. The dance and music movements are drawn from the cha-cha-cha, son cubano, and mambo among other native Latin forms of dances. Salsa dance is believed to have originated back in the early 1970s (Pietrobruno 116). The dance is an effect of evolution from native Latin dances which are believed to have existed for decades. Its predecessors are the dances with rich history in the Latin America including son (son montuno in particular) and cha-cha-cha as well as Mambo, which is more popular in the Caribbean (Borland 467). Different countries in the Latin America have their distinct styles and forms of the salsa dance, which gives rise to the Cuban, Puerto Rican, Colombian, and New York styles. Therefore, the controversy is built around the legitimate origin of the salsa music with some people arguing that different forms of the dance originated from different countries at different times.

Other people argue that salsa genre started as a cry which was shouted by musical instruments players during their typical dances, and did not have any relationship with the music that was being played. There is another group that believes that salsa came about as a mixture of many dancing and musical styles which were formed from diverse cultural grounds at different times. Thus, there is no legitimate origin of the music. Salsa is believed to be a fusion of rather informal dances which roots are in the Caribbean (Borland 468). Salsa is danced to a music genre that is strategically structured to fit in the moves and the rhythm to bring out the inner feelings of the dancer. Furthermore, this type of dance is conducted with a partner who is supposed to be of opposite sex in most cases. Surprisingly, the dance originated in the Latin America region, but it experiences strong influence from African dance styles.

According to Joanna Bosse  in her article titled Salsa Dance and the Transformation of Style: An Ethnographic Study of Movement and Meaning in a Cross-Cultural Contex, since the emergence of salsa music in early 1970s, the dance has been able to capture global attention, and its evolution has given rise to different forms and styles, which make the dance more popular and complex. The dance has been able to spread and begin to write its history of success in non-Latin countries like Japan, Sweden and most states of the African continent. Salsa, according to Bosse , is a modernization and reinterpretation of the Cuban dances and a combination of different forms and feelings with great influence from the Latin American culture. However, the exact emergence dates and places of origin for the music is still a mystery since some forms are more African than American. Anyway, the official origin is believed to be in New York. The relationship between the Cuban history of salsa and that of New York differs with the dates and dancing styles that are believed to have been the earliest.

Jonathan Skinner  in his article named Women Dancing Back & Forth: The Resistance & Self-Regulation in Belfast Salsa makes a bold attempt to explain the relationship between salsa music and physical fitness as well as human physical behavior. In the explanation, Skinner argues that dancing is the best way to get physically fit without sweat or pain. The explanation seeks to relate the salsa movements with workout activities that people take in the gym and in the field while jogging. Skinner continues to say that salsa makes people look attractive, and their skin gets healthier through taking off unnecessary fat (weight loss). Skinner continues to say that salsa music and dance makes people faster and more intelligent because the complexity of the moves demands that the dancers put all their concentration in the footwork, which, in turn, relieves them off stress and makes them relaxed for better thinking. Lastly, salsa is enjoyable and makes people happy both when singing and dancing and in other life activities (Skinner, Jonathan).

Medical experts argue that salsa music improves human physical behavior by making people faster and flexible due to consistent flexing of muscles during music. It also improves heartbeat by making blood run smoothly and muscles get enough oxygen that supports brain. This all makes the musicians and dancers experience very low moments of stress. Due to its deep attachment to culture, salsa encourages people to uphold their traditions that affect their walking, speech, and dressing style. It is an all-rounded musical genre that brings together music, dance, culture, and human behavior.

According to Katherine Borland, the New York salsa music style is known as an eclipse described also as a flat figure 8 on the floor where the dancing partners face each other during most of their dancing moments. This dance is carried out on the second beat of the music, where the follower steps forward with the rhyme. The New York salsa music style is known to be strict and very categorical as for the closeness of the dancing partners since the moves bring out the passion in music and emphasizes the friendship between the parties. Thus, according to Borland, the closeness of the partners is what brings out the difference between this style and others. The style does not allow people to keep moving far from the dancing spot since most of its spins and turns are performed on the spot with the maximum closeness between the partners. In this style, there is a massive emphasis on the dancing shines where at times, in the middle of the dance, the partners separate and dance with solo steps before coming back with spins to each other. Footwork is the most crucial component of salsa dance, and all the diverse structures of it come to an agreement that footwork is the backbone of the dance.

Eddie Torres is recognized and appreciated for his enormous contribution to the New York salsa music as well as the dance, although he was not the founder of either. He is appreciated and honored for spreading, advancing, and popularizing the dance by introducing the footwork where the follower steps forward during the dance with the second beat of the music in the first measure. The origin of salsa, the evolution of the structure of movements, and the relationship with music has been a journey of success. According to J. McMains in the book Spinning Mambo into Salsa, the latter is more than just music since it brings the whole person into the movement which depicts the inner feelings and the love for culture. This is more than just a typical dance because it is a piece of art that is rich in heritage and cultural diversification being brought together into fusion. Footwork is the most important action in the dance since it is the element that brings out the difference between various form of the dance and shows the foundation and the belief of those who upgraded the traditional dances into salsa and made it a global practice.

According to C. Rondon in the book titled The Book of Salsa, this type of music and dance is a combination of emotions between two dancing partners, which makes their movement depict the attachment to dance. Even if there are sole dancing styles, salsa was structured to be a partner dance where two people synchronize their feelings and develop a strategic movements where they bring out an emotional devotion. According to The Book of Salsa, the music had become a dominant style in the mid-1970s all over the Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. Colombia and Venezuela became the salsa music hubs when the early developers of the dance became more committed to making a different and a rival style in New York. However, in the 1980s, the Latin unity and sociopolitical idealism diminished when the dance was mixed with other traditional forms of music and upgraded to fit the needs of the modern world. The primary reason for its formation was lost, and it became a global affair, thus losing its cultural and regional sense. During this transition period from the original form of salsa to the global dance, there came a strong rivalry from the Merengue, which was a dancing style of the Dominican Republic’s origin, the same Latin America.

P. Renta, breaks down the history and journey of salsa music in the article named Salsa Dance: Latino/a History in Motion. In this article, there are two eras in the evolution and development of salsa music which begins in the late 1950s when mambo was known to be the primary dance. The article also brings out the names of those who were believed to be instrumental in the development of the dance including the ‘Godfather’ Ray Baretto and the ‘Mambo King’ Tito Puente. These are the people who contributed significantly to the development of the moves with footwork being their primary point of concern. Britta Schneider brings out the communities which were the founders of the salsa dance in an article named Heteronormativity and Queerness in Transnational Heterosexual Salsa Communities.

Moreover, Jonathan Skinner in an article named, Women Dancing Back & Forth: The Resistance & Self-Regulation in Belfast Salsa explains that the Cuban salsa music and dancing style originated from the upgraded son dance, which was a primary dance in Cuba during the early days of 1950s. The author also goes ahead to argue that the modern salsa music is just a new name of the Cuban music style since most of it is derived from the traditional dances and music styles. According to the article, the Cuban music was a combination of Spanish-derived and Afro-Cuban elements in traditional music. This is where the modern salsa gains its African background and relationship.

History

According to P. Renta in the article named Salsa Dance: Latino/a History in Motion, salsa evolved into two different forms which started with the mambo era following the migration of people from the Latin American countries into Caribbean nations in mid 1960s. This era was known as the “Palladium Era”, which is believed to have given rise to the earliest forms of the salsa music. During this time, there were several dancers and developers who helped in driving the agenda forward. The second evolution took place in the late 1970s where the people from the Latin America begun to contribute to the reformation of the New York style. This era was known as the “NuYorican” era, which marked official redesigning of the traditional dances into the modern-day salsa (Borland 466). Ray Baretto, also known as the ‘Godfather’, was very instrumental in redesigning of the dance into the global and modern salsa (García 127). During that era, he was a primary artist in the development of moves, musical beats, and incorporating spins into dance motions as well as structuring the partner dancing.

Tito Puente became a legendary dancer in Puerto Rico, where the other dancers named him the ‘Mambo King’ for his contribution to salsa using the ancient mambo dancing style believed to have been the mother of salsa. During this second evolution, a lot of things changed making the dance lose its traditional and cultural significance to the people of both New York and the Caribbean countries (Bosse 45). After the massive migration of people between the countries for economic reasons, the music and dance was able to spread and get more developed where even the forefathers of the dance including Ray Baretto and Tito Puente could not follow all the moves and changes. This is what gave rise to different forms of the genre when participants realized that there were distinctions which were making it look different in different places. Eddie Palmieri is known to be an artist who has contributed significantly to the development of salsa music (García 127). He has done it through his piano rhythms which bring together jazz and funk styles and the Lastly, this paper will also include an interview with a salsa musician and dancer who has an experience in the industry and a person who has seen different generations of the music and tried them to identify the differences.

Themes in Salsa

Salsa runs through two primary ethnomusicological themes which include transnational and cultural/traditional contexts. In transnational theme, the genre has been able to capture the attention of its global lovers, and the current style is a combination of different formats derived from several international backgrounds. For instance, the style that was developed from mambo in New York has now travelled to Japan and Sweden, where the styles are entirely different from the traditional one (Bosse 45). The developers of salsa in New York have been able to learn the modern-day style, which draws its influence from transnational context. The other theme is the traditional/cultural context which is evident in the manner in which Cuban dancers uphold the music in a cultural way. For instance, these musicians and dancers argue that salsa is another name for Cuban music, which shows how much salsa means to the society of Cubans. This dance and music style is currently running through the transnational context, and the spread rate depicts the international acceptance by people from non-Caribbean or Latin American countries (Bosse 45).

Salsa is a global affair and has brought people from different cultures together to practice something that was a traditional music genre for a specific community in the old days. Thus, it teaches the world about the Caribbean culture and way of life, hence becoming a transnational activity (Pietrobruno 116). This is a broad attemp to explain the transnational theme in the music as well as the cultural context. Lastly, salsa bears a heterosexual theme and multi-gender context (Morel 66). This is a genre that is practiced by people of both male and female genders without being divided or bearing their format and style. Typically, salsa is a partner dance which means that a male dancer has to have a female partner for the primary objective to come out (Morel 66). Thus, the heterosexual theme means that a person should be dancing with a partner of the opposite sex to bring out the emotional bit of the dance.

Interview

In the quest of learning more about salsa and its significance in human life and, more specifically, to the people of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, I conducted an interview with a salsa music and dance instructor from Cuba. This is a lady who has been on international tours establishing salsa schools and sponsoring the schools that have salsa classes. Her name is Mónica Muñoz, a 33-year-old female instructor. The lady is very instrumental in the spread of salsa since her main objective is to train international dancers who will later take the dance to their native countries. She is also significant to my research because she has been able to learn all the forms of salsa available in the Caribbean region as well as the modernized form of the New York dance. This means that she has enough experience in salsa, and she is also knowledgeable about history of the genre as well as its significance in the life of a dancer who may be a local or international figure.

According to Mónica Muñoz, salsa is one way of training people on the Cuban culture, and when I asked her about how much the dance carries concerning the culture, she was quick to tell me that, “Salsa is our culture, it is our way of life”. I asked her the question on how old she was when she tried the first dance step, and she humorously answered me that she started dancing salsa before she was born. She could feel her mother dancing when being pregnant with her; thus, she started learning the dance steps back in the womb. This was a funny way of telling me that she has been dancing all over her life. Mónica has quite a significant amount of knowledge in the dance and all the music genres associated with the salsa dance. I was able to point it out in the way she was vibrant in answering my questions to a point we had to stop the interview and watch her demonstrating the difference between the typical Cuban salsa and that of New York origin. She has trained people how to dance on both styles until she can be able to combine moves and make her own dance.

Her understanding of the genre is quite substantial, and her students can testify to her excellence in the dance. I asked her why she decided to capitalize on training salsa instead of going to the university and learn the corporate skills like business administration or management. In response to that question, Mónica Muñoz said, “My students are from the corporate world, I teach doctors, engineers, managers, and other senior ranking business figures, meaning that salsa is better than their jobs, and that is why they come here when they are free.” This was a simple way of telling me that the society in Cuba upholds salsa like any other work, and people pay a lot of money just to be taught how to dance. In short, salsa is a profession just like nursing, and people comfortably earn a living from it. I wanted to know why salsa dancers are always slim and of good looking figures; thus, I asked her the question of the salsa’s significance in human health and fitness. In response to that, Mónica Muñoz said, “Salsa is the best way of losing weight with a smile on your face.” This means that the dance is not comparable to other forms of weight loss physical activities like jogging and aerobics. In summary, the interview was significant to my research, and I was able to learn several things about the genre and its importance as well as why some people are very passionate about it. The interview gave me a chance to interact with a professional in a field I have always tried to understand due to its rich and complex history.

Conclusion

Salsa music and dance have been a gradually evolving system of entertainment and sociocultural transition between generations and between different societies. This is a form of dance that depicts a significant social attachment to the Caribbean and Latin American people. The history of this type of music dates back in the early days of 1970s, when the world was more traditional than the modern one is. This dance helps the participants in understanding themselves and bringing out their feelings of self-appreciation. Initially, the dance was a form of honoring traditions. Therefore, however much salsa develops, the element of culture is still intact. There are different aspects of salsa depending on where each of them developed from and whichsociety contributed to its development. Salsa helps people in getting physically fit since it is a dance and a form of workout. Its musicians and dancers are known to be physically fit and health; thus, salsa dance has an attachment to humanity and human heath for both mind and body.