Latin Dance / Latina Danza de Arte Slide Show:

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The Cha Cha Revolution:

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Dance Story Shorts:
By: Mr. Roger M. Christian

The Cha Cha Revolution:
In Havanah, Cuba during the early to Mid ' 50s, several roving bands of Cuban youth went around asking Americans for nickles, times etc. Their torn tee-shirts told their story all too well. Moreover, the city in which they play, beged and lived, Havanah was growing. Populations from the country side fled to Cuba's major cities in the hope to find work. Previous rains and flooding caused problems with Cuban agriculture.

About that time, American popular culture was making significant in-roads into Cuban Middle Class Society - which also meant that it was also American Mob influenced. The Organized Crime Families owned much of the Hotel and Gambling Casinos at that time. The Batista Government was totally bribed by thase thugs- Myer Lansky was the fait accompli Prime Minister and Exchecker of Cuba..

Never-the-less, it was the growing popularity of Elvis, espeically his hip action, which finally ignited the cultural clash. The Cuban teens-who were trying to survive, and whose desires and expectations looked to the Cuab mountains knowing there was Castrol-were about to launch themselves into cultural history.

A couple years earlier. Cha Cha Cha / Chas Chas Chas had already made some initiative forewrays into Cuban culture by those who desired a slower version of the Mambo. This percepitated the : chasse : movement to also appear-for they were not that too old.

Never-the-less, and a couple years later, with the coming of Elvis, along with his hip action , into the picture of Cuban mainstream middle class culture, what also followed was the jitterbug - a Southern version of the Lindy Hop ( then ). The convergence of these cultural developments inflamed the nationalistic passions of these Cuban teens. There was the foreseen vision by these teens of Elvis's radical hip action replacing Cuban Motion ever looming over the horizon.

Then Chas Chas Chas exploded in Nationalistic cultural revival epitones to Latina Musica.

The first appearence of radical street dances first appeared in Cuban cultural history and now " established " traditions, and have not stopped since, and what happended is that these teen started to play a faster form of Chas Chas Chas ( the Cuban word for Cha Cha - etc ), and took of the flare swing and under-arm turns of the Jitterbug and Cubanized it with Cuban hip motions into a full blown Chas Chas Chas street dance. The influence of Elvis, hip and all, was suddenly lost, the only time in popular culture history to have ever occured.

About then Castrol made his move, and when Chas Cahs Chas was at the height of its Cuban popularity, and virtually invading every American urban center where there were Latinas playing Latina Danza - Salsa, Castrol enter the City of Havanah.

At the center where all this took place, the plaza was renamed to Chas Chas Plaza, and adjacent is a dance hall with some of these at one time torn tee - shirted teens, now aged dancers still cling to their dance, and among some of the best cigars in the world. Whose smoke mixes with the most delightful scent of perfumes-all Cuban made.

Since the 50's, and even though the Castrol government tried to curb creativity with in Cuban music, and subsequently dance, the cycle of innovative street dances still is on-going. There are still roving teens with torn tee - shirts, and even though the American mob has left, except for the newer forms coming from Columbia. Thus during every 6 year cycle a new dance appears, and it all started when the first batch of Cuban teens who went into a nationalistic cultural revival to resist the intrusion of popular American culture into the folkways of Cuban society.

Ask any one who is Elvis in Havanah, and you get nothing but a very perplex face.

Mr. Roger M. Christian
August 7, 2004

Latin Dance Classes Ithaca

Latin Dance Classes Ithaca

Latina Danza de Arte

The Latin Dance Arts was firmly established before major European influence deminished its sexy alure well before the 1880s. With style variation of Guanarcha / Guanguanarcha [ guanguanacha - they had seven spellings for this dance ] and others it attracted wide attention of visitors to the Islands of South and Central America - via sailors rumors.

Then as these countries started to develop a native middle class, those who had ethnic ties to these nations instead of supporting their native cultures looked to the European Expat populations - who stuill exiist today, and they started to mimic their social and cultural standards of Victorian Europe. All the while Europe start to entice these exotic dancers and dances to their cities; they both made a lot of money as a result.

As a result the wildness of Latina Danza de Arte started to be tamed around 1910 with the appearance of the Danzon and Son. This still is in ongoing process which today the New York City version is now called Salsa [ ones ] in stesad of the much wilder Mambo [ twos ].

Nonetheless in places like Chile and other Latin American Nations, they have started to turn back the pages of history and are exploring as the photo above suggests.

They are not necessarily interested in the roles, now presently, which were performend during pre - 1880s. However, as the years of additional research contuinues, and field cultural explorations in both African and Espana continues, they will eventually start to take up and perform once again the fertility, sexuality, and mating Latina Danza de Arte dances of this glorious past.

It has alraady started in Brazil, and Cuba is now knocking at this cultural door, topless, traditional proper presentations themselves.

Mr. Roger M. Christian

Latin Dance Cities Created

Welcome !

Latin Dance Cities Created


A WebSite which has it all, and of which bring into focus the real popularity of the Latina Danza Cultura both Internationally and Internationally. What this also does, in the effort to bring all the different elements together is that allows those who need more information to select their destination cities

The Latin / Salsa Dance Cities [ WebSite ] Its Mambo Dance Class [ WebPage ]

RMC

What is the difference between Mambo and Salsa ?

An Introduction:

What is the difference between the Mambo and Salsa is one of those very rare questions which comes in social and professional dance. Yet, it is one in which has been alive since on the Island of Cuba different ethnic elements came together in Latin social dance during the rise of Havana as an urban center. Diversity was apparent, even to those of us who had knowledge of the Cuban Peoples well before Castro.

Thus as introduction:

Salsa means within the world of Latin America music only. Moreover, and due to the barriers impossed upon Cuba by United States Internationally inspired sanctions, and thus, the resulting cultural co-isolation, the Puerto Rico dancers in Latin Harlem then started to dominat NE the social dance scene. Their emphasis on the ONE beat was evident, even as early as the 1950. Yet the Cuban Hispanic population of Cuba emphasis was on TWO, and in large part of the Afro - Cuban emphsis is ONE, there was confusion-to say the least. None-the-less, and in contacting the Escuekla Nacional de Arte, University of Havana, the picture became very clear.

With the rise of urbanization in Cuba, primarily with an increase in tourism and legal gambling, and at times light industrial growth, the various migrations from the rural regions of this mountain covered island, with it's various valleys, where several villages grew , dance was always extremely diverse. Very few on the Island knew until they started to meet at these rising urban centers.

Thus the more Afro - centric your ethnicity was the more you focused upon Son Montuno ( ONES ).

And the more Hispanic your ethnicity was, the more you focused upon Mambo ( TWOs ).

In Latin Harlem though, the more your people came fro Puerto Rico the more you focused on Guanarcha /Gunaca ( several spellings ) ( The More Conga it Looked ).

In deeper probe one constantly came across the quick promotional stunts, self glamorization-where alot of egos were evident, and the drive to to establish oneself as " The " expert within ones market service area. The money corroded the very roots in which America came to enjoy Latin dance. There stands Cuba distant, and isolated, with all the require explanation and real knowledge it is more than willing to share. Moreover, this process is ongoing.

What this blogsite is developed for, is to impart on you the reader, about the word diversity. From which you will able to find you own Niche in Latin dance.

Yours,

Mr. Roger M. Christian

Links:

Latin Dance Classes Ithaca
Latin Dance Class / Class ( Student Ithaca Notes )
Latin
Latin Dance Ithaca
Mambo Dance Class Ithaca