Announcements

FROM: The Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Education RE: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month- September 15 - October 15 Hispanic Dance
Sent:
10/2/2019 10:45:09 AM
To: Students

 

Latin Dancing: The Art That Never Stops

            For a Hispanic family, dancing is a part of life. For these families, weddings, parties and car rides are opportunities for trumpets sounding, feet tapping and raucous singing. Latin dance is a bubble term for a lot of very different and popular styles of dancing that first spread throughout Europe in the 1800’s and remained popular to present day.

            Social dances take the Hispanic world by storm for multiple reasons, including fresh, savvy moves, an entourage of unique sounds and instruments, legendary vocals leading the pack of musicians and, of course,  the fast-paced adult night life that it caters to. Some of the more famous dances include Salsa, Bachata and Reggaeton. Salsa music, with its modern day and original dance style, comes from Eastern Cuba. Today’s Afro-Cuban Salsa is more infused with Jazz music. Salsa itself is a compilation of different moves, such as the Mambo and the Danzón. The music tempo is fast and the hips do almost all of the work. With arm movements to throw in for spice, it’s an alluring dance style.

Bachata, another form of dance, originated in the Dominican Republic. It is a more romantic, slower paced dance than Salsa. Bachata is variable— in both its core mechanics and how it looks regionally. With heartthrob artists such as Romeo Santos leading the way for dancers, it is a very popular style.

            Lastly, the very up-beat and rap-dance style known as Reggaetón, originated in 1990’s in Puerto Rico. It is influenced by Hispanic music and American hip hop. This style of dance is extremely prominent in clubs and is the premier underground style of Latin dance. Despite its roots in ‘90’s “hard-time” rap error, Reggaetón became more widely accepted across Latin America and the United States.

            These three styles of dancing are very prominent in Hispanic clubs. They allow individuals from all walks of life to immerse themselves in the beauty of the music. ~F. Rivera

            For more information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggaeton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachata_(dance)

https://www.danceus.org/latin-dance/