Problems with Dancing Salsa in Spanish

From the early 90´s there has been a rapid evolution and worldwide spread of Salsa Dancing all around the world. With the recent introduction of Musicality Salsa dancers have learned to channel the emotions they generate from listening to the music into their dance. But there is one important factor which hinders the complete appreciation of Salsa: the inability to understand the Spanish lyrics.

 

While instructing her Musicality Bootcamps Edie the Salsa Freak has thaught the Salsa Dance world to imagine a story when dancing Salsa. These fantasized tales would be an extra tool to spark the imaginations of the dancers. The dancers would then tell their narratives with their bodies instead of them only being able to connect turn patterns and footwork/shines to each other in a random fashion. Every movement and styling being used will then have a deeper meaning and look better. This approach is universal and serves as a sound guideline. But imagining stories can never compare to the feelings one gets when interpreting the actual lyrics of the songs.

 

Salsa Music is traditionally sung in Spanish.  Its origin lies in the Spanish ‘Romance Cantada’, which means ‘Sung Romance’. The main themes in these Ballads are the celebration and the loss of love. But the evolution of the Cuban Son into modern Salsa has inspired many song writers to add a variety of themes to their Salsa repertoire. Salsa Artists such as Willy Colon and Ruben Blades were pioneering in using Salsa music to ventilate (controversial) political statements. Most of the songs of ‘the Salsa Princess’ La India deals with the empowerment and emancipation of the Latina women. Ritchie Ray & Bobby Cruz, and most recently Juan Luis Guerra, have been systematically using their music to spread their religious beliefs. And many songs act as newspapers dealing with general themes such as police corruption and brutality, teen pregnancy, death, city & rural life, and the current economic crisis.

 

Most Salsa dancers love Salsa music because of the way it sounds. This one-sided appreciation gets to be painfully apparent when Salsa bands and artists are playing or giving a concert in front of a Salsa dance crowd:  the Latinos and the ‘Salsa Afficionados’ who understand Spanish will have more attention and show their appreciation towards their favorite bands. This behavior is in complete contrast with the way Salsa dancers who does not understand a word they are saying usually act. Just an example to illustrate: during the big Saturday party of the LA Salsa Congress 2004 there were about 5000 Salsa dancers present at the venue. The great Salsa legends Richie Ray, Bobby Cruz, and Oscar de Leon had teamed up to perform together. A large portion of the public was sitting in another room appreciating the Salsa dance shows. And there were hundreds of Salsa dancers executing their very best dance moves on the large dance floors when Richie, Bobby, and Oscar were having a ‘once in a lifetime’ gig. There was a crowd of approximately 50 persons standing, applauding and dancing in front of the band.

 

There are different Salsa bands starting to produce more Salsa music in the English language. English sung Salsa has revolutionized U.K.’s Salsa Dance scene since the release of Alex Wilson’s R&B Latino’. This trend  has the potential to expand into the near future of Western Style Salsa dancing and music.