Spanish Dances Essay

Many different cultures and individuals have influenced the Salsa into the dance it has become today. A large part of the dance originated in Cuba, but it also has some French and English roots in it as well. It mixed with various African rhumbas and drumbeats in many places occurred in many places, yet it Cuba was the largest scale. It was around the time of World War II when the dance entered some areas of Mexico City and New York.

In fact, while it traveled around in New York, the dance acquired the name “salsa.

” Around the ‘60s and ‘70s, the music really began to become popular with several Latin musicians began to use the dance music in their albums and refer to it as “Salsa. ” There are many versions of the Salsa dance, yet most of them accent a beat in music and require the timing to fit in correctly. The versions of the dance pertain to the different cultural aspects of that area.

Several cultures influenced the Flamenco dance. Although not as widely influenced as the Salsa dance, the Flamenco still is a remarkable, unique dance style.

It mainly originates from the southern parts of Spain in the province of Andalusia. In fact, the Flamenco is a music that stems from the poor and oppressed individuals of Spain. In the late 1800s, the Flamenco dance became more a public style of art starting with the cafe cantantes in all the major cities. Flamenco performance at this time is considered one of the greatest ages of flamenco performance. After the start of the twentieth century, the cafes declined dramatically as well as Flamenco.

It did not rise again until the mid-1950s. The Flamenco involves quite a few different elements including singing, dancing, and guitar with clapping in rhythm. In conclusion, these two dance styles of the Hispanic culture were extremely popular and interesting.

The Salsa has a wide range of origins and the Flamenco does not, yet they both are unique. Sources: * http://www. classicalguitarmidi. com/history/flamenco. html * http://www. salsa-dancing-addict. com/history-of-salsa. html * http://www. justsalsa. com/salsa/dance/steps/.