People On The Dance Floor example essay topic

Beliefs And Values Seen in Contemporary Salsa Dancing Salsa culture is being consumer ized throughout the world and with it the ideals of Latin culture are being spread. Salsa is being, transferred, translated, transculturated and sold all over the world via multinational corporations (Cultural Studies, pg. 1). With the massive spread of popularity and the mainstream commercialism Salsa dancing has been molded to every different "walk" of life. Even though the Latin ideals still link the dancer to the past, each new community brings something distinct to the dance.

Salsa dancers adapt the culture to new environments while retaining some of their traditional ideals and values because those ideals are based on acceptance of new influences. The Salsa community has the principle of inclusiveness on the dance floor; this is the main reason why Salsa dancing has become so popular. The attitude on the dance floor is always accepting no matter how advanced and intimidating the dancers are. The following excerpt is from an interview with Cynthia Harper a UCLA dance teacher. The Salsa floor is a unique community because there is always someone who will dance with you no matter what your skill level. If they realize that you are a beginner they may start teaching you some moves or let you know about a class they are teaching.

Even then they will teach you moves that are your level so they still make you look good on the dance floor. (Cynthia Harper) This idea of an open dance floor is a trait that is very appealing to social dancing because it takes the pressure off the dancers. As Cynthia said, someone will almost always ask a woman to dance and adjust to her skill level as necessary but still pushing her to perform the best moves she can. Salsa is very welcoming but also very showy and competitive on the dance floor. It is competitive in the sense that everyone is showing off their best moves no matter what skill level they are, as Cynthia said someone will teach you the best moves you can handle so you can show off.

People feel welcome on the dance floor because they are always learning new moves and it is commonplace for couples to teach each other moves during the dance. This creates a comfortable environment for everyone even with the competition on the floor. In addition, because no cultural style has ever completely dominated, Salsa dancing has spread through its appeal to a wide variety of dancers. This began with the origin of Salsa in New York where many Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants discovered this new dance with all of their culture put together. Here Cynthia comments on the culture of Salsa dancers. Latin dancers "go out to be seen", they are always ready to show off on the dance floor.

Their movements are very accented by their dressy clothes, especially the women who wear authentic Salsa skirts. The Latin musicians are also very showy in their dress because they are all part of the Salsa community. (Cynthia Harper) This shows how the competition is linked to the past because everyone is still competing on some level and everyone wants people to acknowledge their style and admire it. As Cynthia said, Latin dancers "go out to be seen". Another thing that is seen is the male dominance in this form of dancing where the woman is supposed to look feminine while the man looks macho leading her around the dance floor.

Their clothes also demonstrate this because as Cynthia mentioned, "their movements are accented by their dressy clothes". (Cynthia Harper) The traditional clothing for a woman is a Salsa skirt, which is short and billowy and bounces with her hip movements. The dress is very appealing to people because the only requirement is that they look good on the dance floor. However, because no cultural style has ever completely dominated, Salsa dancing has spread through its appeal to a wide variety of dancers. The idea that Salsa dancing is open to everyone has led to the expansion of Salsa throughout the United States.

Cynthia now discusses the spread of Salsa dancing. It started when Latin music blew up and spread in popular culture. One type of music influenced the other. Now there is Latin Jazz, Latin Groove, and Latin Swing that all incorporate American and Latin music. The jazz and swing clubs started switching to Salsa and all of the sudden Salsa dancing was everywhere. (Cynthia Harper) This spread of music has also engulfed people from all ethnicities and backgrounds across the world.

Here in America we can see the diverse group of people on the dance floor because as Cynthia says, "Latin music spread into pop culture". This meant that all the people who followed the crowd in the latest trend starting dancing Salsa. Along with the mix of people, the mix of music is very distinct because every club can play a slightly different style of Salsa. The styles such as, "Latin Jazz, Latin groove, and Latin Swing" have influences from so many types of music that almost everyone can relate.

People from all over the world can step on the dance floor and give their own personal twist to the dance, which is what makes it so adaptable to every community. Further more, this wide range of dancers can all contribute their own style to the dance and have developed many interpretations. People from all different backgrounds contribute their cultural beliefs and values to the dance. Here Cynthia divulges some of her knowledge from her personal experiences dancing with all different types of people. With this many types of Salsa you just have to be ready for any type a lead knows.

You have to "always keep an open mind", because you never know what background they are coming from and as a follow you just have to go with it. The dancers background really affects their style of dance and it can be seen by dancing with them. (Cynthia Harper) The idea that the dancing is being adapted to different communities based on their background shows the link between the traditional Salsa and contemporary dance today. As Cynthia mentioned, "you never know what background they are coming from", so it forces the dancers to learn new styles.

The views of the past are being integrated as people take what they like from the origin of Salsa and include their personal variation. "The dancers background really affects their style of dance", as Cynthia said the dancers history gives a whole new variation to their dance style. This integration of style and culture is linking people together because they are being influenced by the dance as well as influencing it. The Latin community of Salsa is being incorporated in the mainstream of American commercialism and through Salsa dancing Latin culture continues to integrate with American culture.

In conclusion, the Salsa community is being spread across the world in the form of it ideals and beliefs. The dance as a whole is both shaping people and being shaped into what it has become and what it will turn into. This contemporary dance was created by people from all different backgrounds and therefore accepts people from all different communities. The Salsa floor is not prejudice or judgmental based on race or creed. The people on the dance floor no matter what skill level or race will dance with anyone. One underlying idea of Salsa is to show off to the dance floor and that is seen in many different forms of discourse on the dance floor, but the opposite is also seen.

The competitors are also teachers either formally in classes or on the dance floor as they interact with a new partner. Salsa dancing was created based on a set of ideals that includes everyone and the dancers always ask each other to dance. Despite the some of the showy discourse on the floor the ideal model of Salsa is one where everyone from every community can be on the floor showing off their best moves. Conclusion Salsa dancing is a unique dance demonstrated by its discourse on the dance floor. It can be an intimate dance between lovers or a friendly dance between strangers and the difference can clearly be seen in the discourse on the dance floor. Salsa is adaptable to different groups of people and different situations as we witnessed in our observations at Salsa clubs.

Every different kind of person you can think of can be found dancing Salsa somewhere in the world. Its ideals don't discriminate against certain groups of people based on their background or even their skill level. Everyone from far and wide is welcome on the dance floor. There are traditions or trends you see on the floor as we noticed the difference in dress and persona from the different levels of dance. We saw the skilled dancers wear dressy clothes that accentuated their movements for both the man and woman, while many dancers were very casual. Despite these differences in clothing or appearance the community on the dance floor is very open and this is why it has spread globally.

The attitude is serious and yet friendly and inviting to those new and old. Many different people from numerous backgrounds collaborating invented the dance and therefore it brings people together across the world. This dance bridges a gap between cultures that has been void for centuries. The nonverbal communication that goes on in a dancing conversation is universal. Everyone understands how to dance and for the first time an enormous amount of people are learning the same dance.

It may be in a slightly different form because of the natural mutation of cultural influences, but it is still the same. It is the same dance that doesn't discriminate against race or creed. It doesn't judge you based on what you look like or where you come from. For that moment that you are dancing with this stranger it doesn't matter where they are from or what they look like. You are both dancing in the moment and all of you worldly problems are gone for that one instant. You are free of useless thoughts that crowd you mind based on these discriminations and you can share something with that person.

You can make a new friend on the dance floor because you find that you dance well together and you never have to say a word. This is the miracle of dancing; it communicates so much without saying a word. The meaning in your actions almost says more than words and can be understood by almost anyone. This is the beauty of Salsa dancing because it has crossed so many continents that people across the world have something in common. They can have a conversation with each other and not ever have to say a word.