by Patricia Paz, 1 de agosto de 2005

El 27 de Julio chequeando los mensajes en mi telefono celular, un hermano latinoamericano me decia con molestia y enojo que mi anuncio de Salsa a la Cubana no Salsa Cubana como el alude, es una falacia. Tambien me pregunta de que pais soy y a continuacion agrega que deberia informarme mas a fondo y leer biografia, que asumo habra querido decir, bibliografia, sobre el verdadero origen de la salsa.

Termina su mensaje respetuosamente diciendome, que "de donde saco que la salsa es cubana la salsa es puertorriquena, mi hermana...." - Se despide diciendo, muchas gracias, pero no me deja su nombre y apellido.

Quisiera contestarle a mi mensajero y a otros que tal vez se han sentido agredidos por mi anuncio, si es que existen estos otros.

Primero, mi anuncio tiene como encabezamiento el titulo: Salsa a la Cubana, como dije anteriormente y no Salsa Cubana. No cambiaria nunca el titulo de este anuncio ya que existe un estilo o una manera diferente de bailar de los cubanos, que se diferencia de todos los otros estilos. Y no lo digo por “boca de ganzo” sino por propia experiencia, y por mis anos de ensenanza, que son algunos.

Aprendi a bailar salsa a principios de los 90. Baile en los Estados Unidos mas que en mi propio pais. El estilo que aprendi fue el estilo puertoriqueno,que se baila en linea y que es el mas popular en los Estados Unidos, y comenze a ensenar ese estilo hasta que hace seis anos atras, conoci a mi esposo, que es bailarin y a proposito cubano.

El cubano baila diferente a otros caribenos, lo hace en circulo, la mujer camina alrededor del varon en sentido de las agujas del reloj mayormente, aunque tambien puede circular en sentido contrario. Este, a mi parecer y despues de haber analizado y estudiado los movimientos, podria asegurar que es el rasgo mas distintitivo de la salsa cubana.

Segundo, la toma en el comienzo del abrazo y las diferentes posibilidades con las que el varon se conecta a la mujer, solamente la utilizan los cubanos, tales como la popular toma de manos, y el distintivo agarre cubano por la muneca o por el antebrazo, brazo, o por palma de la mujer y puno del varon.

La mujer cubana a su vez se puede apoyar en su companero en los puntos mencionados, asi como tambien en sus hombros o en su pecho e inclusive tomar a su companero de una de sus manos, con las dos manos de ella al mismo tiempo.

Estos son solo algunas de las diferencias que queria nombrar para demostrar porque el anuncio dice “Salsa a la Cubana”, y este titulo es correcto.

Quizas en un punto, mi hermano puertoriqueno tiene algo de razon. Y es que mi anuncio deberia decir: "Casino Lessons, Beginners Session” , pero muchos no sabrian a que me estoy refiriendo. Casino es la palabra que aun se utiliza en Cuba, para referirse al baile en cuestion, antes de que se inventara la palabra Salsa en los Estados Unidos.

No esta de mas nombrar la Rueda de Casino ( Rueda de Salsa) como una creacion original, propia del pueblo cubano.

Con todo esto no estoy afirmando o diciendo que la salsa es cubana, o no lo es, simplemente estoy argumentando el titulo del anuncio de mis lecciones de baile.

La eterna disputa sobre a quien pertenece el baile de la salsa, o como se origino es algo que les toca a los investigadores y musicologos. Yo me remito a leer las diferentes corrientes y sacar mis propias conclusiones.

Todos los bailes y la musica popular de origen empirico padecen de los mismos cuestionamientos.

En Sudamerica, argentinos y uruguayos, nos disputamos el origen de los primeros tangos, sus musicos, sus protagonistas, donde se bailo primero, quienes inventaron las primeras melodias, si lo uruguayos o los argentinos. Lo cierto es que es un fenomeno rioplantense y nos pertenece a los rioplatenses.

Con respecto a los estilos, tambien el tango tiene su estilo “orillero” (de las orillas del puerto), “canyengue” ( de la calle), “salon” ( del salon porteno). Actualmente existe un estilo, “ apilado” ( que se origino en los pequenos salones de baile a partir de los 50) “fantasia” ( de escenario), etc.
Inclusive el folklore latinoamericano tiene sus ejemplos que han sido estudiados por musicologos, cronistas y viajeros.

La zamacueca peruana, ese baile de pareja suelta, e independiente que se origina en Peru, tiene su version similar con diferencias marcadas por la topografia, el pais, el clima, el tipo humano, que a medida que descendemos en el continente americano se va haciendo mas lenta y se llama diferente: Marinera, Cueca nortena en Bolivia y Argentina, Cueca cuyana en la parte central del territorio argentino y Zamba en la pampa argentina.

A proposito, soy argentina, baile toda mi vida, folklore, tango, cumbia en las fiestas familiares de mi primera infancia. La salsa no la conociamos, sino hasta las dos ultimas decadas del siglo pasado.
Soy profesora de Danzas Nativas y Folklore Argentino, enseno Tango Argentino desde el ano 1987 Salsa desde 1994 y Casino y Rueda de Casino desde el 2000.

No me considero una improvisada. Sigo aprendiendo ya que es mucho lo que me queda por saber.
Volvi a investigar y encontre este articulo por internet que me gustaria invitar a que lean a titulo informativo, (http://www.latindance.com/life_as_a_professional_dancer.htm) sobre los origenes cubanos y la influencia de Puerto Rico en el fenomeno salsa, asi como tambien la creacion del termino Salsa y un comentario sobre la Salsa Romantica.

Espero que este articulo sirva, no para seguir creando asperezas sobre quienes son los duenos de la salsa, o del tango, sino mas bien para unirnos en la cultura, y seguir creando puentes en vez de abismos.

Y me gustaria terminar este aporte con un parrafo del Martin Fierro que dice:

...Los hermanos sean unidos
Porque esa es la ley primera
tengan union verdadera
en cualquier tiempo que sea
Pues si entre ellos pelean
Los devoran los de afuera.

Martin Fierro
de Jose Hernandez.


Name: Strictly Salsa
E-mail: webmaster@strictlysalsa.com
Date: 03 Jan 1999

Comments

Salsa is not easily defined. Though many get caught up in the age old debate as to who "invented" salsa (Cubans or Puerto Ricans), the truth of the matter is that salsa has and will always continue to have a great number of influences that have each played a large part in its evolution.

CUBAN ORIGINS

Cuba established its identity by combining the influences of its entire population -- white, black, and mulatto. Music played an important role in the formation of such an identity. The genre that was to succeed in creatively fusing equal amounts of white- and black- derived musical features was the son, which subsequently came to dominate the culture not only in Cuba, but most of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean as well.

The son originated in eastern Cuba during the first decades of the century. From the start it represented a mixture of Spanish-derived and Afro-Cuban elements. The basic two-part formal of the son has remained the same from the 1920s to the present, and the vast majority of salsa songs (which Cubans would called son or guaracha) also follow this pattern.

Another development that occurred in the 1940s was the invention of the mambo. Essentially, the mambo was a fusion of the Afro-Cuban rhythms with the big-band format from Swing and Jazz. Although bands in Cuba like Orquestra Riverside were already playing Mambo-style in the 1940s, the invention of the Mambo is usually credited to Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado, who spent most of his years in Mexico and elsewhere outside the island. Bandleaders like Beny Moré combined Mambo formats with son and guaracha (a similar up-tempo dance genre). The Mambo reached its real peak in New York City in the 1950s, where bands led by Machito and the Puerto Ricans Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez incorporated Jazz-influenced instrumental solos and more sophisticated arrangements. With Prado based chiefly in Mexico and the New York mambo bands developing their own styles, Cuban music had begun taking a life of its own outside the island and the stage was set for the salsa boom of the 1960s.

PUERTO RICAN INFLUENCES

From the early 1800s until today, Puerto Ricans have avidly borrowed and mastered various Cuban music styles, including the Cuban danzón, son, guaracha, rumba, and bolero. Indeed, the richness of Puerto Rican musical culture derives in large part from the way it has adopted much of Cuban music, while contributing its own dynamic folk and contemporary popular music. Puerto Rico should not be regarded as simply a miniature Cuba, especially since genres like the seis, bomba, and plena are distinctly Puerto Rican creations, owing little to Cuban influence in their traditional forms.

Since the 1920s Puerto Rican music has been as much a product of New York City as the island itself, due to the fundamental role the migration experience has come to play in Puerto Rican culture. As a result, Puerto Rican culture can not be conceived of as something that exists of only or even primarily in Puerto Rico; rather, it has become inseparable from "Nuyorican/Newyorican" culture, which itself overlaps with black and other Latino subcultures in New York and, for that matter, with mainland North American culture as a whole.

By the 1940s, Nuyoricans like timbalero Tito Puente and vocalist Tito Rodriguez had become the top bandleaders and innovators, and the Latin dance music scene in New York came to outstrip that on the island. (Even today, there are more salsa bands and clubs in New York than in Puerto Rico).

FANIA RECORDS

The Rise of Salsa is tied to Fania Records, which had been founded in 1964 by Johnny Pacheco, a bandleader with Dominican parentage and Cuban musical tastes. Fania started out as a fledging independent label, with Pacheco distributing records to area stores from the trunk of his car. From 1967, Fania, then headed by Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci, embarked on an aggressive and phenomenally successful program of recording and promotion.

Particularly influential was composer-arranger Willie Colón, a Bronx prodigy. Colón's early albums, with vocalists Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Miranda and Ruben Bládes, epitomized the Fania style at its best and captured the fresh sound, restless energy, and aggressive dynamism of the barrio youth.

Every commercial music genre needs a catchy label, and there was a natural desire for a handier one than "recycled Cuban dance music". Hence Fania promoted the word salsa, which was already familiar as a bandstand interjection.

The 1970s were the heyday of salsa and of Fania which dominated the market. By the end of the decade, however, salsa found on the defensive against an onslaught of merengue and hip-hop and an internal creative decline.


SALSA ROMANTICA

By the late 1970s, salsa abandoned its portrayals of barrio reality in favor of sentimental love lyrics. Most of what is promoted on radio and records is the slick, sentimental salsa romantica of crooners like Eddie Santiago, Luis Enrique, and Lalo Rogriguez rather than more aggressive Afro-Caribbean salsa Caliente or Salsa Gorda. Perhaps there has been some criticism as to this new sub-genre but one cannot deny that it has managed to keep salsa alive and well. The change is also reflected in the fact that most of today's bandleaders are not trained musicians and seasoned club performers like Willie Colon or Oscar de Leon but cuddly, predominantly white singers distinguished by the pretty-boy looks and supposed sex-appeal like Giro or Salsa Kids .

Salsa remains essentially alive and well, within its limited sphere. Its market has grown in Latin America and Spain. The 1990s have seen former hip-hop/house singers La India and Marc Anthony return to latin music as part of the new wave of salsa stars, attracting new followers with their updated images. There is a glimmer of hope with stars such as Victor Manuelle and Rey Ruiz rising to fame in the current "scene" and many hope that this will lead to a resurgence of the glory years of the 50s and 70s.

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