Dance is an important part of every culture, it serves as a way for people to express themselves and be social. In Latin culture especially, dance is a very important part of daily life. There are many different dances, but four of the most popular are la salsa, el merengue, la cumbia, and el tango. La Salsa dance was born in Cuba, but has origins from many different countries. Salsa music originated in Eastern Cuba in the early 1900s. The music came from a mix of Spanish and Afro-Cuban music, using both rhythms and instruments from each style. Salsa dance is a mixture of many various styles and techniques. It was created by immigrants coming to Latin America in search of better lives and African slaves. These people combined Danzón …show more content…
This dance is a combination of the African and French minuet, and was created by African slaves who saw ballroom dances and added their own upbeat that was a skip or hop. The dance was originally a circle dance and not a danced by individual couples. The style of dance is Latin American in a 2/4 time signature.
La Cumbia originated in Columbia. It was made in the late 17th century, from African slaves who danced in the time they had to celebrate. The name “cumbia” comes from the word cumbe which is the name of a Guinean dance form. The style of dance was originally a courtship dance with couples tapping their feet to the beat of drums. The couples form a circle and one couple moves to the center and a candle is exchanged.
El Tango originated in 19th century Spain. It was influenced by various things and eventually in the 20th century became the modern Tango in Argentina. A mix of minuet dances, polkas, and African influences all went into developing the Tango. The dance became popular in poor neighborhoods in Argentina and was known as “music/dance of the immigrants”. The dance is multiple different styles of dance because there are many types of Tangos. There is the Tango Salon, Tango Milonguero, Club Tango, Tango Nuevo, and many