A look at campus salsa

Most of what I know about salsa, I learned in college--at UC Riverside. I remember how, as a freshman, I was captivated by a group of 8 or 9 people dancing for a crowd of new students. The dancers were trading off partners, smiling and shaking their hips to a lively Latin beat.

In that moment, I was sold. I joined the Salsa Club of UCR, where I learned to social dance, perform and compete. I became plugged into a community of salsa-lovers, students and non-students alike.

But my little Riverside salsa enclave was not the only one. We were one of many college groups building their own salsa community and even extending beyond the campus scene.

Right now, they are college groups all over Southern California, in L.A., Riverside, Irvine, Long Beach, Pasadena, and so on. While some started earlier, such as in the mid-90s, many began just within the past 5 to 8 years.

For my final class project for this blog and for my online journalism class, I would like to do closer look into the emergence of So Cal salsa college groups. I want to look at what got these groups rolling and how they're helping build the L.A. and So Cal salsa scene.

My plan is to interview as many salsa college groups as possible, as well as some professional instructors and and club-owners who have worked with them. I will most-likely include some video clips and/or slide shows of some of the groups. I would also like to implement a google map showing locations of campuses that have salsa clubs.

So, that is what's coming. Keep an eye open for it. It should be up in three weeks!

Wikipedia's Fania Records Entry

In an attempt to experiment with the Wikipedia editing world, I have added a tidbit of information to an entry on Fania Records.

For those of you who don't know, Fania is sort of the Motown of salsa music. Over past four decades, it has recorded some of salsa's most legendary artists, such as Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Ray Barretto, etc.

What I did was add a sentence in the second paragraph about what got the label going. I wrote the following: "The label started out a small venture, but it gained popularity after the success of its first official record, Pacheco's 'Cañonazo,' which led to the expansion of its talent base."

("Pacheco" is a reference to salsa artist and Fania co-founder Johnny Pacheco mentioned in the previous paragraph.)

I got the information from the Fania's official website in the "About" section. I made sure to footnote the line I added and include a link to the source in the Reference section.

I wrote that it started out as a "small venture" because the website talks about how Fania used to sell merchandise out of the trunks of cars in New York City in its early years. I would have added that into my edit because it's interesting since Fania has so much clout now, but it would have taken away from the overall flow of the entry. It would have taken too long to get to the most important information in the next paragraph, which is about the emergence of the big salsa stars.

I also broke up the first paragraph so it wouldn't be so long.

This is what it looked like after I made my edits. And this is what it looked like before.

West Coast + East Coast = Salsa Rivalry?

What's better, salsa or mambo? West Coast salsa or East Coast salsa? Salsa On 1 or Salsa On 2?

These questions use different terminology, but they all boil down to the same thing--a toss-up between the two major forms of salsa in the U.S.

It can get confusing since the two forms have so many different names. Here's the breakdown... Salsa On 1 is known as West Coast style salsa and is the main one danced in L.A.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's salsa On 2, or "mambo," which is the main one danced on the East Coast, particularly New York.

What's the Difference?

Mostly it has to do with where they break forward and backward in the music. On 1 dancers break on 1 and 5, while On 2 dancers break on 2 and 6. Here's how they look different...

On 1:

On 2:

Also, if you observe some On 1 and On 2 dancers, you'll see that the movement is different. From my observations, mambo dancers almost seem a little more subtle. They tend to glide and move more with the undertones of the rhythm.

Salsa On 1 seems to be more aggressive in its movements and more outright, which sort of goes along with the whole idea of L.A.-style salsa, which is all about the showy tricks and dips. (Check out my first blog entry for more info on L.A.-salsa style.)

The Roots of Division:

According to Enio Cordoba, owner of The Granada and Let’s Dance L.A. in Alhambra and a former international dance competitor, music has had a major influence on the differences of the styles.

While Cordoba said salsa came from Afro-Cuban roots mixed with European influence, it has evolved, leading to different styles after the incorporation of new elements over the years.

“The music that plays in New York is much more Latin jazz,” Cordoba said. “The music that plays in L.A. is a mix of the Cuban and the Columbian and the Puerto Rican because we get a little of everything. In the music that plays here won’t play in New York, and vice versa.”

That, Cordoba said, has led to the different styles. He said some other differences are that mambo dancers dance to a song's rhythm, while On 1 salsa dancers dance more to the tempo, or the audibly obvious beat of the music. He called this dancing to the "pulse" or "swing" of the music.

While some claim their salsa has the most sabor, Cordoba said it's all subjective. He said the best dancers are those who learn various styles, and those who learn to follow the music instead of salsa politics.

"If you’re a good dancer, you just go with the flow,” Cordoba said. “Everyone’s always trying to say, ‘My style’s better.’ People learn one way and they’re told that’s the right way to do it, and it is—in that part of town to that kind of music, dancing with that crowd… There isn’t one way.”

However, that still doesn’t stop some people from claiming salsa superiority. And that brings me to the question of: How much of that really resides in the L.A. salsa sphere? And what is that makes people choose one over the other? This led me to do some investigating out in the dance field…

What the Dancers Said...

First, I asked On 1 dancers why they like it better. Dancer Gio Galarza responded and dance instructor Rodrigo Guzman :

Okay, so they like the fast-paced, flashy feel of On 1. How about the On 2 dancers? A performer on the dance team Mambo Inc. Max Noxon, and a mambo instructor Katrina Jaffe responded:

But what about those On 2 dancers? It must be tough being in the minority.



And now for the final questions... How much of a rivalry is there between the dancers in L.A.? How brutal is it really? According to these dancers, there's some friction, but not enough to take the fun out of salsa dancing.

Even between the coasts, these dancers added that there's still respect between two groups. Katrina Jaffe said people on the West Coast can appreciate a good mambo dancer when they see one and vice versa.

Well, that's a relief! It looks like there's room after all for diversity on the L.A. salsa scene.

Mambo Inc. dancers Max Noxon and Rina Takahashi, dancing On 2:

My Salsaless blog entry...

I tried to looking up the top ten political campaign contributors among dancers and dance instructors in Los Angeles, but there were just too many for the Congressional Quarterly Moneyline database to process.

So... instead, I'm just going to tell you about the top ten contributors for the area I live in, which is known as both Winnteka and Canoga Park. (I know, we're taking a momentary break from salsa... just bear with me.)

The database shows that there were only nine political contributors in this area. The top two contributors soared above the others in donations amounts: dialogic researcher Eric Tannenbaum gave $1,650, and Freestar Media and LLC movie producer Douglas L. Celements gave $1,500. The rest of the contributions $500 or less.

Here's a look at the list:

1. Eric Tannenbaum, dialogic researcher
Total: $1,600 ($1,100 to DNC, $500 to Hillary Clinton on )
2. Douglas L. Clements, Freestar Media, LLC movie producer
Total: $1,500 (Ron Paul)
3. Edna S. Sacks, retired
Total: $500 (Hillary Clinton)
4. Tracy Lynch Britton, CBS/Paramount director
Total: $250 (Hillary Clinton)
5. Aaron Lea, J Paul Getty Trust, security operati
Total: $250 (MoveOn.org)
6. Chris Daly, Window Shading Technologies Inc./SA
Total: $250 (Fred Thompson)
7. Jennifer R. Blaker, St. Vincent Medical Center, executive
Total: $250 (Rudy Giuliani)
8. Booker White, BTW Productions Inc., musician
Total: $200 (Democratic Senatorial Campaign)
9. Deven Nemer, KD Investment Management/real estate
Total: $200 (Ron Paul)

Overall, Ron Paul racked up the most money in this area with $1,750 and Hillary Clinton came in second with $1,250. The supporters were pretty split between the Democratic and Republican parties (5-4 respectively).

Well, that's a look at the Winnetkan/Conaga Parkan financial support in politics! Hope you learned something.

It Takes Two...

You can salsa in the park?

About 12 people met at Newhall Park in the city of Newhall near Santa Clarita this morning. That's right, these dancers got right out there in the open to learn and dance a type of salsa called casino rueda.

(Rueda means "wheel" in Spanish, which describes why they dance and rotate in a circle.... They switch partners. Just think of it like a salsa square dance.)

Anyways, they're part of this group called Rueda in the Park. R.I.T.P. meets at Newhall Park every first and third Sunday of the month.

The group is about a year and two months old. It's a tangent of the original group, which meets at Griffith Park every second and fourth Sunday. There's also a group that meets in Bellflower. So, wherever you're at in L.A. County, you're not too far away from one.
Here's a glimpse at what I saw today...

Soaking in the Salsa at Studio City Club

I sat at a little round table the other night and watched a crowd of about 50 people salsa dance. I was at the Rumba Room at University City Walk, the club just upstairs from that fountain that all the kids like to play in.

It's the club with the bright neon lights--I think they're pink and blue--tracing two dancers in flickering movement that catch your eye as you walk past it.

It's free salsa dancing every Sunday night.

The whole crowd in front of me was moving, but my eyes settled on one couple. The two danced in a dimly-lit, plush-red room to the sound of lively brass horns, congas and a steady clave beat. Actually, it looked more like they were gliding.

No, they were not gliding the way ice skaters or waltz dancers glide. These dancers’ bodies moved to a fast rhythm. Their hips shook, their shoulders rolled and swayed, their feet made quick patterns on the ground and occasionally tapped out a few musical accents.

But like I said, their bodies were also gliding. They were gliding the way a weak magnet does when you slide across a refrigerator door. They glided forward and backwards. They glided toward, away from and across each other and their feet slid over the hardwood floor. Their steps never coming too high off the ground. Each move seemed smooth, subtle, an afterthought.

The dancers looked like they were in their early 20-somethings, and they were dressed in subtly trendy salsa fashion. The guy wore a plain white T-shirt, loose blue-jeans—slightly sagged—with a silver, metal-studded belt and black-and-white sneakers.

Doesn’t sound very salsa-like, I know, but it was the black, felt fedora hat with a dark red ribbon that marked him a visible salsero.

(I tried wearing a light grayish-green fedora hat of my own while dancing once, but it’s a lot harder for women. My hat kept flying off whenever I’d do a double or triple turn.)

The guy’s tall, slender female partner wore all black—a snug black tank, straight-leg black jeans, black high heels. Her straight, dark hair was just past shoulder-length. It fanned out when she turned—one, two, three times in row in just a couple of seconds.

The rest of the dance floor was filled with other dancers. They couples on the floor moved around each other like clockwork. They made all their ins and outs and flashy spins and still avoided collision with those around them.

The room had a Spanish feel to it. The red walls were lightly sponge-painted over with black paint. They glowed with an occasional lamp here and there. Long red drapes took up the corner and the area around the stage. The floor and dancers were sprinkled with specks of light that rotated over them from a disco ball.

Beyond the couples and on the stage, a full salsa band played—keyboard, congas, base, trumpet and shakers. One of the main singers was a short, heavy-set man who looked hike he was in his 50s. His black hair was combed back.

Later on, the girl in black danced with someone else, another young woman. She led her new partner, taking the role of the male dancer. Her lead was perfect. She turned the other female in a series of quick spins, and pulled her across her own body to the other side of her. There was that glide again. This was when I became a little bit jealous. The girl was amazing.