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The rhythmic interplay of accent, tempo, and musical mood is expressed in the bodily postures, gestures, and expressions of attuned responsiveness in Salsa Dura, a genre of salsa music from the 1970s featuring improvisational dance solos. These dancers embrace the feelings and flows of soloing musicians going off and breaking free from any predictable form and structure. We inquire into how world-class salsa dancers and educators feel themselves moved by such intricate rhythms to experience soul connections. Video recordings and interviews yield insight into the call and response dynamics of this essentially tactful practice of alterity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restrictions on movement and requirements for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered an almost total shift to digital creation, teaching, and promotion in the field of dance. By employing an ethnographic lens, this article explores collective and individual embodied knowledge acquired through online dance classes, with a particular focus on Cuban social dance genres. Music and dance were core components of the Cuban tourism industry, an important pillar of the Cuban economy which was brought to a halt by the pandemic. Dancers' participation in the global dance market through transition to online dancing was hindered by the struggles of everyday life in Cuba, yet their resilience and resourcefulness allowed them to transform their previous routines and pedagogies following the same mechanisms that lead to the emergence of a Cuban dance market in the first place. The article reflects upon the disruptions of old dynamics and emergence of new ones, by focusing on shifting methodologies of Cuban dance, strategies for monetising creative labour, and the female dancing body as transformative space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was performed to determine the effect of 12-weeks Karate and Salsa Dance training on the physical fitness performances of university students. A total of 124 students (age: 21.35 ± 1.59 year; height: 1.70 ± 0.08 cm; body weight: 67.1 ± 10.78 kg) have voluntarily participated in the study. The participants were divided into three groups using a random coin toss. The numbers of Karate group (KG), the Salsa Dance Group (SDG) and Control Group (COG) are 43 people (20 female, 23 male), 40 people (17 female, 23 male) and 41 people (12 female, 29 male), respectively. Technical training programs including two days a week and 90 minutes a day for 12 weeks were applied to the KG and SDG members accepting to the study. Body weight, height measurement, BMI calculation, bass stick balance test, handgrip strength test in upper and lower extremity strength measurements, wall squat leg strength test and plate tapping test for movement speed were performed to all participants before and after 12 weeks training. Since the data did not show normal distribution, Kruskal Wallis test was used in more than two groups and Mann Whitney-U test was used in binary comparisons. Looking at the results of KG and SDG, it was found that the BMI and muscle strength values of KG were better than the SDG values (p= .00). It was determined that the static balance values of SDG were higher than KG (p= 0.00). However, there was no significant difference between the movement speed of both groups (p> .05). All physical fitness parameters of both groups were found to be better than COG. We can suggest that sedentary individuals can benefit from karate technique training in gaining muscle strength. In addition, we can emphasize that it may be more appropriate to use salsa dance training in the development of static balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian switching dynamical model for segmentation of 3D pose data over time that uncovers interpretable patterns in the data and is generative. Our model decomposes highly correlated skeleton data into a set of few spatial basis of switching temporal processes in a low-dimensional latent framework. We parameterize these temporal processes with regard to a switching deep vector autoregressive prior in order to accommodate both multimodal and higher-order nonlinear inter-dependencies. This results in a dynamical deep generative latent model that parses the meaningful intrinsic states in the dynamics of 3D pose data using approximate variational inference, and enables a realistic low-level dynamical generation and segmentation of complex skeleton movements. Our experiments on four biological motion data containing bat flight, salsa dance, walking, and golf datasets substantiate superior performance of our model in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salsa is a popular form of partnered social dance with a distinct Latinx identity. In the qualitative literature, the experience of involvement in Salsa has been explored within a community-based setting in a cultural and health promotion context. How students experience engaging with Salsa, as a social dance when instruction is provided within a university environment and delivered as non-formal learning, remains less clear. This research sought to improve our understanding of how university students in the United Kingdom experience Salsa when offered as non-credit group-based dance classes. We collected data using face-to-face semi-structured individual interviews and took a reflexive approach with our thematic analysis. The three themes we developed were: Stress relief and escapism; Challenging at first but amazing after; and Switching partners to meet people. University campus-based partnered social dance provides opportunity to experience subjective well-being, skill acquisition, and social connectedness. We discuss some of the practical implications of supporting Salsa as a means of non-formal learning to enhance mental health through physical activity engagement within higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines some of the complex interactions between salsa music and dance by focusing on physical interpretations of specific types of metric ambiguities and disruptions. It explores both the fairly frequent displacement dissonances that arise when the established clave pattern is flipped, paused, or broken and the grouping dissonances that are somewhat rare occurrences in salsa music, showing how dancers' responses to these metric disruptions depend heavily on the unique features of each musical context. Annotated videos break down salsa's fundamental dance and musical structures, encouraging readers to contemplate the artful interpretations presented by experienced dance practitioners and to engage with these interesting musical passages more intimately by trying out the dance steps for themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do salsa dance spaces reproduce heteronormativity? Drawing on interview data with heterosexual and lesbian-gay identified salsa dancers from England and Switzerland, this article explores how heterosexuality is constructed and legitimised in salsa dance leisure spaces. Aligned with Judith Butler's conceptualisation of the heterosexual matrix, it analyses how dance studio settings allow for the reproduction of heterosexuality as a central axiom of salsa. Understanding space as performative, the article further illustrates how salsa classes and competitions work as hierarchical disciplinary sites where bodies are trained and normalised. This is explored through a Foucauldian approach to surveillance and discipline to render visible the exclusive technologies of power that heteronormalise salsa dance spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the portrayal of salsa dancing on the competition reality televsion show "So You Think You Can Dance" ("SYTYCD"). Topics include the stereotypical presentation of salsa dancing in popular culture, the ongoing narrative of Latinx hypersexuality, and the notions of primativity and foreignness presented on the show.

Communication between music and dance can take many forms. In salsa, this communication begins with and builds upon two simple but crucial criteria: for music, a metric-rhythmic foundation based on clave and other essential performance strata, and for dance, the flow and metric orientation of one of three basic footwork patterns. Most of the rich complexity of music, dance, and their interaction stems from these fundamental gestures. In this article we analyze the basic structures of salsa music and dance, theorize how they interact, and investigate three scenarios where dancers have to make decisions about how to attend to musical features via their footwork orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various scholars have claimed salsa to be cosmopolitan and have therefore framed it as an open and democratic practice that exceeds national and ethnic boundaries. However, this idealised understanding of salsa as a practice for highly mobile subjects across the world refuses an analysis of how the salsa dance industry, particularly in Europe, relies on racialised scripts to sell salsa as ‘different’ and exotic. Drawing on interview data with salsa dancers in Britain, this article problematises the racial underpinnings of cosmopolitan consumption. It presents cosmopolitanism as a discourse that similarly to multiculturalism is highly ambiguous. Focusing on the racial processes that are required to invoke difference, it will argue that only difference, that can be incorporated by means of consumption is valued as positive in the current political climate of stranger danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the artistic and cultural contributions of Black people in Puerto Rico. The author comments on the popular music and dance styles introduced and developed by Black Puerto Ricans, including salsa, plena, bomba, and rumba. The incorporation of African rhythms in these music genres is also explored.

Ageing bodies are too often associated with invisibility or ‘active’ and ‘successful ageing’ discourses. Little research has focused on the daily and lived experiences of ageing, gender and sexuality in midlife, particularly when it comes to positive or more nuanced experiences. Based on ethnographic research in salsa classes with women in their fifties, this article explores the intersections and co-production of ageing, femininity and heterosexualities within particular spaces. Single women in midlife initially felt unsure of the ‘rules of the road’, out of place in social space. Salsa class spaces were produced as safe, alongside a ‘safe sensuality’ – which included embodying a glamorous salsa outfit but remaining respectfully feminine in ‘age appropriate’ ways. Participants navigated a way to become ‘more’ rather than ‘less’ of themselves with age, enjoying a ‘second chance’ which had not been afforded to the women of the generations before them. This article extends queer studies of space to account for ageing and for the (spatial) hierarchies embodied within heteronormativities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dance interventions hold promise for improving gait and balance in people with neurological conditions. It is possible that synchronization of movement to the music is one of the mechanisms through which dance bestows physical benefits. This technical note will describe a novel method using a deep learning-based 2D pose estimator: OpenPose, alongside beat analysis of music to quantify movement-music synchrony during salsa dancing. This method has four components: i) camera setup and recording, ii) tempo/downbeat analysis and waveform cleanup, iii) OpenPose estimation and data extraction, and iv) synchronization analysis. Four participants performed a solo basic salsa step continuously for 90 s to a salsa track while their movements and the music were recorded with a webcam. Two conditions were recorded for each participant: one in which they danced on the beat of the music and one where they did not. This data was then extracted from OpenPose and analyzed. Median asynchrony values highlighted differences between participants with and without dance training and between on– and off-beat conditions, indicating that this method may be an effective means to quantify a dancer's asynchrony while performing a basic salsa step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speculation exists whether dance provides physiological stimuli adequate to promote health and fitness benefits. Unfortunately, research to date has not addressed the affective and exertional responses to dance. These responses are of interest as positive affective and exertional responses experienced during physical activity may play an important role in predicting adherence. The present study aims to examine the psychophysiological responses of different Salsa dance styles. Ten pairs of dancers performed two different structured lessons of Salsa dance, including Typical Salsa and Rueda de Casino lessons, and a non-structured Salsa dance at a night club. Physiological responses (i.e., percent of heart rate reserve; %HRR) were continuously assessed and perceived exertion and affective valence were rated every 15 min throughout the trials. %HRR responses differed between the Salsa dance styles (%HRR from 41.3 to 51.9%), and participants were dancing at intensities near their ventilatory threshold. Specifically, Typical Salsa lesson elicited lower %HRR responses than Rueda de Casino lesson (p < 0.05), but similar %HRR responses to Salsa dance at a night club condition (p > 0.05). Surprisingly, exertional (from 8 to 11) and affective (from +3 to +5) responses were unaffected by Salsa dance styles (p > 0.05). These data support that different Salsa dance styles provide physiological stimuli adequate to promote health and fitness benefits, and perhaps more importantly, produce pleasurable experiences, which in turn might lead to an increase in adherence to Salsa dancing which likely provides exercise-like health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses about the articles in the issue related to Social Interaction and corporal expression activities, Afro- Latin dance on salsa and link between Parkinson's, music and the dance.

Salsa dance and music has become popular worldwide and Salsa communities outside of Latin America offer a fertile environment for studying gender and heteronormativity in cultural contact zones. Often, the desire to reconstruct ‘traditional’ heteronormative gender roles in these contexts is striking. Interestingly, informants of the qualitative, ethnographic study presented here display high degrees of reflexive consciousness regarding the constructed nature of their gendered performance. This article also discusses and analyses non-heteronormative performances that do not adhere to ‘traditional’ gender roles, which may be understood as queer performances. These are found frequently; however, an analysis of discursive data that relates to these performances makes their subversive potential debatable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, salsa dance and music have entered a number of global social distribution networks, being performed in dance clubs around the world by Latinos and non-Latinos alike. In the process, the genre has accumulated meanings beyond its Latin American identity, both resonating with it and complicating its associated pan-Latino/Latina discourses. This article presents a community of amateur salsa dancers in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, a small town in the Midwestern United States. Based on ethnographic fieldwork during the mid to late 1990s, it follows the development of this community during the time of its emergence, tracing relationships between various and racially diverse stakeholders as they negotiate the local, small-town entertainment industry to establish salsa dance performance in the region. The scene comprises a diverse collection of people who made alliances along and across ethnic and class categories at various points—alliances that shifted over time in order to ensure a vibrant salsa dance scene in this small-town context. During the formative period for salsa performance in the region, tension arose between various social groups as a result of competing notions of salsa ownership and authenticity. The article explores this friction, highlighting the intersection of commerce and identity that distinguish this particular salsa dance scene from other types of salsa dance contexts, and investigating salsa performance in light of economic realities specific to the local entertainment industries in small-town America. This is placed within a larger ‘cosmopolitan formation’ to propose that particular social and economic factors have the potential to undermine the genre's capacity to serve as an expression of Latin American ethnic or racial identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article looks at two social couple dance forms, ‘jazz’ and salsa, the first emerging in the 1970s, and the second in the 2000s in Cape Town. The focus is on how concepts of geography, body, space, community, heritage, tradition and identity have become conflated within processes of social change. ‘Jazzing’, otherwise known as ‘Cape jazz’ dance, or ‘jazz’, danced to what is locally known as ‘jazz’ music (mostly R&B and soul ‘covers’), is associated with the apartheid-constructed ‘coloured’ community, a historically contested identity in the Western Cape. Salsa, as a globally popularised and commercialised dance form, danced to salsa music, started in central Cape Town in the early 2000s, incorporating participants from diverse backgrounds. Because of similarities in style, and the informality and fluidity of both dance forms, tensions emerged in the mid-2000s, when many jazz dancers, influenced by the local salsa scene, copied and incorporated what were described as ‘salsa moves’ into jazz routines, resulting in contestations over whether what was seen as a ‘local’ tradition was under threat. At the same time, the crossing over of dance styles and dancers between venues resulted in modes of racial integration and inclusivity within a highly segregated society. The study argues for the use of dance as a lens to explore, contest, interrogate and problematise a rapidly transforming society, and what it means to be South African today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deficits in static and particularly dynamic postural control and force production have frequently been associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults. Objective: The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of salsa dancing on measures of static/dynamic postural control and leg extensor power in seniors. Methods: Twenty-eight healthy older adults were randomly assigned to an intervention group (INT, n = 14, age 71.6 ± 5.3 years) to conduct an 8-week progressive salsa dancing programme or a control group (CON, n = 14, age 68.9 ± 4.7 years). Static postural control was measured during one-legged stance on a balance platform and dynamic postural control was obtained while walking on an instrumented walkway. Leg extensor power was assessed during a countermovement jump on a force plate. Results: Programme compliance was excellent with participants of the INT group completing 92.5% of the dancing sessions. A tendency towards an improvement in the selected measures of static postural control was observed in the INT group as compared to the CON group. Significant group × test interactions were found for stride velocity, length and time. Post hoc analyses revealed significant increases in stride velocity and length, and concomitant decreases in stride time. However, salsa dancing did not have significant effects on various measures of gait variability and leg extensor power. Conclusion: Salsa proved to be a safe and feasible exercise programme for older adults accompanied with a high adherence rate. Age-related deficits in measures of static and particularly dynamic postural control can be mitigated by salsa dancing in older adults. High physical activity and fitness/mobility levels of our participants could be responsible for the nonsignificant findings in gait variability and leg extensor power. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular performance cultures, once largely diffused through lived interaction and physical migration, are currently being disseminated on video-sharing websites. This article maintains that performances circulated through videos become miniaturized. The miniaturization of actual performance cultures through their transmission on online videos in turn elicits a relation between individual users and global popular knowledge: users may experience a sense of control over online data as well as sensations of intimacy and closeness to the global culture of digital performances. The miniaturization of virtual knowledge and its potential to engender feelings of control and intimacy are illustrated through the lens of the specific case study of salsa dance. This research integrates diverse areas of inquiry such as theories of affect, miniaturization and space, communication technology as a process of miniaturization, the history of salsa dance, ethnographic research of salsa dance as well as a content survey of videos featured on YouTube. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Salsa, a global urban music and dance phenomenon, is an interesting example for the emergence of transnational cultural spheres. Salsa has its roots in the Americas and in many Salsa communities outside of Latin America, the Spanish language is seen as the authentic means of expression. However, attitudes to multilingualism can differ strongly from Salsa community to Salsa community. In this paper, the Salsa-scene of Sydney is introduced with its various stances towards multilingualism. These are connected to different styles of the dance, where one style is practiced in English only, while dancers of another style are often bilingual speakers of Spanish and English. Monolingualism and multilingualism here mediate the affiliation to different local scenes. Simultaneously, both language ideologies relate to different global discourses of competitive and cosmopolitan culture. It will be asked whether the introduced language ideologies challenge traditional frameworks of society and reified discursive concepts of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studio-based salsa dance in Northern New Jersey has succeeded in creating an ethnically diverse social space in which Latin style represents both a specific ethnicity and an alternative pan-ethnic identity that encompasses and embraces difference. The wide appeal of the dance, however, rests in its dramatic and provocative display of gendered interactions. Attention to dancers' subjective understandings of their own practice provides a female-centered perspective on the emerging cultural scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nijinsky, Roerich, and Stravinsky's premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps in 1913 reflects central aspects of the take-off phase of globalization, while interpretations by later choreographers, created during the subsequent struggle-for-hegemony and uncertainty phases, manifest key traits of those periods as well. This paper maps the proliferation of The Rite of Spring within the context of globalization, emphasizing three recent productions: a salsa version demonstrating “glocality” by Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat, an abstract version reflecting the movement research school by “transnational” and Chinese-born choreographer Shen Wei, and a narrative ballet version, performed on pointe, by American choreographer Trey McIntyre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews Organization of American Kodaly Educators (OAKE) 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as of October 1, 2021. Topics discussed include sessions focusing on musical literacy, Kodaly practices and musicianship, salsa lessons and dancing with dance school Los Sabrosos, and rehearsal of Participant Choir.

The article reviews Organization of American Kodaly Educators (OAKE) 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as of October 1, 2021. Topics discussed include sessions focusing on musical literacy, Kodaly practices and musicianship, salsa lessons and dancing with dance school Los Sabrosos, and rehearsal of Participant Choir.

This article is about the salsa dance: how it is taught; and how, why, and where it is learned. This modern social leisure pursuit has gained in popularity such that it can be found practiced throughout the world. Its social nature makes it an attractive activity for cosmopolitan citizens seeking to connect with others through a portable "decontextualised" skill that they can acquire. Despite the similarity of salsa classes and salsa dancing in many major cities of the world, there are differences in meaning and intent for the participants. This article examines salsa dancing in several major cities and shows that the city is reflected in the salsa as - respectively - segregated (Belfast), multicultural (Hamburg), and cosmopolitan (Sacramento). In other words, the globalization of salsa has not resulted in its homogenization. Local particularities and individual reactions, particularly in terms of dancers' emotions, are how this global export is being received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Cuban-born Celia Cruz arrived in New York City in 1962, she faced audiences that dismissed her as irrelevant to their current musical and cultural preferences. The boom in ethnic pride of the 1970s, though, allowed Celia to emerge as the only female superstar of salsa, the "new" sound of Latin music. From 1971 to 2003, Celia developed into a dynamic entertainer representative of the commercial success of salsa music, the musical, linguistic, and cultural possibilities and tensions associated with "crossover," and the essence or cubanidad of the Cuban exile community. Throughout this paper, I argue that Celia both manufactured and resisted her popularity with a mainstream audience, demonstrating that "crossing over" does not necessitate a shift from the margin to mainstream but may also represent a shift from one sort of margin to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how participants in a popular dance scene renegotiate the aesthetics used to judge the acceptability of dances performed in those spaces. These issues are explored with reference to Bourdieu’s (1977) concepts of social fields and cultural capital and to ethnographic data collected in London’s Salsa clubs. The main argument is that Salsa dancing can function as a form of cultural capital that has with an ethnic dimension. This paper, based on participant observation in London’s clubs and the accounts of 31 of London’s Salsa club dancers, DJs and dance teachers, suggests that London’s Salsa dancers have competed with each other to establish a local de‐ethnicised interpretation of Salsa which refers to the forms of cultural capital to which they have access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, research on salsa in the United States has grown. Despite the body of scholarly work that exists on salsa music, explorations on salsa dance have been scarce. This is curious, considering that salsa music and dance are so intimately tied, each existing as a consequence of the other. It is precisely because of this close relationship that the music and dance often share the same spaces--living rooms at home, street festivals, nightclubs, and stages. As such, salsa dance is worthy of more thorough investigation in a space of its own, while still honoring its inseparable connection to its musical form. Due to the dearth of scholarly work on salsa dance, my research draws from a variety of sources: my own experiences and conversations with fellow salsa dancers, performers, and instructors in New York (1996-present), which includes my tenure with the Eddie Torres Latin dance company (1996-1998); articles, films and books on salsa music; and the theoretical frameworks provided by dance scholarship, ethnography, and performance studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Nuyorican musicians were laboring to develop the unique sounds of New York mambo and salsa, Nuyorican dancers were working just as hard to create a new form of dance. This dance, now known as "on 2" mambo, or salsa, for its relationship to the clave, is the first uniquely North American form of vernacular Latino dance on the East Coast. This paper traces the New York mambo's develop-ment from its beginnings at the Palladium Ballroom through the salsa and hustle years and up to the present time. The current period is characterized by increasing growth, commercialization, codification, and a blending with other modern, urban dance genres such as hip-hop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the significance of recorded music related to record grooves on local popular culture in Cali, Colombia. Adoption of salsa dance, viejoteca and other musical styles among the Calenos; Interpretation of the emotional intensity of the music relative to adoption; Perspectives on the salsa and viejoteca phenomena.

The article focuses on the benefits of doing physical exercises such as walking, swimming and salsa in Great Britain. Walking is defined as a health walk as a purposeful, brisk walk undertaken on a regular basis and has a positive impact on heart and cardiovascular health. Swimming is an excellent cardiovascular exercise which is toning for the whole body and ensures to burn the calories. Salsa is a really good form of exercise because it improves the fitness, flexibility and coordination.

• Kizomba globalization benefitted more European actors than African ones in Europe. • Kizomba globalization involved a symbolic redefinition of African-ness as cosmopolitan. • Kizomba preyed upon global salsa circuits and reproduced its power structures. • Structural inequalities shape the globalization of culture and reorient capital. • The "flow" metaphor is inappropriate for understanding the globalization of culture. A form of couple dance popular since the eighties in urban contexts of Portuguese-speaking Africa was commodified in Lisbon in the late nineties under the label kizomba , pointing to Angola as its original source. It met with unexpectedly great success in dance schools all over Portugal and, in a few years, became a global phenomenon following on salsa circuits so that nowadays it is possible to find a kizomba dance school in almost every corner of the world. The objective of this paper is to analyse how structural inequalities shaped the global kizomba industry, imposing conditions on its professional circuits, redirecting the movements of people, moulding its symbols and reorienting the circulation of capital from the peripheries towards hegemonic centres. Within this objective, I provide empirical descriptions of how kizomba was commodified and how the global circuits were constituted. I propose that the debates on authenticity and African-ness across the global kizomba community make sense in this specific context of inequalities, before concluding that this case constitutes an example of how the metaphor of "flow" proves inappropriate for accounting for global culture circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]