It continues to fascinate me more and more how through each unit we continue to go through in this class, I'm both inspired and disappointed in society and it's relationship with Latin music as the years progressed through the 1900's. It was quite interesting learning about the different influences the legitimacy Latin dancing had, especially in the 70's through the early 90's Mambo, Salsa and the Birth of Hustle Prior to the late 1970's, there really wasn't such a thing known as "salsa dancing". Rather, the dancing and movements that were paired with Latin music was an expression of the music in it of itself. The dancing was salsa, not some form of dance performed during "salsa music". The dancing, the mambo, the salsa could not be separated from the music. Beginning in the 70's, the consistent juxtaposition between Latin music as well as disco music that was being played in NYC clubs lead to the birth of "Latin Hustle". T...
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My idea of the the influence and impact of Afro-Cuban music completely shifted and broadened after studying this past unit. There are many forms of music that I personally enjoy and listen to every single day such as rap and house music that have direct ties into Afro-Cuban music and salsa alike. Community, Identity and Culture Afro-Cuban music is something that has had adverse affects on culture and music over the past seventy-plus years. From rumba, mambo and son, these styles of early 20th century latin music all had deep ties to African culture. Cuba was one of the main stops on the African slave trade, explaining why we see so much African influence on this cuban music. The drums that this music was being played with were considered to be "alive" in a sense - that being that the drums were made of trees which were once alive as well as animal skin - and that feeling of life was deeply reflected in the way the music makes the body want to move. Many even describe this mu...