SALSA!

I've always loved Latin dancing. I've taken a couple salsa classes, but somehow the music just seems to be in my blood. Houston has a great Latin dance scene, so I try to take advantage of it while I'm here (and have time!). This past week has seen not only several fun nights of dancing, but I also learned about the origins of salsa music and dance.

Believe it or not, salsa actually comes from Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spanish Harlem (NYC) with a strong African influence from the Caribbean. It essentially came about in the 1970s and has developed since that time. "Salsa" is a Spanish word meaning "sauce" - showing that this type of dance is a combination of several styles, both music and dance.


Recently, the movie "El Cantante" was released - starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. It's certainly not the best movie I've ever seen, but it was an interesting look at the life of Hector Lavoe - one of the men central in the Salsa scene of the 1970s. LaVoe (played by Marc Anthony) came from Puerto Rico and quickly became on the of top singers in the New York Latin scene. His life was filled with drugs and misery, but he was an amazing musician.


One reason that I enjoyed the movie so much was that a friend of mine had exposed me to the roots of Salsa and "introduced" me to LaVoe's fame and music. I had heard some of his music before, but never knew who he was. It has been a really neat lesson on Latin music, culture and SALSA!!!

So, of course, I had to get out there and do some dancing myself after seeing the movies and hearing the music! I met up with a friend of mine from Elementary school(!!!) at Skybar in Houston. Thursday is their Latin night. We had a great time together!

My Peruvian friend (who taught me about Hector LaVoe) also came. What fun we had.

Ole!