Vallenatos

Los vallenatos originated on the Northern Coast of Colombia. This is popular folk music, and although it  is most commonly heard in Colombia, it's rapidly gaining popularity, all over the world. Like the slaves sang and danced, to express their sorrows, this music was sang to tell a story, give a message or express your feelings. This music is tipically interpreted with three instruments: El acordeon diatonico, la guacharaca, y la caja, which is a small drum made with goat's fur. "Vallenato," can best be interpreted, as "people of the valley." This music is more often listened than danced to. The reason for this, is that it has a very slow rhythm and is usually heard at reunions. It is not the tipycal music you would hear at a club. Although, this music can also be very festive and enjoyable. It just depends on your background and your own taste. Where I come from, this music is very popular and often hackneyed. It is also heard at the disco and clubs. As a matter of fact, there are discos, where the only type of music played is Vallenatos. So as you can see, its popularity varies from place to place.

Cumbia

"Cumbia" is a very old, but yet famous type of music. It originated on the Coast of Colombia. It was influenced by Indigenous people and Africans. The people who play this music are called "Gaiteros." The reason they're called this, is because they play an instrument called the "Gaita" (see an image at the bottom). Typical Cumbia is played with two Gaitas, one Maraca and Africans drums.
As time progressed the Cumbia became more modern, and electric instruments and a whole orchestra was incorporated into the music. As you can observe on the left, there's a photo of the typical clothes you would wear to dance Cumbia, of course we don't dress like this anymore, unless we're gonna do a typical dance or performance.

Merengue

Merengue is a combination of two dances, the African and the French Minuet. The french Minuet is a very boring ballroom dance, but when this dancing was combined with the upbeat of the drums by Africans, Merengue was created. At first Merengue was focused more on the movement of the feet and the arms, rather than the hips because this was customary for the Africans. Merengue is the official national dance of the Dominican Republic. Even though, this type of music started in the Caribbean islands, today it is a well known dance around the world. Even Americans dance it. This type of dancing doesn't require as much work as the Salsa, and that is why it's a dance that almost anyone knows and the ones who don't can learn it quick. Like any other dance, certain moves vary from country to country, but the foundation is always the same.

    

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZNwsCiOfNc&feature=related

"Salsa"

Ok, as some of you might  have read in my previous post, I tried out for the talent show and I'm happy to say that I made it. From now on I've decided to spend the next couple of weeks talking about typical dances and music from all over the world. This week I will talk about the continent of South America. South America is a very diverse and interesting continent. Music and dances vary from country to country, but there are definately some types of music and dances all these countries have in common. Today I will talk about the "Salsa." Salsa originated from the mixure of African and Caribbean dances with the help of American instruments, but was officially recognized as Salsa in the city of New York. Even though Salsa wasn't a latin dance, it soon became very popular in latin countries. Although this type of dancing is known all arount the world, some of the countries that are known for their Salsa are Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and many more countries. Some people think dancing salsa is too hard, but it's actually not. Like any other kind of dance out there you have to start with the basic steps, but as you progress you can spice it up by adding dips, turns, flips, lifts and many more tricks to your dance.

Click this link to see the begginer steps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfDVnX4j3-w
Also check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1KuA-sc7sw&feature=related

Tryouts

The day I had been waiting for, was finally here. It was the school tryouts for the talent show. The mornig went as usual. The late bell had announced that class had started and we all had to be in our seats. As always, we got to work right away, and I couldn't wait for class to be over, even though it had just started. The whole day went pretty much the same, except for fourth period. As the big hand on the clock approached the 40, I started to shake a little, and I could see how more and more drops of sweat kept landing on my paper. I was nervous. I mean how could I not be, knowing that I was just a few minutes away from dancing onstage for a whole crowd. Finally, the dismissing bell rang, rriinng!!! I ran out of class to go meet up with the others and practice for the last time our routine. We didn't have the music, so we had to do it without it, it was bad. I mean we couldn't get the counts right without the music. We were up next, and we were a little nervous. All we could do now was go out there and show what we had learned, and that's exactly what we did. At the end of the performance, everybody clapped, we got offstage. Now we were anxious to know the results, but the judges said they would post the results sometimes this week. Now I'm just waiting for them.....

First Practices...

Today was a tiring day, but yet full of excitement. It was my dance practice with the other members of the group. Since we couldn't find an indoor place to practice, we had to do it the old-fashioned way (outdoors, along with all its disadvantages.) The day was as hot as it could get, with a temperature of about 95 degrees, and the sun-rays smacking us on our faces, our bodies became more and more exhausted with every step we took. I have to admit, it was extremely hard at first, but we soon adapted ourselves to the extreme weather.

We first started by rehearsing the hip-hop over and over again. Then we moved on to the Merengue part, which required a little more effort, since it was a faster pace and we all had to do it in a synchronized manner. After we were done with the Merengue, we could no longer bear the sun's heat, so we decided to jump in the pool. When our bodies made contact with the water, it was a great refreshing sensation we got. Finally, it was time to put it all together, and see what it looked like. I have to admit, I was impressed, to see how we all worked as a team and were able to learn the steps very fast. The practice had gone on for 5 hours, and we were all glad to be done. When I got home, I realized how sore my legs were, and the nice tan i had gotten.

What is dancing?

Have you ever asked yourself, what is dancing? Well I have, and I decided to look for an answer. I first came across the formal definition for dancing, but I wasn't too satisfied with it. I mean, I think dancing is more than just the movement of the body to a certain rhythm or music. So I decided to come up with my own definition. After pondering upon the situation for hours, I came to the conclusion that dancing can be many things. Dancing can be a form of entertainment, a hobby, a passion or even a form of relaxation. It all depends on a person's personality and point of view.
I think that I would be a great example for this situation, because I take dancing very seriously, and I have a passion for it. What might have started as a hobby, rapidly became a passion. I always liked dancing, but I never took it that seriously. I just thought of it as a way to relax myself and at the same time have fun. Now, I understand the real meaning of dancing and can appreciate all of its advantages. I hope you understand it too, and can get passed the body movement.