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Hamilton - Forget about inhibitions. Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to
hit the floor. On September 25 amateur and professional dancers will gather in
Hamilton to participate in ¡Caliente!, the city's First Annual Salsa
Competition, a hot, exotic send off to one of the sultriest summers in memory.
Sponsored by the "Toonies for Tivoli" campaign, the event will be held at the
Tivoli "Soul of the City" theatre featuring some of the best interpreters of
the seductively contagious Afro-Cuban dance. |
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Salsa's origins date back to colonial times in Cuba when the Spanish guitar
joined the drums of freed African slaves in the cafe's where freemen served
food and played music for visiting Spanish sailors. The combination of African
percussion with the Spanish Rumba created the Guajira rhythm or music of the
country side, best represented today by the very popular Guantanamera.
In its beginnings Guajira music, used in social and religious rites, was
primarily danced by plantation slaves brought to Cuba from Africa and Haiti. By
the middle of the 19th century, further immigration from Haiti influenced the
contradanza criolla of Hispanic American origin and contributed to the birth of
the Cuban rumba and son, salsa's earliest versions.
In the '40's, 50's the Cuban mambo and the cha cha cha took America's ballrooms
by storm impacting also the American jazz scene. In the early 60's, after the
triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, a more sensuous, and less hectic,
version of the mambo made its way to Puerto Rico, New York, Colombia and Miami.
Salsa had been born. In very short order the contagious sound firmly established
its presence in North America and across the oceans, carved a niche among people
of all ages and in the 21st century has reigned supreme as arguably the most
popular dance rhythm in the universe.
Today salsa -as in hot, spicy sauce- has tens of millions of followers competing
in salsa festivals around the world. Year after year its interpreters and bands
walk away with multiple, well-deserved Grammys and other international music
awards. The roster of salsa greats includes Hector Lavoi, Franki Ruiz, Tito
Rodríguez, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Charlie Palmieri, Gilberto Santarosa,
Mark Anthony and the Sonora Ponceña orchestra from Puerto Rico; Celia Cruz, Los
Van Van and La Charanga Habanera from Cuba; Oscar d'León from Venezuela; Rubén
Blades, from Panamá; and Luis Enrique, the Prince of Salsa, from Nicaragua.
On September 25 ¡CALIENTE! arrives in Hamilton. It'll be salsa-fever time and
the invitation to dance the hot, hot, hot tropical rhythm from exuberant Cuba,
is open to everyone. Salsa music and salsa dancing appeal to all ages and
nationalities. Millions of tourists traveling to Cuba invariably return to
Canada with a wonderful appreciation of salsa. Now salsa promises to become an
unforgettable Hamilton experience. Don't miss it.
For more details contact info@cbye.ca (905) 512-1453 |
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