Customer Reviews (2)

It was a pleasure...
This book is great for learning about the basics for the various dances.I was really impressed with the author's descriptions and lengthy explanations of how everything works together.I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn or improve their dancing.Cheers!!!

A very helpful manual...
This a great book for beginner and intermediates alike.It clearly shows the different poses, and the instruction is well thought out and easy to follow.It was also interesting to see some of the history as well.The author clearly has a complete mastery of her subject material and this reflects in the book as well.I would say the book is geared more towards beginners but even intermediates can learn a lot from this book as well.Very well done! ... Read more

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This ethnographic journey into the New York salsa scene of the 1990s is the first of its kind. Written by a musical insider and from the perspective of salsa musicians, "Sounding Salsa" is a pioneering study that offers detailed accounts of these musicians grappling with intercultural tensions and commercial pressures. Christopher Washburne, himself an accomplished salsa musician, examines the organizational structures, recording processes, rehearsing, and gigging of salsa bands, paying particular attention to how they created a sense of community, privileged "the people" over artistic and commercial concerns, and incited cultural pride during performances. "Sounding Salsa" addresses a range of issues, musical and social.Musically, Washburne examines sound structure, salsa aesthetics, and performance practice, along with the influences of Puerto Rican music. Socially, he considers the roles of the illicit drug trade, gender, and violence in shaping the salsa experience. Highly readable, "Sounding Salsa" offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on a musical movement that became a social phenomenon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It will really tell you the backstage issues of salsa
From India getting into trouble for making sexual comments about bandmembers, musicians getting their instruments jacked on their way out the club, the "Vampire" after hour clubs in NYC, and even how certain vocalists like Frankie Ruiz lacked the respect of musicians, it is a great expose on the lives and issues Salsa musicians face.

Very enjoyable.

Striking, keen, analysis of this scene- IN DEPTH
As a participant in part of the time that the book focuses on, My hat goes off to Chris. It's probably one of the best examinations of ANY music genre done. Also in addition whether you be a musician, fan, etc. You will see yourself and be forced to examine your motives for your involvement. It really goes below the surface.
Also very nice theory examination of Clave controversies.
The book seems to be currently under the radar as I haven't heard much rumbling about it. But I'm sure that that is to come. ... Read more

Product Description
Ricardo Swan had vowed never to fall victim to irrational passion, but when he saw La Gitana dancing in a Merida night club, the primitive needs he denied were stirred. But although La Gitana was Mexico's most popular singer and folk dancer, known for the passion of her dance, inside she was frozen. Could Ricardo get past her guardian brothers and her own defenses to find the secret of her heart? ... Read more

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From the author of Shall We Dance: A Beginner’s Guide to Ballroom Dancing comes Latin Dance, with the same easy-to read illustrated dance steps that make it so simple to dance.

Latin Dance has thirty six new steps for Rumba, Cha-cha and Salsa dancers. Written for the social dancer by someone who knows what a social dancer feels like and wants to know. Attractive new patterns in the Rumba, Cha-cha and Salsa are covered in a clear, easy to follow style that anyone canfeel comfortable with and see progress right away. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Easy to use
For those looking for books with the dance steps shown, look no further.Dance steps shown in picture form have two issues, one to be clear enough (how do you show foot movement in 3D, on a 2D piece of paper), and two to have the steps broken up in manageable groups/steps.I like this book, and so does my fiancee, but she had trouble at times seeing how her foot movement corresponds to the dance steps in the book.

Footprints are the best
The footprints are real easy to follow, I dont know why all books dont have them. The words are real clear too. Never thought I would like a dance BOOK! but its better than the video I got.

Excellent Book
This book is full of patterns that are really easy to lead and the woman can follow it without knowing ahead of time what the guy will do.The detailed illustrations are easy to understand with no mistakes about the 'left turn' to his left? her left?It is always clock-wise or counter-clock-wise.This book, like the other one I got from the same author is excellent for teaching yourself without an instructor. ... Read more

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A book about beginning social dance ... Read more

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As exotic as it is exciting, the multifaceted samba is a captivating dance, while the sensual lambada is bound to seduce even the most reluctant party-goer on to the dance floor. ... Read more

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Your passport to the irresistible combination of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and Latin American Music emobodied by two popular Latin dances, mambo and merengue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"On 1" style mambo
On reflection and following discussion, I think my review of the 1998 edition of this book was a too harsh. (So here I give 4 stars to try to help balance out that review.)People learning "On 2" style mambo will be disappointed.(But those learning "On 1" style would not be.) The confusing terminology is not the author's fault.I just wish mambo and salsa authors would clarify in the book title (or on the back cover notes of the book published on Amazon) whether their book teaches "On 1" style or "On 2" style. ... Read more

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The Music of Latin America and the Caribbean is the first text written on the rich musical heritage of this region specifically for the non-music major.  The text is arranged by region, focusing on the major countries/regions (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, etc. in Latin America and Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, Haiti, etc. in the Caribbean).  In each chapter, the author gives a complete history of the region’s music, ranging from classical and classical-influenced styles to folk and traditional music to today’s popular music.  ... Read more

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This sketch of the iconography of the dance does not pretend to be a history of the subject, except in the most elementary way. It may be taken as a summary of the history of posture; a complete dance cannot be easily rendered in illustration.
... Read more

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Drum!Geoff Johns

Learn to Play the Rhythms of Africa and Latin America -Drum!, teaches you how to play the most popular rhythms and percussion structures of Ghana, Cuba, Guinea, Haiti and Brazil. Exercises are designed so you can play along, learning as you go. Veteran performer and instructor Geoff Johns teaches a variety of world rhythms, from the elementary to the complex, making this an extremely useful "how-to" tape for both beginning and advanced drummers. Instruments include clavé (wooden sticks), cowbells, djembe (wooden goblet-shaped drum), African barrel drums, talking drums, shakers, congas, and many more. ... Read more

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Salsa and merengue are now so popular that they are household words for Americans of all ethnic backgrounds. Recent media attention is helping other Caribbean music styles like bachata to attain a similar status.Yet popular Mexican American dances remain unknown and invisible to most non-Latinos. Quebradita, meaning “little break,” is a modern Mexican American dance style that became hugely popular in Los Angeles and across the southwestern United States during the early to mid 1990s. Over the decade of its popularity, this dance craze offered insights into the social and cultural experience of Mexican American youth. Accompanied by banda, an energetic brass band music style, quebradita is recognizable by its western clothing, hat tricks, and daring flips. The dance’s combination of Mexican, Anglo, and African American influences represented a new sensibility that appealed to thousands of young people. Hutchinson argues that, though short-lived, the dance filled political and sociocultural functions, emerging as it did in response to the anti-immigrant and English-only legislation that was then being enacted in California. Her fieldwork and interviews yield rich personal testimony as to the inner workings of the quebradita’s aesthetic development and social significance. The emergence of pasito duranguense, a related yet distinct style originating in Chicago, marks the evolution of the Mexican American youth dance scene.Like the quebradita before it, pasito duranguense has picked up the task of demonstrating the relevance of regional Mexican music and dance within the U.S. context. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

good methods, cultura studies read for undergraduates

Great book. It was definitely well written. Liked the ethnographic description of dance with lots of references to movement in its physical and metaphorical senses.The author's expertise a dancer made the book even more rich in description.The authenticity and illustration of the multiple layers and meanings of "insider" knowledge are appealing to students as is the the emphasis on kinetic/kinesthetic subjectivities.

From genius to brilliance
This book is fun! And interesting!
Shocking how fast a dance can travel.
If you like music and dance, you'll love this book. ... Read more

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Boggs presents a readable, exciting history of Salsa, showing how Afro-Cuban music was embraced in New York City and how it has undergone cycles of popularity and been replicated abroad. From its roots in Cuba through present-day Salsa clubs, Boggs provides a tour of a popular music form that has had a significant impact on the Latin community as well as contemporary musicians and composers. Extensively illustrated with photographs of the bands and clubs as well as the key leaders and promoters, the book also contains interviews with top performers and others instrumental in making salsa what it is today. ... Read more

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Latin dance and music have had a widespread influence upon the development of other social dance and music styles in the United States. As a result, Latin dance styles are among the most important dance forms in America.

Latin Dance addresses every major style of Latin dance, describing the basic steps that characterize it as well as its rhythmic pace and time signature, and examining its development from European, African, and Amerindian influences. The author explains the range of styles and expression to be found in Latin dances primarily within the context of couples social dancing, the popularity of salsa today, and the broader social meanings and implications of their multicultural origins from the 1600s to the present. The historic connection between exhibition Latin dance and American modern dance through vaudeville is explained as well.

Product Description
Salsa is the irresistible, passionate dance music of the Spanish-speaking world, the lifeblood of millions of Latin Americans - and American Latins - from the barrios of New York to the mansions of Puerto Rico and the crumbling apartments of Havana. Salsa's songs are the voices of Latin America; they accompany political struggles and domestic love scenes. Salsa is the music of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, the Queen and King of Salsa, Ray Barretto, linking the night-club and jazz circuits, and Gloria Estefan, the Miami Cuban who brought Salsa to an international audience. This book offers a comprehensive guide to Salsa music, its history, its key figures, and its complex relationship with different countries. From Havana before and after the revolution to Spanish Harlem to Santo Domingo, the home of the merengue and across to the cities of Columbia. Drawing on interviews with musicians and composers, with portraits of star performers and singers as well as sections on Latin beats, a discography and bibliography, this is the complete and up-to-date story of Salsa. ... Read more

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The first all color guide to the most popular Latin American dances, designed for absolute beginners to more experienced dancers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dn't be Fooled by the Title - Not the "Real" Mambo
The "Mambo" (= Mambo = "On 2" = New York Style Salsa) I am learning at two different dance schools in South Florida both have the male moving the left foot back on beat 1.In this book at the very beginning of the book the "basic mambo" starts with the male moving his left foot FORWARD on beat 1.As the basic step in this book is different and everything revolves around this basic step then this whole book is probably virtually useless for me.
The more recent 2003 edition has the same number of pages and pictures of the same dancers as in this book on the cover and so I am guessing would also be useless for me. ... Read more

Product Description
Contains biographical data on hundreds of composers from Latin America: dates of birth and death, information on their background and training, a selective listing of their works, and sources for further study, with an index of composers by country. ... Read more