)ORULGD6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\/LEUDULHV 2019 Understanding my Heritage Through the Deconstruction of Social Dance: With a Focus on Cuban Salsa (Casino) Melissa Cobblah Gutierrez Follow this and additional works at DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS UNDERSTANDING MY HERITAGE THROUGH THE DECONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL DANCE: WITH A FOCUS ON CUBAN SALSA (CASINO) By MELISSA COBBLAH GUTIERREZ A Thesis submitted to the School of Dance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Honors in the Major Degree Awarded: Spring, 2019 1 In its historical context, casino is a partner dance form that originated in the 1950’s in Cuba. It started to be practiced in recreational societies, clubs and ballrooms also known as casinos. Cubans attended the events held in these locations mainly to get away from their daily routine, have fun and be able to enjoy and dance to the national and latest international music played by famous musical groups. El Club Casino Deportivo is the location where casino first began to gain recognition as a new dance style. People started to frequently use the term of dancing in a rueda (which means wheel/dancing in a circle) like it’s done at the casino, which eventually is how the name got stuck by saying “Let’s do the rueda of casino”. The evolution of this form has been molded throughout time by the influence and emergence of several dance styles in Cuba, which have contributed significantly to the Cuban culture. These dance forms include la Contradanza, la Danza, el Danzón, el Danzonete, el Chachachá, el Son and lastly el Casino. The recreational societies in Cuba were divided by race. The artists or musical groups that were hired for these events, depended on the categories of the clubs and the race of the attendees. As deemed by society in what’s considered to be the highest quality venues, the orchestras presented were considered of a higher label. The attendees in these particular venues had a better economic status and were predominantly white. Some of the orchestras hired were Casino de la Playa, el conjunto Sonora Matancera, Hermanos Martinez, Roberto Faz y Arsenio Rodríguez, la Charanga de Belisario López, la Banda Gigante del Benny Moré, Hermanos Castro and los conjuntos Casino. If the event was organized by black people, which were usually located in Los Jardines de La Tropical or de La Polar, they would still hire popular musical groups but not the ones who played at the other venues. Some of these include Arcaño y sus Maravillas, Sublime, América, Riverside, Aragón, Melodías del 40 y Sensación. Two of the 2 musical genres being played by these orchestras, which served as pillars for the foundation of casino are son urbano and chachachá. Son urbano originated in the rural zones of Cuba, such as Guantánamo, Baracoa, Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba. This style is considered to be the most representative dance form that emerged from the underprivileged communities in the country. It started to expand on the 20s and 30s and reached a higher popularity in the 50s. The rhythmic and choreographic patterns of son had a big influence in the formation and structure of casino. The essence of Son’s basic step executed with the timing of the clave rhythm (presenting the structure for all Afro- Cuban rhythms) can be experienced during casino’s basic step. They are both executed in a 4/4 time signature, by having steps for the first three counts and pausing on the four count. The spatial and corporeal design was also another element passed from son urbano to casino. There are several steps that exist in son that can also be seen in casino, allowing us to observe another way that son influenced this dance form. Some of the steps include turns of the woman around the man, slow and fast turns, arms combinations and constantly going from an open to a close couple position. Chachachá is another dance style in Cuba that highly influenced the formation of casino. Enrique Jorrín, a famous violinist, composer and director in Cuba was the author of this genre. It was popularized in 1951 with his song La Engañadora, and it was created mainly to have something different from the music genres already existent in Cuba. There is not a clear timeline on how chachachá was originated as a dance form. It’s just known to be developed by the youth in Cuba’s clubs and ballrooms, specifically in La Silver Star (which was attended by black people) and in Prado y Neptuno. Chachachá’s basic step is definitely different from casino’s basic step, but this dance style influenced casino spatially and choreographically. Some of the 3 movement combination done in chachachá are also seen in casino and son. These include going from an open to a close position and combinations of slow and fast turns. A significant element that this dance style contributed to Casino was the rueda. Rueda started to be executed with chachachá at the end of the 1950’s. In a circular formation, couples constantly move clockwise and counterclockwise while they exchange partners and execute different movement combinations and spatial designs. The different patterns are called by the bastonero, which is the leader in the rueda. Everyone participating should already know the steps, in order to make the rueda flow smoothly. In 1956 was when the rueda started to make its presence in casino, allowing it to develop throughout time by adding more steps and different spatial patterns to it. Still to this day people around the world keep adding movements to the rueda that are inspired by daily experiences, reason why the form is in constant evolution. Chachachá also introduced the element of having a moment to dance separately from your partner, giving the opportunity to showcase your skills as a soloist. This is a characteristic commonly seen in Casino nowadays. The first part of this project took me on a different route, in regards to my research strategies. I was originally going to conduct an ethnographic research in a Tallahassee Latin dance social setting. But after reflecting, meeting and taking advise from Hannah Schwadron. A scholar, writer, choreographer and FSU assistant professor who uses ethnography as one of her methods of research. I took notice that I was going to enter (with a limited time frame) into an extensive field of research, without having the basic tools and necessary knowledge to fully expand on it. I also realized after my proposal defense that this project was more about my role as a Cuban native and seeing how that influences my choreographic process, instead of trying to emulate other people’s experiences. This is when I decided to shift the emphasis of my project from “ethnographic research” to “choreographic research”. This is also when I decided to change 4 this work from being a quartet to a solo work choreographed on myself, as suggested by my committee. Even with this change I still continued to attend and engage in my previously selected site (Studio D Latin nights on Thursdays) for a period of 10 weeks, but focused mainly on my own social interactions, emotions and experiences. Taking notes of the patterns and dynamics being executed in that space, allowed me to start thinking in how to approach my choreographic process. Studio D is a dance studio space in where many classes are offered throughout the week, including this Latin dance event on Thursday nights. It starts with a class at 8:00pm that varies every week from being salsa, bachata or kizomba, which cost $10. The social dancing starts from 9:30pm-12:00pm. The owner of the location called Miriam Watkins, is usually always at the door to charge the $5 dollar fee for the social dance portion. Usually you see the same people come to this event. Some people decide to dress nicely and some just come in shorts and a t-shirt, so there is not a set dress code that you must abide to. Personally I like to dress nicely, especially since I know I am going to be dancing with other people. You also see people from a wide age range, starting in the 20s and going approximately all the way to the 60s. After the class is over, the lights are turned off and colorful strobe lights are turned on. Although alcohol is not sold, this change in lighting gives it a club atmosphere. After you pay at the front desk, there is a black bench on the left side where people sit to change their shoes, have a small chat or watch each other dance. This is the same place where I’ve been able to sit and observe the dynamics that occur during the event. One of my main observations is the relationship that each dance couple engages in. They not only connect to the rhythmical pattern of the music, but also connect to each other (some more than others) allowing the dance to flow more smoothly. When I am social dancing, I am 5 also constantly looking for that connection which makes the dance much better. I notice that it’s not about how many moves the man or woman can execute correctly, in order to have a good dance. It’s more about the connection established between both by listening to each other kinesthetically, which makes it a memorable partnership. But also, I am aware that not everyone can establish the same relationship. In Casino the man is constantly leading the woman to rotate around his axis, while executing many patterns and arm movements.