THE SALSA CLASS: A COMPLEXITY OF GLOBALIZATION, COSMOPOLITANS AND EMOTIONS

Abstract

This article is about the salsa dance: how it is taught; and how, why, and where it is learned. This modern social leisure pursuit has gained in popularity such that it can be found practiced throughout the world. Its social nature makes it an attractive activity for cosmopolitan citizens seeking to connect with others through a portable “decontextualised” skill that they can acquire. Despite the similarity of salsa classes and salsa dancing in many major cities of the world, there are differences in meaning and intent for the participants. This article examines salsa dancing in several major cities and shows that the city is reflected in the salsa as—respectively—segregated (Belfast), multicultural (Hamburg), and cosmopolitan (Sacramento). In other words, the globalization of salsa has not resulted in its homogenization. Local particularities and individual reactions, particularly in terms of dancers' emotions, are how this global export is being received.

Key Words:

• salsa
• globalization
• cosmopolitan
• emotions

I thank Professor Rosaldo for writing his poem and for allowing me to use it. I also acknowledge the grateful assistance, useful advice, and constructive encouragement of the editors of Identities and the two anonymous referees.

Notes

1. My gratitude is extended toward Professor Rosaldo for the generous use of his unpublished poetry in this article. I bear responsibility for all interpretations of it in this article.

2. For comparison, see also the salsa dancing research undertaken in London by Román-Velázquez (1999) and Cali, Colombia, by Lise Waxer (2002a).

3. In May 2001, during the Belfast Week of Dance, Wulff (2003: 183–184) reports the Protestant Reverend Ian Paisley of Northern Ireland denouncing all dance, particularly line dancing, for its sinful nature. It is ironic that this view of dance as “occasions of sin” is held by the extreme members of the Protestant community when it was the Catholic Church in Ireland that previously banned informal public dancing with the 1935 Public Dance Hall Act.

4. Baudrillard (1988), a postmodern social theorist at the other end of the social science spectrum, writes similarly of the “cryogenization of emotions.”

5. See also Michelle Rosaldo (1984), emotions are embodied thoughts, a form of embodied knowledge; Abu-Lughod and Lutz (1990), emotions are “discursive public forms”/“discursive practice”; and see Svašek and Milton (2005) for a recent review of the anthropology of emotions.

Rosaldo, Renato 2005. “Salsa Class.” Unpublished poem.

Skinner, Jonathan Undated. Dance as informal therapy: Viki's bodymind and moodswings. Unpublished research paper.

Svašek, Maruška Undated. The emotional efficacy of moving bodyparts. Unpublished research paper.

Wulff, Helena Undated. Dancing at the Crossroads: Memory and Mobility in Ireland. Unpublished manuscript.