• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

International Salsa Magazine

  • Home
  • Previous editions
    • 2025
      • ISM / September 2025
      • ISM / August 2025
      • ISM / July 2025
      • ISM / June 2025
      • ISM / May2025
      • ISM / April 2025
      • ISM / March 2025
      • ISM / February 2025
      • ISM / January 2025
    • 2024
      • ISM / December 2024
      • ISM / November 2024
      • ISM / October 2024
      • ISM / September 2024
      • ISM / August 2024
      • ISM / July 2024
      • ISM / June 2024
      • ISM / May 2024
      • ISM / April 2024
      • ISM / March 2024
      • ISM / February 2024
      • ISM / January 2024
    • 2023
      • ISM / December 2023
      • ISM / November 2023
      • ISM / October 2023
      • ISM – September 2023
      • ISM – August 2023
      • ISM July 2023
      • ISM Edition June 2023
      • ISM – May 2023
      • ISM April 2023
      • ISM March 2023
      • ISM February 2023
      • ISM January 2023
    • 2022
      • ISM December 2022
      • ISM November 2022
      • ISM October 2022
      • ISM September 2022
      • ISM August 2022
      • ISM July 2022
      • ISM June 2022
      • ISM May 2022
      • ISM February 2022
      • ISM January 2022
    • 2021
      • ISM December 2021
      • ISM November 2021
      • ISM October – 2021
      • ISM September 2021
      • ISM August 2021
      • ISM July 2021
      • ISM May 2021
      • ISM April 2021
      • ISM June 2021
      • ISM March 2021
      • ISM February 2021
      • ISM January 2021
    • 2020
      • ISM December 2020
      • ISM November 2020
      • ISM October 2020
      • ISM September 2020
      • ISM August 2020
      • ISM July 2020
      • ISM June 2020
      • ISM May 2020
      • ISM April 2020
      • ISM March 2020
      • ISM February 2020
      • ISM January 2020
    • 2019
      • ISM December 2019
      • ISM November 2019
      • ISM October 2019
      • ISM Septembre 2019
      • ISM August 2019
      • ISM July 2019
      • ISM June 2019
      • ISM May 2019
      • ISM April 2019
      • ISM March 2019
      • ISM February 2019
      • ISM January 2019
    • 2018
      • ISM December 2018
      • ISM November 2018
      • ISM October 2018
      • ISM September 2018
      • ISM August 2018
      • ISM July 2018
      • ISM June 2018
      • ISM May 2018
      • ISM April 2018
      • ISM March 2018
      • ISM February 2018
      • ISM January 2018
    • 2017
      • ISM December 2017
      • ISM November 2017
      • ISM October 2017
      • ISM September 2017
      • ISM August 2017
      • ISM July 2017
      • ISM June 2017
  • Download Salsa App
    • Android
    • Apple
  • Spanish

Europe

Kizomba and the protagonism of the woman in dancing

Women in dancing

A society has a large number of art expressions that reveal how each one of its members is perceived in the cultural field. One of them is the dancing, which permits us to illustrate how men and women are seen by everybody. It is no coincidence that the man has always been the one to set the pace for his female counterpart to follow during any given social dance, so we can say that the woman was nothing more than a passive element who had to await her partner’s instructions. 

After decades of intense struggle for women’s rights, a number of profound cultural changes were taking place that led to the biggest transformation we have ever had as a society. Music and the arts in general certainly could not escape this reality. 

One of those changes came about with a greater role for women in social dances, who are no longer so dependent on their male partner as they used to be in the past. Now, both members of the dance couple are very important for the execution of any choreography. 

What role did kizomba play in this change? 

Role of women in kizomba and dancing in general
Two women dancing kizomba

We all know women are no longer seen in the same way as decades ago, but there is still limited understanding on how this situation changed in dance. Well, one of the events that marked the end of male hegemony at the dance was the emergence of kizomba. This was the first musical genre in which both the man and the woman could be the ones who direct the dance pace. That does not mean men cannot remain the guide of the steps, but it does not have to be this way all the time. Gender roles no longer play an important role during the dance. 

Due to the ease with which kizomba is danced, the roles of the partners of the couple can change at any moment without any problem. In the same way, the two can learn to carry on and be carried away to decide when the best time is to change the role of each of them. The wonderful thing about it is that both the man and the woman have greater freedom to follow or change the performance of the dance. 

Women and its role in dancing
Women dancing kizomba in pairs

After the birth of kizomba, there has been the emergence of many other musical styles that further take into account women and give them a much more active role when dancing. That has enabled them to be more confident and secure in their movements on the dance floor. 

In view of the fact that more and more women are encouraged to take charge during the dance, it is possible that both she and her partner begin to experience new sensations and emotions that none of them knew, which may be extremely beneficial for both of them. Along with exercising certain areas of the brain that we do not even know, we can also explore new personalities and ways of looking at life, which very important in dancing. 

Home

Tips for dancing salsa with style and elegance

Dance tips for salsa

Elegance and good taste are very personal aspects for each of us, since we all perceive the world in a very different way. We can have some rather general ideas of what to be regarded as elegant and what not, but we are never going to agree on everything. This can be applied very well any aspect of life, but today we are going to focus on music. 

For several years, salsa was seen as a low-level and often vulgar musical rhythm, dancing it in certain circles of society was not well received by a number of people. Fortunately, all that has changed radically in the last decades. What is even more, this Latin genre has earned so much prestige that it is now present in those same social circles that rejected it before. However, dancing salsa with a lot of class is not as easy as it is believed. 

If it is true that this type of music is no longer perceived as vulgar, there are certain aspects to take into account when dancing it with great style and subtlety. 

Tips for dancing salsa with style and elegance 

One of the most important details to be in mind is good coordination between the members of the couple and the memory of an elephant that allow those involved to learn all the steps in the best way possible. Additional to that, one has to adapt to certain rules so that everything turns out as planned during the dance. 

Learn the most basic you need to dance salsa 

Dancing salsa with elegance and style
Two young people dancing salsa

First thing that should be taken into account is the learning the most basic things and their execution in the best way possible. One of the best-known characteristics of salsa is that it consists of three basic steps of a short sequence that are danced in a 4/4 beat. After having mastered this structure, dancers are trained to add more complexity to their movements. 

Hear and understand the rhythm and the time 

If you want to dance salsa with style, you have to understand music and rhythms as much as possible. The rhythms, the times and speed are the aspects that help dancers to coordinate their movements in the right way. If there is some ne interested in learning to dance salsa that feels that he is completely lost, he can start listening to salsa a lot more often. This will help him immensely to better understand this music and the rhythms that make it up. 

What you have to do during learning ballroom dances 

Dance tips for salsa
Young couple dancing salsa

If there is something that should never be missing in salsa is the partner dance, which makes this musical genre a much more pleasant experience for the two members of the dance couple. If they both want to dance as well as possible, they must understand each other’s movements to perfection. In the same way, both the man and his partner must perfectly understand each other’s speed and movements in order to anticipate them. In this sense, the members of the dance will be able to achieve a good harmony, which is an essential detail to achieve success in this sensual dance. 

After future dancers have followed these tips, they will be trained to demonstrate their dancing skills on the dance floor. 

Home

Everything you need to know about tarraxa

Tarraxa in Europe

It is amazing the number of African genres that have gained strength at this time. This can be seen in this in the huge amount of events that include these rhythms in Europe, which speaks of an important evolution in the musical ear of those who often did not listen to these styles. 

One of those many rhythms is tarraxa, which has begun to play a leading role in dance classes taught in the Old Continent. These classes have managed to gather a large public and very interested in learning to dance genres different from those that they tend to listen to. 

What is tarraxa? 

tarraxa and traditional kizomba
interracial couple dancing tarraxa

Many people define tarraxa as a very modern way of dancing kizomba, in which the corporal expressions and the rapport between the members of the couple are the two most important details in the dance. This dance is full of sensuality and feelings, something that is not seen very often in more traditional versions of kizomba. 

One of the major complications of traditional kizomba is the excessive softness and slowness of many of its rhythms, so the dancers simply do not know how to proceed sometimes. This is also the reason why many would find this African genre a bit boring and choose to look for other styles that are a little more cheerful and lively. Here is where other slightly more intense modalities come to life, such as tarraxa or batida. 

When listening to songs based on this dance, it is possible to realize that the rhythm is very marked, allowing the dancers to have more flow and security in their movements. This and other new versions of kizomba derived from the need to try something different, modern and much more intense. Not everyone tastes calm and tranquility in the same way! 

Expension of tarraxa through Europe and other latitudes 

Tarraxa in the Old Continent
Couple dancing tarraxa closely

As already mentioned, tarraxa is closely related to kizomba, while many have dared to say that the first is nothing more than a more modern version of the second. Well, kizomba originates in Angola with the mixture of a rhythm known as semba with another one called kilipanda. If we have already said that tarraxa was born as a consequence of the modernization of kizomba, that means that we can conclude that tarraxa is also of Angolan origin. This makes its voyage around the world even more interesting. 

After kizomba arrived in Europe through Portugal and other countries, this well-known genre has been intermingled with other more local rhythms as a consequence of the adaptation of the rhythms to the ears of its new audience. This resulted in the creation of new variants such as tarraxa, passada, saida, ventoinha, and so on. 

The specific case of tarraxa is not very different from that of other musical styles from Africa. It has simply undergone modifications of all kinds to the point at which it resulted in what is now. Nowadays, it is one of the most present genres in events held in Europe and other parts of the world. 

Home

What makes sensual bachata so popular

Why sensual bachata is popular

With the passage of time, music has undergone such a big transformation that it looks no longer as what it was a few decades ago. Just as new musical genres with very modern rhythms have emerged lately, the old ones have continuously adapted to consumers’ changing tastes of this era. Such is the case of bachata, which has progressively succumbing to the sensual fashion that has spread to a good part of current genres. 

Nowadays sensual bachata has gone on to become one of the favorite musical styles for both young and not so young. The best proof of this is that each day there are more radio stations and nightclubs that include in their repertory this music to appeal to the public who support it. 

What has made sensual bachata become so famous? 

This genre from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico has always stood out for its waste of romanticism and sensuality, which has made it very famous in the rest of the world. One of the most important characteristics of bachata is the deep connection that should exist between the members of the dance couple in order to infect the audience with magnificent energy and an intimacy out of this world. 

Sensual bachata has become one of the favorite variants for most people, which has expanded enormously thanks to a large number of dancers who have dedicated themselves to seeking new horizons and setting aside traditional styles from previous years. This style has had plenty of promoters, which was the reason it has become so popular in a pretty quick period of time. 

The role of women in sensual bachata 

Why sensual bachata is so popular
Young couple dancing sensual bachata

Without any doubt, women have acquired a leading role in bachata in recent years as it is the female part of the dance that performs the most sensual movements of the choreography. On top of this, there are a more or less intense touch of eroticism and a very vivid interpretation of the music to give the result that the dancers are looking for. After professional dancers started adding these ingredients to their choreographies, there was the emergence of a set of rhythms that reinvented itself and won the support of the public. 

One of the reasons why sensual bachata has gained so much popularity lately is the role played by women during the dance. 

This genre shows us a woman who should be able to take advantage of all her femininity and be very sure of herself at all times. Every part of her body must move to the rhythm of the music without neglecting the load of eroticism needed at any time. 

The best of all this is that every day there are more and more women who want to bring out this sensual side that all women have, so they choose to enroll in dance classes where they are taught to dance these types of rhythms in a professional manner or not so much. A large part of these classes is aligned toward learning delicate body movements, cadence, and much more. 

Home

From Italy Albert Giorgio Giovanni DJ. Lindo Salsa and Bachata

Albert Giorgio Giovanni Fiorentu Dj Lindo is an Italian and Latin music producer (Salsa and Bachata).

Albert Giorgio Giovanni Fiorentu aka Albert Lindo or DJ. Lindo is an Italian DJ. and producer of Latin music (Salsa and Bachata).

Born in Udine, Italy in 1989, he started his career as a dancer in 1997.

In 2008 he graduated as a dance teacher.  In 2011 he moved to Austria (until today) and in 2014 he started working as a dance teacher at the school Conny & Dado in Graz.

In the same year he started his career as a DJ and in 2017 as a producer.

Dj Lindo is an Italian DJ and producer of Latin music (Salsa and Bachata).
Albert Giorgio Giovanni Fiorentu to Dj Lindo producer of Latin music (Salsa and Bachata).

In 2019 (after the first 2 unfortunate productions) the first world production “The Phantom” is released, helped by the pianist and composer Marco Ronca.

In 2020 he obtained his second diploma as a dance teacher and also launched his new single “No Te Detengas” always with Marco and in collaboration with several recognized artists.

Between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, 4 new productions will be ready, a bachata and three salsas (a romantic salsa, a hard salsa and a Cuban salsa) with the collaboration of many recognized artists.

Currently Dj Lindo is part of the record label located in Milan (Italy) Alosibla Music Group and Downbridge Publishing, which each year presents the famous compilation.

Albert Giorgio Giovanni Fiorentu aka Albert Lindo or Dj Lindo is an Italian DJ and producer of Latin music (Salsa and Bachata)
Italian DJ and Latin music producer (Salsa and Bachata)

“SALSA IT”

Did you know the origin of the DJ…

The 9th of March is World DJ Day, thanks to the initiative of the ‘Worl DJ Fund’ and the NGO ‘Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy’. But, do you really know the history of these music mixing artists?

For 16 years this day has been celebrated as a tribute to this sector of music that is so in vogue in our time, which take advantage of his ‘birthday’ to donate what they charge these days to charitable causes.

The initiative was carried out in 2002 by the ‘Worl DJ Fund’ and the NGO ‘Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy’, and has been active for over a decade. But the history of the DJs has a few more years.

For those who still do not know what is behind the acronym DJ, a ‘disc jockey’ is a musician who creates, selects and plays before an audience music of his own or composed by other artists. There are several types, including radio and club DJs.

The first DJ in history

It was Ron Diggins, a British radio engineer who in 1947 built the famous Diggola
Ron Diggins first ever DJ

It was Ron Diggins, a British radio engineer who in 1947 built the famous Diggola, considered the first “mixing table” in the history of music. This home-made portable table included two turntables, lights, microphones, an amplifier and a dozen speakers. And it was made on a coffin wood base.

If we mention Ron Diggins, many of us won’t know who I’m talking about, because this British and radio engineer is considered the first DJ in history.

Many others before Diggins moved in with their records and equipment to cheer on the soldiers but he was the creator of “La Digolla”.

He himself built the first mixer in 1945, although it wasn’t until 1947 that the invention became official.

It was a portable table made of wood, worthy of any party room, it included two plates, lights, microphones, an amplifier and a dozen speakers.

As a curiosity, the wood with which Diggins made the first mixing table in history was casket wood.

Six weeks was the time it took the engineer to build the famous portable table.

Ron Diggins’ dream was to travel all over the UK with his van and “La Digolla”, so he could play his favorite songs.

This pioneer during his professional career was severely criticized by countless musicians who did not approve that the DJ would mix songs without their consent.

Diggins retired in 1995 after playing at 20,000 parties.

In his hard beginnings, traveling kilometers and full of criticism, he would never imagine what he had done, he had invented a profession. A job that would be paid for, more than he could have thought.

The first Disc Jockey in history, died at the age of 90 and in his long life he made 6 “Diggiolas” Some of them were auctioned off at more than $40,000.

“I haven’t invented anything, I just put the same things to a different use, that’s all.

On his 90th birthday, the first disc jockey confessed that, when he started to tour cities and towns with his invention, he received hundreds of criticisms from musicians who did not approve of him mixing their songs without their consent. Diggins retired in 1995 after playing at 20,000 parties.

The big DJ explosion

In the 60s and 70s, with the expansion of the discotheques in Europe and the USA, the creation of a specific technology for this figure of the music began, like the mixer ‘CMA-10-2DL mixer’. It was also the time of the birth of ‘hip-hop’ and ‘disco’ music.

In the 80’s we get the first big names, considered cult DJs, as Larry Levan who played in the ‘Paradise Garage’ in New York, or Frankie Knuckles, with its mixtures of ‘disco’ and ‘synth pop’ led to music ‘house’ in the ‘Warehouse Club’ in Chicago. At the same time, in Detroit, techno was born.

They were years of great impact for the DJs, who saw the birth of their first magazine specifically for professionals, the ‘DJ Times’ in 1988 and held for the first time an exclusive event for DJs of electronic music dance, the ‘Winter Music Conference’ in 85 in Florida.

The DJs of the digital era

The arrival of the ‘rave’ movement in the 90s radically changed the image of DJs and these artists began to project themselves as superstars or ‘Diva DJs’ who establish particular sounds and brands.

These new ‘DJs’ have arrived to our days, taking advantage of the technological innovations of the digital era, and there we have famous names such as the French David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto or Bob Sinclar, who travel the world with their mixes.

Source: https://culturizando.com/

 

Home

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 36
  • Page 37
  • Page 38
  • Page 39
  • Page 40
  • Go to Next Page »

International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.