UC San Diego

Emerging from the Latin/o American barrios of New York City in the 1960s, salsa music was a response of growing Latin American diaspora communities. Though the recognized "backbone" of salsa is the Cuban son, it been influenced by other Latino(o) American groups and U.S. jazz artists. Popular memory attests to salsa music's arrival in Mexico City during the late 1970s, integrated into the sonicscape by means of deejays working in peripheral barrios. Like the music, salsa dancing has its roots in the movements of the Cuban son, but has since evolved into a variety of basic styles such as the On-2/New York style, On-1/Los Angeles style. In 1997, Carlos Carmona, Mexico's salsa dancing pioneer, brought the On-1/LA style to Mexico City via video recordings. My research examines the way salsa has been integrated into Mexico City's cultural repertoire via memories, oral histories, and the corporeal expressions of its participants. Living in Mexico City during the summer of 2008, I relied on the participant- observer approach to ethnographic study. To conduct my research, I attended various venues where formal salsa dancing occurs such as dance clubs, instructional classes, and professional performances. Within those spheres, I participated as a dancer and an academic. Approaching dancers, musicians, and deejays for interviews, I was interested in their understanding of salsa's historical development and arrival to Mexico City. Utilizing this information, and my own observations of the musical repertoire and movement vocabularies, the act of participation and the presence of the body have become central to my work.