Origin dances and actual interests

My connection with music and dance began approximately 13 years ago, when my parents motivated me to introduce in this surprising world, probably they saw some reaction in me when I listened music related to my country, so they convinced me to enter in a folk group called “Tradiciones” where I learnt almost all typical dances of Chile: cueca, tirana, pascuense, etc. My feeling for this passion began to grow when I started to present my dances in shows to a big number of people, and they thanked it with big applauses, in that precise moment, when the crowed seemed to be as exited as me, was when I realized that I had a beautiful talent and that I ought go for more; so that I began to compete in championships related to our traditional dance, cueca and the surprise was bigger when I began to win almost all the champions. But it wasn´t so important for me, the essential meaning was settled in my soul and in my mind, the thoughts that pass through them sometimes are undescriptive, the previous minutes to be presented to the public were surrounded of anxieties, when I was dancing nothing else there was in my soul that love for that I was doing, I felt that my heart beats were faster and harder and all the passion that I ever felt was borning in that moment. But while more emotions were being discovered in me, more cultures I wanted to explore with the only reason to get to people different cultures and to motivate children and young to know this amazing world; so that with the pass of the time I felt that to win championships wasn´t enough, so I looked for dances that made me feel really connected and satisfied with the dance; and I found that Latin American and African dances had special movements and extraordinary meanings that makes me feel that I was in an undescriptive atmosphere. The sensation of exploring these cultures and dances were similar to living a fantasy for me; because they are very separated on the planet, but very similar at the same time, because in both cases the dancer feels connected with their origins and root, and the observer feel so excited appreciating their culture and movements surrounded of happiness, attractive colors, and sensations. The most important point is that the dances and the moving of the body is a health way of expression.

Despite of that they seem to be very different, Latin American and African dances are closely connected by their origins and the passion that they express.
Most of the Latin ones, like; Samba, Rumba, mambo, Cha Cha Cha, and salsa decsend from African Movements or dances that have been modified troughout time. Rumba, for example came from African slaves.Cha Cha Cha contains a fast and cheerful mood with a bit of a religious dance of the West Africa, and Samba come from an African couples dance, originated from Angola and Congo. All the origins, moods, purpose, and themes are shown in each and every one of those dances, from the emotions to the way their hips move. The Rumba influence was given by the African slaves and the middle and high class of the Cubans. The native Rumba folk dance is based on sexual vibes between partners with exaggerated hip movements, and a sensual aggressive attitude on the part of the man and a defensive attitude on the part of the women.
On the other hand, these dances are different in their meanings; Most of the Latin American dances represent the conquest of the partner, sensual movement, and are always danced in couple. The African people dance in a circle and it has a great meaning; it represents life and how it keeps moving as in a circle, the dance here is rhythmic, they don´t dance with out drums because it symbolized the heart beats, express the mood of the people, the drum is the sign of life, it evoke emotions and to touch the souls of those who hear its rhythm. The movements also imitate animals in realistic details, and all parts of the body are moving to different drums beats and in different rhythm at the same time.
Nowadays, far from native cultures such as Latin-American or African dances, our actual society and new generations are drifting away from our origins. As part of the society these new urban cultures are leaving more than an effect in our youth, even though we don´t want to believe it. Bring it to the Chilean reality our cultural origins are quickly disappearing and soon will not exist.
The actual teenagers and youth are being bombarded by new trends from different countries. Between the age of thirteen and eighteen years old it´s very common that people are in search of an identity and a personal style with which they want to express that they are different. Actually, our country has a lot of different styles settled in our teenagers, such as “pokemon”, “flaite”, or “reggaetonero”. This last urban style came from Latin American rhythm and sound, influenced by salsa and meringue. This style is established in our youth and the main message that this has is to express the emotions in an explosive manner, in which the couple when dancing are constantly touching their bodies, kissing and most of time it is danced by a woman and two men. This message is changing the value of the family and relationships: the youth are expressing their feeling, emotions and impulses in an unlimited manner in which they don´t give importance to love, respect and dignity.
To be part of one of the urban styles could make to a young have an obsession for his or her style. It could disturb their studies, separate them from their families, just wanting to be with their music and the group of friends. It could cause problems with the relationships that they have, principally in their families, losing confidence and communication.
New generations are becoming intolerant with groups different from them. It is becoming a big problem because nowadays we have seen that teenagers have come to use violence, fight, and even kill with the only reason that they have a different taste for music or styles. This attitude is escaping from our hand because the parents aren´t giving enough value to the family, nor they are giving enough time to be with them teaching the meaning of life and tolerance. This generation is being cough by the routine of a lot of hours working, technology, money; and the family is being replaced for these possessions thinking that they are essential to be alive.
Clearly we have some problems to resolve; first of all we are losing our cultural root and thus to our families. If we keep up our traditions and roots and transmit them to new generations, undoubtedly they could have a different manner to see the life, the respect and tolerance to the people, and value in the relationships.
Even most of people don´t want to believe in culture, I am sure that it can change the life, the mind and behavior of the community; it helps us to value our roots and our origins, also to price the family, the relationships that we have and emphasize the respect for the partners. Although our routine is each day faster, we even have time to give to our family necessary time to communicate and to transmit the origins of our country that clearly the atmosphere that it generates in the life is healthy and beneficiary for our environment.

By Cindy Cordova.