Cultural dances, like Son, Casino, Bachata and Kizomba, have a story of being broken down into “more marketable” products, like Salsa, Bachata sensual and Urban Kiz.
Are the westernized counterparts simpler? More showy? Easier to dance? Easier to teach?
The usual suspect: how Latin is salsa, really?
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This post is unfinished. It will look into how “the West” has a well established tradition of exploiting other cultures, and how the story of what happened with kizomba in Europe is amazingly similar to what happened before with son / casino / bachata; and why trying to use salsa as a teaching example or methodology for kizomba is a bad idea in many, many ways.
If you want to get notified when the post is finished, please leave a comment or subscribe. And in the meantime, I heartily recommend Son Y Casino’s article “Is Salsa Really a Latin Dance?”, which breaks down the Salsa case and is a great inspiration for what this article will be.