National Rhythms, African Roots: The Deep History of Latin American Popular Dance [Paperback]

John Charles Chasteen (Author)

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Product Details

Paperback: 269 pages
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press; illustrated edition edition (Jan 30 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0826329411
ISBN-13: 978-0826329417
Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 1.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,655,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #76 in Books > Entertainment > Performing Arts > Dance > Popular
- #76 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Dance > Popular

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Product Description

When John Charles Chasteen learned that Sim?n BolÃvar, the Liberator, danced on a banquet table to celebrate Latin American independence in 1824, he tried to visualize the scene. How, he wondered, did the Liberator dance? Did he bounce stiffly in his dress uniform? Or did he move his hips? In other words, how high had African dance influences reached in Latin American societies? A vast social gap separated BolÃvar from people of African descent; however, Chasteen's research shows that popular culture could bridge the gap.

Fast-paced and often funny, this book explores the history of Latin American popular dance before the twentieth century. Chasteen first focuses on Havana, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro, where dances featuring a "transgressive close embrace" (forerunners of today's salsa, tango, and samba) emerged by 1900. Then, digging deeper in time, Chasteen uncovers the historical experiences that molded Latin American popular dance, including carnival celebrations, the social lives of slaves, European fashions, and, oddly enough, religious processions. The relationship between Latin American dance and nationalism, it turns out, is very deep, indeed.

From the Inside Flap

John Chasteen examines the history behind sexually suggestive dances (salsa, samba, and tango) that brought people of different social classes and races together in Latin America.

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