As I write this, I realize that it is definitely the end of the year. My study abroad experience is over. I am officially finished with my elective Theories of Latin American Dance course, which lasted the entire 3 months, twice a week for 2 hours each time.
This course was certainly not what I expected it to be when I signed up for it. I expected a lot of dancing and learning the Latin American dances, but as we were told on the first day, we would do some dancing buy a lot more theory, such as types of dances, backgrounds and histories, and impact on the world today. It turned out to be a pretty cool class. I learned about the more popular dances such as Merengue, Salsa, and Bachata as well as some less popular dances such as Lambata, Santana, and Joropo. I also learned about Latin American artists such as Prince Royce and Selena. Now, I come from a country music background, and I've heard some of these artists' songs, but have never thought seriously about them or spent much time with Latin American music before.
It was really nice getting this overview to the histories and formations of Latin American music and how a lot of it originated with the slaves or native tribes and mixed in with the European influences. How many styles became famous after someone in Europe decided that they liked the style and brought it back to Latin America. Once Europe thought it was cool, it suddenly became cool in Latin America. Some dance forms have almost died over the years and have been replaced with newer dance forms. Some have turned into ballroom dancing, which in some cases has detracted from the original purpose of the dance and in other cases has enhanced the dance as an artform.
During the first few minutes of class, we talked about the history of Costa Rica in relation to politics, current events, dance, and music. We talked about the elections and how their system works. we talked about the dance clubs that are in San Jose such as Castro's Discotheque and El Auditorium. We learned how many dances originated with the lowerclass and some originated with prostitution, making the dance "looked down upon" until it became famous. Then its' prostitution past was ignored.
We went on a field trip to Castro's Discotheque as a class and saw how the Latin American dances were used and we danced with the guys in our group and in small groups using the dance steps that we learned. I later went with a group of friends from the Dance Class, which was really cool! I danced with two of the guys that came with us and with a Tico, who really knew how to lead.
We also watched 4 movies throughout the semester. The first was, "Take the Lead" the second, "Shall we Dance?" the third was "Havanna Nights" and the fourth was, "Dance With Me". My favorite was "Take the Lead" with Antonio Bandares. The plot was fantastic, the acting was really good, the dancing was good, it was based off a true story, and *bonus* it has Antonio Banderas who is my favorite Latin American actor/dancer/singer. The story was about teaching high school students ballroom dance to teach them confidence, character, respect, and to work through their problems with each other instead of settling them on the streets with gangs. It is based off of Pierre Dulane who teaches 5th graders ballroom dance with the same goals in mind.
Overall, this was a great class. I gave 3 presentations, did not have a lot of homework, and I learned a lot about the culture of Latin America as seen through their famous music and dances. It was a good companion to the actual Dance Class that was taught immediately afterwards and free to the entire school.
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