Dance- Salsa craze hits Kampala
Nov 05, 2009
THEY hold each other’s waists, twist them and make in-and-out movements. Then he lifts her high, her knees keeping at the level of his head. He then slowly, with passion on his face, brings her down. She is simply sliding down on his body.
By Emmanuel Ssejjengo
THEY hold each other’s waists, twist them and make in-and-out movements. Then he lifts her high, her knees keeping at the level of his head. He then slowly, with passion on his face, brings her down. She is simply sliding down on his body.
He immediately swings her around him, while she keeps one leg straight and another crossed. With her short bubble gum skirt and his body-hugging shirt and trousers, they fit the description of skin deep.
He is seemingly the impersonation of Eros, the god of love, while she is fully possessed by the god. What the two are doing is dancing salsa.
With more places opening up salsa classes, it is arguably the fastest growing dance with a cult following.
There are salsa dance classes at the National Theatre, Latino Club in Kololo, Vantage Communications dance studio at Kisementi, Wacky Wood House in Kansanga, Nsambya Sharing Hall and a host of other places.
The current salsa wave sweeping across Kampala started at the American Club in Makindye where a few years ago, the wife of the Cuban Ambassador used to teach the dance.
The club was then labelled the place to be for wannabes. And in all the places, there are a number of youth (there is always an odd old face) who turn up for classes. They come in two forms.
Some are there for simply the fun of it, self-satisfaction, and fitness, while others aspire to become professional salsa dancers.
With such popularity, salsa has finally left the dance studios and crossed to other arenas. There is a Latino Flavour dance show every last Wednesday of the month at the National Theatre.
It is a show that is often full of flaws which are made less memorable by its diversity. Excitingly, salsa (at least in Uganda ) has also become a gospel form of entertainment.
Yes, every once in a while, it is performed at Watoto Church (until recently called Kampala Pentecostal Church), says Cathy Nakawesi, a dance trainer at the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School.
Julius Lugaya, the organiser of the annual Uganda Dance Week and a dance tutor at the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School, says: “Salsa is now on every occasion, but people are still conscious.â€
If any dance performed by Christians becomes Christian, then salsa is.
Michael Kasaija and Natasha Sinayombe teach couples how to dance salsa.
Such couples can open the dance with salsa moves on their wedding day.
Lugaya thinks salsa has evolved to go to all places because people simply do not understand what it is.
But from the start, the dance was not confined to a particular space.
As a main feature at the Dance Week, a number of show-goers are won over by salsa and not other dances.
Erotic dance?
With its growing popularity, questions of morality have been raised. At the opening of Vantage Communications dance studio, the management informed us that the dance studio should rejuvenate the sex lives of women.
On the list of dances to be taught was salsa. So, is salsa meant to arouse the sexual, is it only an erotic form?
“I cannot allow my girlfriend to dance such things. I cannot even get a salsa dancing girlfriend,†said Eddie Mugisha while watching salsa at the weekly Comedy Nite.
The recently married Hannington Bugingo thinks otherwise: “I would freely let my wife dance salsa. If she is dancing in the public, she would not cheat with her dance partner because she knows the world is watching her.â€
Carol Batenga, a photographer, however, cannot date a man who dances salsa. “There is too much contact and I think he would get tempted to sleep with his dance partner. I have to be his partner, both sexually and in dance,†she says.
Salsa, like a number of Ugandan traditional dances, emphasises waist movements. That is partly why it has fast gained acceptance.
But unlike traditional dances which are either ceremonial or commercial, salsa has been performed in places like theatres, dance clubs and dance studios where it takes on more erotic connotations.
The men who take to salsa dance have been labelled effeminate sissies by their contemporaries.
“Whether you are a man or woman, salsa is sexy. It has its own unique erotic magnetism,†says Jessie Kakoza, a dance trainer and judge.
Kakooza adds that all salsa dance tutors he knows are men and those who consider it a woman’s thing get it wrong.
The men who watch salsa wish to dance it, but they are afraid because they either think they cannot be good enough or because salsa is not macho enough.
That perception comes from the dancers who behave unprofessionally. “As long as dancers do not act differently while off-stage, there will always be a misconception,†says Lugaya.
He advises dancers to always make a complete change over while in the dressing room. “Some of the costumes are not meant for the street,†he says.
But how far has the art developed in Uganda? According to dance experts, it is still lacking. “In Uganda, every Latino dance is referred to as salsa,†says Kakoza.
Several Latino partner dances have similarities with salsa. Most of the salsa dance teachers are not professional. They are former dancers who have learnt the basics from watching DVDs.
The tutors teach the basic steps.
After few months in class, the learners are left at a loss as the teachers run out of techniques.
But beyond the eroticism, professional salsa incorporates several other stories — including those of suffering.
Whatever the reasons, the fact is that salsa can no longer go unnoticed.
Origin of salsa
Its history is not clearly well defined, but the term salsa came into use around World War II. It was started by the Spanish-speaking people of the Caribbean.
According to some sources, a large part of salsa originated from Cuba and was brought by the French who had fled from Haiti. It came with both African and European influences.
The salsa evolution still goes on. In Kampala, salsa grew with the popularity of dance films and South American TV soaps. People watched bits of it and hungered for it. For women, it became the in-thing.
“Dance is always fun, intimate and emotional. It is the best past-time for women who also want to be physically fit,†says Barbara Upoki, a regular at the National Theatre’s Latino Flavour.
The annual Dance Weeks also popularised salsa.
THEY hold each other’s waists, twist them and make in-and-out movements. Then he lifts her high, her knees keeping at the level of his head. He then slowly, with passion on his face, brings her down. She is simply sliding down on his body.
He immediately swings her around him, while she keeps one leg straight and another crossed. With her short bubble gum skirt and his body-hugging shirt and trousers, they fit the description of skin deep.
He is seemingly the impersonation of Eros, the god of love, while she is fully possessed by the god. What the two are doing is dancing salsa.
With more places opening up salsa classes, it is arguably the fastest growing dance with a cult following.
There are salsa dance classes at the National Theatre, Latino Club in Kololo, Vantage Communications dance studio at Kisementi, Wacky Wood House in Kansanga, Nsambya Sharing Hall and a host of other places.
The current salsa wave sweeping across Kampala started at the American Club in Makindye where a few years ago, the wife of the Cuban Ambassador used to teach the dance.
The club was then labelled the place to be for wannabes. And in all the places, there are a number of youth (there is always an odd old face) who turn up for classes. They come in two forms.
Some are there for simply the fun of it, self-satisfaction, and fitness, while others aspire to become professional salsa dancers.
With such popularity, salsa has finally left the dance studios and crossed to other arenas. There is a Latino Flavour dance show every last Wednesday of the month at the National Theatre.
It is a show that is often full of flaws which are made less memorable by its diversity. Excitingly, salsa (at least in Uganda ) has also become a gospel form of entertainment.
Yes, every once in a while, it is performed at Watoto Church (until recently called Kampala Pentecostal Church), says Cathy Nakawesi, a dance trainer at the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School.
Julius Lugaya, the organiser of the annual Uganda Dance Week and a dance tutor at the Kampala Ballet and Modern Dance School, says: “Salsa is now on every occasion, but people are still conscious.â€
If any dance performed by Christians becomes Christian, then salsa is.
Michael Kasaija and Natasha Sinayombe teach couples how to dance salsa.
Such couples can open the dance with salsa moves on their wedding day.
Lugaya thinks salsa has evolved to go to all places because people simply do not understand what it is.
But from the start, the dance was not confined to a particular space.
As a main feature at the Dance Week, a number of show-goers are won over by salsa and not other dances.
Erotic dance?
With its growing popularity, questions of morality have been raised. At the opening of Vantage Communications dance studio, the management informed us that the dance studio should rejuvenate the sex lives of women.
On the list of dances to be taught was salsa. So, is salsa meant to arouse the sexual, is it only an erotic form?
“I cannot allow my girlfriend to dance such things. I cannot even get a salsa dancing girlfriend,†said Eddie Mugisha while watching salsa at the weekly Comedy Nite.
The recently married Hannington Bugingo thinks otherwise: “I would freely let my wife dance salsa. If she is dancing in the public, she would not cheat with her dance partner because she knows the world is watching her.â€
Carol Batenga, a photographer, however, cannot date a man who dances salsa. “There is too much contact and I think he would get tempted to sleep with his dance partner. I have to be his partner, both sexually and in dance,†she says.
Salsa, like a number of Ugandan traditional dances, emphasises waist movements. That is partly why it has fast gained acceptance.
But unlike traditional dances which are either ceremonial or commercial, salsa has been performed in places like theatres, dance clubs and dance studios where it takes on more erotic connotations.
The men who take to salsa dance have been labelled effeminate sissies by their contemporaries.
“Whether you are a man or woman, salsa is sexy. It has its own unique erotic magnetism,†says Jessie Kakoza, a dance trainer and judge.
Kakooza adds that all salsa dance tutors he knows are men and those who consider it a woman’s thing get it wrong.
The men who watch salsa wish to dance it, but they are afraid because they either think they cannot be good enough or because salsa is not macho enough.
That perception comes from the dancers who behave unprofessionally. “As long as dancers do not act differently while off-stage, there will always be a misconception,†says Lugaya.
He advises dancers to always make a complete change over while in the dressing room. “Some of the costumes are not meant for the street,†he says.
But how far has the art developed in Uganda? According to dance experts, it is still lacking. “In Uganda, every Latino dance is referred to as salsa,†says Kakoza.
Several Latino partner dances have similarities with salsa. Most of the salsa dance teachers are not professional. They are former dancers who have learnt the basics from watching DVDs.
The tutors teach the basic steps.
After few months in class, the learners are left at a loss as the teachers run out of techniques.
But beyond the eroticism, professional salsa incorporates several other stories — including those of suffering.
Whatever the reasons, the fact is that salsa can no longer go unnoticed.
Origin of salsa
Its history is not clearly well defined, but the term salsa came into use around World War II. It was started by the Spanish-speaking people of the Caribbean.
According to some sources, a large part of salsa originated from Cuba and was brought by the French who had fled from Haiti. It came with both African and European influences.
The salsa evolution still goes on. In Kampala, salsa grew with the popularity of dance films and South American TV soaps. People watched bits of it and hungered for it. For women, it became the in-thing.
“Dance is always fun, intimate and emotional. It is the best past-time for women who also want to be physically fit,†says Barbara Upoki, a regular at the National Theatre’s Latino Flavour.
The annual Dance Weeks also popularised salsa.