So far we’ve gotten to “Bronze I” level with Rumba, Cha-Cha, Samba, American Tango, American (triple) Swing, Single Swing, and (our favorites) Fox Trot and Waltz. We don’t have competitive aspirations (which is probably a really good thing), but we certainly enjoy it and plan to continue it right up until the time we hop on the plane headed to Europe for our first extended jaunt next May or June.
All dances, like cuisine and wine, are attributed to a society. If it’s possible to correlate the nature of food and wine to a people’s culture, and dance is similarly geographically routed, could similar correlations be drawn between a dance and its people’s culture? Let’s give it a try…
The easy one is Tango, and especially Argentinian Tango. It’s sexy, sultry, mysterious, and incredibly beautiful. You could say the same of Argentinians, especially the people of Buenos Aires, and you could say the same of their city itself.
Rumba, originating in Cuba, is sultry and laid-back, apt descriptions of many of the Cuban people we’ve met. Yet Cha-cha and Salsa also originate from Cuba, and they are frenetic and fun: perhaps this describes a complex people, reserved when appropriate, not-so-reserved at other times.
The American dances, Foxtrot and Swing, are fun, lighthearted, and–as we observed of American wine–incredibly diverse. And unlike our wine, our dances are uniquely ours, tied directly to our unique music.
Finally, Irish folk dancing has been made popular in recent years by the Riverdance troup, and we don’t really know how appropriately the Riverdance style reflects traditional Irish dance, but from the Irish people we know, the snappy, fun, nearly giddily cheery dance is a good reflection of Irish culture.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our little series on A People and their Cuisine, Wine, and Dance; do you think we’re on to something?
