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Article: The salsa explosion: African-Americans find roots and rhythm in Salsa Dancing.
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- June 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Some of Ayesha Karim's friends in Chicago scoffed when she suggested going out salsa dancing for a night of fun. As African-Americans, they did not identify with the music, whose lyrics were in Spanish. And they knew few people who looked like them who danced to it.
But Karim grew up listening and dancing freestyle to salsa and to its predecessor, mambo, which her mother called Afro-Cuban music. She also knew the music's connection to Africa and that it moved her like no other. "I find that there is just something in the music with the congas and other drums and piano that just drives you crazy and makes you want to dance," says Karim, a marketing executive at ...