The History and Culture Behind the Mambo in the West Side Story

Two of the most famous dancers were Cuban Pete and Millie . They performed in the Catskills in the summers and New York in the winters . Their dances increased in popularity , sensuality and complexity with each season . The dance and the music worked together to produce a combination that captured the attention of the country . Tito Puente once said , Without the dance , the music will not live on (Feuerstein

Mambo soon landed in the middle American living room with white singers and musicians were getting paid on its popularity . Doris Day Rosemary Clooney

, Al Martino and Nat King Cole all cashed in on the popularity of the mambo sound . Their recordings moved the dancing from crowded band halls to suburban cocktail parties . Their music was a watered down version of the big band sound that rang in the streets of New York but it made the Mambo very palatable to the suburbanites . Many started attending dance lessons , like the patrons of the Catskill resorts . Bottom line , mambo was fashionable

The Dance

Mille of Cuban Pete and Millie ' described the difference between Salsa and Mambo as , Salsa music is all fast , no variation , and the young people dancing it , although excellent dancers , are missing out on the opportunity to fully express themselves , to create the many looks onstage possible with the many variations of mambo ' The mambo relies on a song written in 4 /4 or common ' time . The steps can be counted quick-quick-slow or rock-close-pause (Leymarie ) The characteristic movement is more in the hips than it is in the feet however . As your feet change , the hips sway to the movement , thus creating the sensual image of the dance . As well , the two dancers are close together and their bodies move in conjunction

Conclusion

The Mambo is a product of the...