Manuel Marcano-Olivier
Born in Caracas, Venezuela
Like all 'Latinos', Manuel has a natural rhythm for drums and percussion fusion (dancing in his mother's womb before he was even born!). Following his brother's footsteps, Manuel came to England to study Science in the early '80s, however he would dedicate most of his spare time promoting Latin-American dance and music, especially Salsa, in the local wine bars of Manchester, with his dancing partner Julie. Taking advantage of a work opportunity, Manuel and Julie came to Cumbria and settled in Cockermouth. Since then, they have been teaching informal Latin-American dancing all over West Cumbria, specialising in five different rhythms such as Dominican Merengue, Puerto Rican Salsa (Mambo Style), Cuban Rumba (Cuban Salsa) and Brazilian Lambada & Samba. They have been featured regularly in the culture section of Cumbrian newspapers, and have recently written a newspaper article about the 'History of Salsa and its long way to West Cumbria'. Manuel and Julie, a.k.a. ‘Club Latino’, currently teach 'informal' (not ballroom) Latin-American dancing in Cockermouth and Maryport.
|  | | ¡¡¡ Viva la Salsa !!! A history of Salsa Dancing ...
..and its long way to West Cumbria
By Manuel Marcano-Olivier
One could easily write a whole book about the history of the popular Latin dance rhythm of Salsa Salsa is not easily defined. Who invented salsa? The Cubans, Puerto Ricans? Salsa is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. Each played a large part in its evolution… As its translation from the Spanish language…'Salsa' a fusion of different sauces and ingredients with a hot-spicy taste! The Salsa music we hear today has its origins in Cuba where the blending of African drum rhythms and Spanish guitar evolved into a variety of Latin American rhythms, but credit for it's worldwide popularity belongs to the Puerto Ricans of New York! The Puerto Rican immigrants in New York created the term ‘Salsa’, but they did not create the dance. The term became popular as nickname to refer to a variety of different music, from several countries of Hispanic influence: Rumba, Són Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danzón, Guguanco, Cubop, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue, among others. The term ‘salsa’, much like the term jazz, is simply a word used to describe a fusion of different rhythms. Since the 1970s Puerto Rico has claimed the music as its own and dominates the Latin music market. The music has now travelled all over the world, from Latin America into Europe (via Spain and France) and back to Africa, reaching as far East as Japan. It was in the late 1970’s when it hit the big UK cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, but it has been mainly due to Radio and TV air-time that it has become very popular all over the UK, eventually reaching Cockermouth! We at ‘Club Latino’ are very proud and honoured to have brought this exiting Latin dance to West Cumbria, currently based in Cockermouth, but also teaching throughout West Cumbria. We also host ‘Fiesta Night’ parties every 5 weeks for anybody to come and have a dance in a totally informal atmosphere. Happy Dancing --> ¡¡¡ Disfruta La Salsa !!! <-- |
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