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Battle
of the Mambo Is Bruising Some Toes
by Mireya Navaro, New York Times
Dancers on the 1 beat say they follow
the melody, dancers on the 2, the percussion.
''When you are that one beat off, you're
not in sync,'' said Ms. Shanley, who
has since taught Mr. Lopez ''on 2.''
''I try to just follow, but when that
happens, you try to get the guy to come
to your timing. But if he can't, you
have to stay wherever he is.''
Going out dancing was not always such
a struggle. But salsa dancing, as mambo
is often known today, is hotter than
ever, surpassing even the craze of the
1950's. Cultural historians attribute
the resurgent popularity in part to globalization
and the Internet. With the wider appeal
has come a new zeal to dance well.
In New York, dance studios report record
enrollment in salsa classes, higher than
that for tango or swing in major studios
like DanceSport in Manhattan. And many
more instructors than before are teaching
''on 2,'' the style that old-timers recall
as a favorite during the heyday of the
Palladium in the 1950's and of the Mambo
King himself, Tito Puente, who died on
May 31.
With the advent of salsa Web sites,
international dance performance tours
and even an annual world salsa congress
in Puerto Rico, the style has been spreading
to cities like Los Angeles and Chicago
and abroad, to countries like Italy and
Japan.
But as the 2's run into the 1's, a
night out can turn into a pressure cooker.
In many Latin clubs in New York, the
dancers -- white, black, Asian, Hispanic
-- come from many different cultures,
but they are grouped not by ethnicity,
but by beat.
''People go to clubs to get rid of
stress, but now there's more stress on
the dance floor than at work,'' said
Eddie Torres, a longtime New York mambo
instructor who is widely recognized as
a master of ''on 2.'' ''You go to clubs
and it's like the Olympics of salsa.
It's not a healthy competition. There
are girls who tell me that a partner
would try to give them a class in the
middle of the dance floor.'' »
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Jai
Catalano