Music Appreciation: A Debate
Anchorage dancers are very excited to hear the news that the Spanish Harlem Orchestra is coming to town this October. A local Latin dance company has asked local dancers to contact the Anchorage Concert Association to request that the band perform at a venue where salseros can dance. Sounds like a well-intentioned request, right? It is, but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple one.
Despite the fact that the Spanish Harlem Orchestra plays very danceable salsa tunes, the band has expressed opposition in the past to playing for dancers. They say it prevents their music from being appreciated for its artistry and is instead only used as background music for dancing. “I respect that [dancers want to dance to our music], but, unfortunately, the dance trivializes what we do from an artistic point of view,” the band’s leader Oscar Hernandez told Rosa Luisi (see below for full article). “People think it is one big party, and we are up there in a creative trip trying to present a musical artistic vision.”
Luisi’s article for the New Hampshire Register does an excellent job of expressing the view of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra that their music deserves to be heard and appreciated for its own artistic merits and not just as an accompaniment for dancers. This is a very interesting debate for dancers and musicians. While many dancers wrote negative comments about the band’s point of view on Salsa Forums online, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s position does highlight an important point for dancers: the music itself is an art form and can be appreciated even absent the dance. Perhaps keeping one’s body still and more actively listening (or just listening in a different way) can lead to a greater and fuller appreciation of the music that inspires the dance. And perhaps it may also eliminate the intimidation factor for nondancers and bring salsa music (and dance as well) to a larger number of people that might not otherwise be exposed to it.
Definitely a worthwhile topic for further reflection and discussion. You can check out Rosa Luisi’s full article here.
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