Is salsa just for the generation 50+?

TomSchueler

TomSchueler

Changui
Hope you forgive my clickbait in the title. This is more me trying to make sense of the fact that many people taking up salsa dancing are a little bit older.

So, let me give you the whole story.

I went to a concert the other day in a small city not too far away from Berlin, Germany. The band was of Cuban origin and played live, a few son and a lot of salsa.

Most people who attended the concert were more than fifty years old, only a few under the age of fourty, literally no one under the age of thirty. Same is my experience with Cuban salsa courses I took in the predominant schools in Berlin, mostly couples around the age of plus/minus fifty attended the courses, with the exeption of the salsa lessons offered as part of the local universities sports curriculum.

In the salsa clubs in Berlin it's a different story, you have a great mix of old and young, although the "cut" for women age-wise seems to lie around 40 and for men around the age of 50. A little sad is also that in the clubs, there are only very few young dancers under 20 (that might also be the case due to the fact people discover partner dancing later in life, in an age where they already have a steady partner to go dancing with).

My explanation for this observation is that salsa was, albeit very small, part of the German pop culture in the late 80s and early 90s but was was slowly fading in popularity at the end of the nineties. (According to Wikipedia, Salsa only reached Germany in the early 80s.)

People who are now fifty and older thus discovered salsa in the 80s and 90s, from the age of being a teenager on up to early adulthood, in an age where you're very open to new musical influences and perhaps interested in the Cuban culture or your stereotypes of it.

One reason the generation 50+ seems to be prevalent at concerts outside the bigger cities (and in salsa courses!) could be that salsa felt quite fresh and innovative in their youth and now, at an age where your kids are out of the house and there is more time for yourself, they want to re-create this feeling of exoticism and exitement salsa provided when they were of a younger age.

Did you discover the same phenomenon in your scene or is it way more varied than here? Do you believe salsa satisfied a need for exoticism and adventure in the 80s and 90s for the now 50+ generation?
 
Last edited:
TomSchueler said:
Did you discover the same phenomenon in your scene or is it way more varied than here? Do you believe salsa satisfied a need for exoticism and adventure in the 80s and 90s for the now 50+ generation?
Click to expand...

It may be the case in your region. It definitely wasn't the case wherever I've gone.

I can't speak for the 50+ crowd, but my perception is that Salsa is primarily an activity you take up to meet new people.

There are plenty of people in their 20s and 30s who want to meet new people and find romance and Salsa is a great activity in which for them to do so. Add in the exercise aspect and you have an entire young office generation ripe for the pickings.

I have been to places where the age range is mixed but generally the crowd is on the younger side.

TomSchueler said:
In the salsa clubs in Berlin it's a different story, you have a great mix of old and young, although the "cut" for women age-wise seems to lie around 40 and for men around the age of 50.
Click to expand...

This seems to match my experience in larger metropolitan areas.

TomSchueler said:
A little sad is also that in the clubs, there are only very few young dancers under 20 (that might also be the case due to the fact people discover partner dancing later in life, in an age where they already have a steady partner to go dancing with).
Click to expand...

Why sad? Where I come from Salsa Night Club dancing is an age restricted dance. You have to be at least 19 years of age to enter most establishments.

It would seem strange to me seeing under-20 dancers dancing Salsa at the clubs. I used to train with a talented young man who was around 14 at the time, but he showed very little interest in social dancing. It was merely training for him.

I expect people under the age of 20 to prefer going to normal clubs rather than Salsa clubs to meet people.
 
Last edited:
In my area, it also seems to be a mix; also depends on the borough. I see people 30+ doing Salsa with a sprinkle here and there for younger people. The studios that have socials which allow for under 21 to enter seem to have more of the younger students.
 
It is the same way today's people in 50s don't and never we to dance halls. I hear that generation prior to that dance halls was one of the primary ways for genders to meet in the west.

It is always the case that one generation doesn't like or rebels against the music tastes of their parents generation.

Social partner dancing is niche. If I look at the the Latin club crowd, the salsa club crowd and the studio social crowd in my metro region it is all 80%ish made up of 30-50 age group. Latinos make up 40% of general local population but the less at the dancing places. If I look at the outdoor concert festival crowd, it is made up of 80% Latinos, and audience tends skew more older 40 and above. The only younger people (20/30/40) are from the dance scene. The non dancing Latinos overwhelmingly outnumber dancers. The dancing scene is very small compared to people who listen to the music or attend the concert. If all regular dancers showed up , they would still be outnumbered by other attendees at salsa concerts held outdoors. We have a few regularly scheduled in a year. It is a full day affair. They are all free or mostly free.
 
Chris_Yannick said:
I'm curious how enforced that law is. What do underaged college kids do for fun?
Click to expand...

It is very strictly enforced. Doesn't matter if you are fifty and don't have id to prove it, most won't let you in. Establishments face heavy fines, the doormen are very strict. If you forget your Id and looks wise there is no way you could be below 25, it will still be extremely difficult to get in. At cocktail lounges attached to restaurants or high-end hotel or anyplace that doesn't have doorman, expect to be asked to produce an Id if you appear to the server to be below 21.

In public festivals, the alcohol areas are restricted. You get a special wrist band upon showing Id.

Junior and Emily use to require special permission to come perform at salsa clubs or dance at salsa clubs. But that exception was only granted to them by salsa clubs. Regular clubs wouldn't.

On the flip side people don't worry about getting in trouble for picking up someone below 18 at club or being fooled by someone claiming to be over 18 when they are not. None of 18 and below attempt to go to clubs. Those who do are usually 19 or 20 trying to use fake ids.

Anyone buying drinks for below 21 can legally get into trouble.
 
Last edited:
The crowd in my scene is pretty mixed but there are not many leaders under 30. I think i've probably ever only seen one leader that goes out often who was younger than me, and i'm 24. Usually guys in my age appear once or twice and seem to move on to other things. The girls seem a bit younger than the guys in general.

IME the young latin crown enjoys a salsa here and there regardless of age, but prefer the music to be mixed ie reggaeton, salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia and other smaller local genres depending on where they're from. We'd listen salsa not only to dance to, but also while just chilling around.

I guess on the international scene latin american people who would normally enjoy salsa get intimidated when they see people doing all kinds of advanced stuff. Ever since i was 15 i've been invited to parties with latinamericans and they'd always put some salsa or bachata. In the international dance setting whenever we went out to a latin club and the club had a separate dance floor for salsa, they'd prefer not to mix with the studio trained dancers though.

And yeah among the non latin crowd partner dancing is probably pretty niche. I happened to walk by a lindy hop event the other day and the crowd was way older than the salsa crowd. In that sense i don't think the 50´+ crowd is very specific to salsa but rather to partner dancing in a dance studio... Also most people outside of latinamerica don't even like latin music anyway...
 
Last edited:
TomSchueler said:
Did you discover the same phenomenon in your scene or is it way more varied than here? Do you believe salsa satisfied a need for exoticism and adventure in the 80s and 90s for the now 50+ generation?
Click to expand...

My first reaction is that Germany is far too diverse for such an assertion.
Have you researched the nights that are aimed at the 'Linien' crowd i.e. LA/NY?
Much more mixed from what I have experienced.

I could just about agree with you that the Cuban scene in some German cities does appear to have a more mature flavour but that's more to do with those people learning the Cuban style when Salsa first kicked off in their city and not being bothered to learn the subsequent styles. I know a few people like that in London.

What I am seeing is that a lot of younger dancers (20s/30s) seem to be attracted to Bachata. There does not seem to be a similar noticeable influx in the Salsa scene.
 
Chris_Yannick said:
I'm curious how enforced that law is. What do underaged college kids do for fun?
Click to expand...
In North America every kid and his sister have fake IDs just for that. (as an aside, I got carded at a club in LA at age 32 because "You are in California sir, this is the land of plastic surgery, ID please!")
If you and your friends don't have any, you go beer-chugging in the park at midnight.
If all fails, there is cowtipping.
 
TomSchueler said:
...Did you discover the same phenomenon in your scene or is it way more varied than here? Do you believe salsa satisfied a need for exoticism and adventure in the 80s and 90s for the now 50+ generation?
Click to expand...
A scene usually reflects its instructors. How old are they in your part of Germany? That may give you a clue.
 
Francisco Fiko said:
In North America every kid and his sister have fake IDs just for that. (as an aside, I got carded at a club in LA at age 32 because "You are in California sir, this is the land of plastic surgery, ID please!")
Click to expand...

Everyone gets carded at age 32 here.

I heard of fake Id but never seen one successful. May be that was the thing till 80s or 90s. Now they have scanners to make sure your id is genuine. Several times genuine expired id has been refused. I never got the logic. Id may be expired (usually by few days or couple of weeks), it doesn't mean person's age has changed :D in California the id expires on the birth date. You can still be refused if they don't believe your id. Every private establishment has right to refuse entry or service to anyone (as long as it is not on discriminatory basis).

Bouncers are very suspicious of college id especially on young looking person. I have seen bouncers yank people off dance floor to check the Id. We are talking about night club crowd.
 
Francisco Fiko said:
A scene usually reflects its instructors. How old are they in your part of Germany? That may give you a clue.
Click to expand...

Mhh, good point. The younger instructors definitely have a younger audience as well. Still, one teacher is 35 and most of his students are 50+.

Maybe it's not so much Salsa itself but the difference between more rural and metropolitan areas. I am happy to hear that Salsa has a attracts more diverse crowd in other parts of the world.

Bachata, in classes and the clubs, sports more younger people.
 
WessexSalsero said:
My first reaction is that Germany is far too diverse for such an assertion.
Have you researched the nights that are aimed at the 'Linien' crowd i.e. LA/NY?
Much more mixed from what I have experienced.

I could just about agree with you that the Cuban scene in some German cities does appear to have a more mature flavour but that's more to do with those people learning the Cuban style when Salsa first kicked off in their city and not being bothered to learn the subsequent styles. I know a few people like that in London.

What I am seeing is that a lot of younger dancers (20s/30s) seem to be attracted to Bachata. There does not seem to be a similar noticeable influx in the Salsa scene.
Click to expand...

I cannot speak for Germany as a whole (sorry if it came across this way) but maybe Berlin, Hamburg and the areas nearby. For Salsa on 1 and 2 there are fewer partys and clubs to dance in Berlin. Overall the crowd looked more mixed whenever I got to observe both styles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top