The Wolfsonian's Turn the Beat Around exhibition explores how Afro-Cuban genres like rumba, mambo, and cha-cha-cha made lasting contributions to U.S. music and dance. Dig deeper into this topic at an on-campus panel with three experts! Panelists will examine how tourism and Hollywood movies first acquainted American audiences with Afro-Cuban music, how the salsa movement was controversially […]

Where did salsa style come from? Ethnomusicologist Robin Moore answers that question by addressing both musical lineages and political changes. In the 1950s, mambo, cha-cha-cha, and the conjunto sound of Arsenio Rodríguez put Cuban music and musicians at the center of New York City nightlife, sparking a flow of influences between the two countries that continued far […]