National Rhythms, African Roots: The Deep History of Latin American Popular Dance

National Rhythms, African Roots: The Deep History of Latin American Popular Dance. By John Charles Chasteen. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004. Pp. xi, 257. Illustrations. Glossary. Notes. Index. $45.00 cloth; $22.95 paper.

Most scholars who have sought to explain the centrality

of popular music to Latin American life have concentrated on musical production, tracing the biographies of key popular composers, analyzing lyrics and citing exemplary recordings. In this fascinating history of popular dance in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Havana, John Chasteen shifts focus to consumption, or more precisely to enjoyment, exploring "lowlife dives, fancy balls and private parties, religious celebrations and street festivals, lingering always on descriptions of people dancing" (p.11). In doing so, he delves into the historical substrata of today's canonical musical genres, revealing deep continuities as well as innovations in the motions and meanings of Latin American dance.