Latino Music and Dance Go Mainstream in Paris The trumpets and trombones blasted out a 3-2 beat, sending the crowd shuffling its feet as the sound of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra filled Paris's Bataclan hall, packed out with a stand-up public. Latino music, and salsa dancing in couples, has become a mainstream fixture on the Paris cultural scene. "There are not necessarily more shows now than several years ago," said concert promoter Orlando De Cali, "but the public is largely French now, and that is a big change. "The mix of Latino and French spectators is really proof of how dynamic the Paris salsa scene is." Salsa classes became very popular in Paris dance centers several years ago, but are now also offered by a huge range of nightclubs, from the tiny and informal Clair Obscur, to the Montecristo on the Champs Elysees and the wildly popular Barrio Latino at the Bastille. Classes are typically offered at around 8 pm, after the working day and before the clubs fill up with people confident enough of their skill not to be embarrassed to go out on the dance floor. Concert promoter De Cali, 38, came to Paris 16 years ago from Colombia, and has produced stars such Tito Rojas, Andy Montanez, Victor Manuel, all from Puerto Rico and New York, and Yuri Buenaventura from Colombia. He explained there are two or three sides to the musica latina scene in Paris. "The real salsa dance orchestras are mostly from Puerto Rico and Colombia, with headquarters in the Latino world of New York, though I wonder how many of the French know that," he said. "The second style is the more classic Afro-Cuban sound from Cuba, such as the Afro-Cuban All-Stars and the whole Buena Vista Social Club thing, and the third is the samba sound from Brazil, but we don't see too many Brazilians here." Burgos, 36, was born in Chile, grew up in Panama and moved to Paris 21 years ago. He does two of the station's most popular programs: the top 10 musica latina countdown from the New York charts, and a morning review of news from Central and South America, broadcast in French. "The hard core of listeners used to be Latino residents of Paris and the suburbs, many of whom were political and economic refugees, but now many listeners are French," he said, "and most do not speak Spanish. They take dance classes and go to concerts and drink mojitos. Sometimes they are more Latino than we are." Source: Yahoo! News

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