Toronto Soundscape

Great Essays
Introduction When visualizing the Toronto soundscape, it is inevitable to picture it without considering the plethora of accents and languages of people from culturally dominated areas. I had the chance to attend a music and dance performance reflective of the diversity of the world’s traditions but also reflective of Toronto’s multiculturalism. The event took place at the Lula Lounge on March 5th, 2016, where I saw the band ‘Salsotika’ perform classic 80s and 90s salsa. In relation to the performance I experienced, the goal of this essay will be to demonstrate how salsa migrated to Toronto and its contribution to Toronto’s cityscape. Since the boom in immigration helped with the expansion of salsa, I will examine the performance by comparing it to a wider cultural context, similar to that of New York and metropolitan areas alike. I will first delve into the beginnings of salsa and the growth in of salsa in Toronto, then move to an analysis of elements from the performance, and finish with an inquiry on the social, cultural, and economic functions of salsa in Toronto.

What is salsa In preparation to seeing Salsotika, I wanted to generously research the tradition, from where salsa originates, and to correct any preconceived notions I had. Before my research, I believed salsa was both a musical genre and a dance. However, I discovered that there
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I have learned from my experience of Salsotika that I was not misinformed about salsa but more ignorant to the functions of the traditions and the origins by appropriating culture to people without being aware of the deeper significance of the culture I was partaking in. In its own way salsa represents a to each their own definition and function, whether it be economic, social, and cultural. I realize that there is deep significance and sophistication within salsa that I have not seen

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