Field Report for Melt October 11, 2006 by Aaron

Upon my second visit to Melt I was able to pick up on some things that I had not noticed upon my first visit. A lot of this times field work had to do with the people that where there, and their interaction with each other.      Before even entering the building this time I noticed that there was a brand new Lexus in the parking lot. I thought to myself, wow that’s a pretty nice car, and then I noticed that there where several other cars that where of a much different social class. There where some cars that looked like they had seen better days, to say the least, and some like the Lexus that where very nice, and someone is paying a pretty penny for the car. After this observation I became more curious to see what the people inside looked like. I was going to make it one of my goals for the night to see if I could guess which person drove what car. Sure enough there where people there who were dressed in what seemed like a variety of different social classes. There where people who were dressed in nice slacks or a suit, to people that where dressed in their jeans and a t-shirt that where just barely meeting the dress code. Unlike most situation with a wide variety of social classes, these people where all interacting with each other and dancing with each other as if there where no obvious social class differences at all. This seems like an environment, and one of the few, that really does not seem to take social class into consideration. People are just having a good time all together on a Wednesday night.      In addition to the above considerations I also noticed that most of the regulars where all related in some way. I know that this has been noted several times, in my field work as well as other in my group, but I’d like to point out the fact that these people actually seem to be physically related. It seems like this is literally a somewhat family business that is going on. It is a small market and it seems like it a lot to the people who are a part of a family. The DJ’s nephew is one of the salsa instructors at the Rec. that we will be taking lessons from. The dancing man, Joe, that we have all taken an interest in, has an aunt that is one of the main people in charge of the Jakes event, as well as, another man, Cesar, who is also related to them that is in charge of PR for one of the major Latin radio stations in town. So it is very interesting to note how many people are physically related in this particular sub-community. If the people are not physically related it seems like they are defiantly close friends with someone in this family, and that is how they have gotten there “in” so to speak. In addition there is a large group of exchange students that are coming from tropical parts of the world that are coming to these events as well because of their experiences and love of this music from back home. This makes up the other part of the insider group at Melt that have all seemed to find each other and can relate to each other based on their similar experiences as exchange students.      This brings me to my next point, which is about the relationship between insider and outsider that has been happening here at Melt. Because of the close knit relationships that are present in this community it is very obvious who the outsiders are. This is made known with who is socializing with who, and more specifically, who is sitting at the tables all together that are part of this family or, insider group, as well as who is dancing regularly with one another. Although it is easy to pick out the outsiders for the most part, it seems that they are very welcome, and are encouraged to attend, as this is a community that is trying to grow. All the people there are very eager to let people dance and will even offer to dance with someone who is making an attempt at trying to dance. This overall seems like a community that really wants to grow, and would really like to see more people get involved in participating in this kind of music and getting to become part of the inside group they have already. This obviously is something that will be really challenging to do, as it is hard to be a newcomer in a group that has been together for years.      This will bring me to my next point as well, which is the ease in which the people where okay with us filming. Most people didn’t even acknowledge that the camera was there, or if they did they quickly forgot about it. One couple in particular was standing right in front of the camera and started dancing right in front of it as if it where not there. We where trying to get the whole dance floor, but where unable to at that moment as they where literally standing within a couple feet of the camera dancing. I’m not sure what the implications are that the filming seemed so accepted by everyone there, but it was defiantly having little affect on the way people where acting as it was a very accurate representation of how it is when the camera is not rolling. Back

October 16, 2006 Impromptu Mini Field Report

Consider this a post for Danielle and I since technical problems prevent her from posting from her computer. Danielle and I both attended the Jazz 1 Ensemble concert this evening (Monday), and were surprised to hear a song called Una Mas, which turned out to sound very salsa influenced. It included a 2->3 clave, a characteristic of salsa. I heard the clave, but since it wasn't being directly played I thought I might just be making it up, until around the middle of the song the ensemble started the audience clapping the clave rhythm. Danielle and I found each other during intermission, directly after the song. We were both pretty excited and as soon as we spotted each other, we said "Did you hear that!?! It was the 2-3 clave! Salsa!" We both strongly considered yelling "Azucar!", but since most of the audience wouldn't get Celia Cruz's catch phrase, we refrained. Hoorah for the impromptu fieldwork! Back

10/5/2006 Field Report at Jakes by Danielle

Aaron, Nicky, and I arrive at Jake’s before 10 pm.  This is our first visit to the salsa night at Jake’s.  Abi arrives shortly thereafter.   The salsa night is held in the back room, so you have to walk through the main seating and bar area to get to the salsa area.  It takes a while for the scene to pick up.             The room layout is as follows: the dance floor is in the far back of the room (as you walk in), the bar closest to the entry door, the tables between the bar and dance floor.   The room is very dark, with smoke inside to make the light show visible.  The volume of the music is very loud, so we have to yell just to be heard.             Simply in terms of dance, you can get away with not dancing quite so well at Jake’s because the dance floor is mostly dark and on the other side of the room.  So, people can’t see you if you mess up or make a fool of yourself.  At Melt, however, the dance floor is fairly well lighted and central to the entire place.  As a result, everyone can see each step you make and can easily tell if you know what you are doing (or not)......             The social aspect of salsa is very obvious in Jake’s.  People mostly come and spend time in large groups.  The dance floor was usually crowded and more people seem to be dancing more frequently.  This simply may be a factor of age- the crowd at Jake’s mainly consists of college-age students.  There are few people in the room over the age of 30.  There is also a lot of drinking going on.   People drink at Melt, but there we don’t usually see people just guzzling away at the bar like we see at Jake’s.             The DJ plays sets of salsa and merengue, broken up by sets of reggaeton and occasionally cumbia.  This prompts a hearty “this isn’t salsa!” by my dance partner at the time.  Actually, it is more like several hearty “this isn’t salsa!”s.  Felix, with whom I was dancing, is from Mexico.  Apparently, in Mexico, “salsa” means mostly just salsa and merengue (not reggaeton, which is frequently included in the US and based on hip hop).  So, this upsets him to some degree but he just goes along with it and dances anyway.             Abi and I try to find the manager of Jake’s, but he is not present.  So, we are able to talk to the PR for Jake’s salsa night, Cesar.  We actually met Cesar and his aunt (who coincidentally is also Joe’s aunt) previously at Melt.  We make preliminary contacts with Cesar and discussed the purpose of our project, in hopes of scheduling an interview at a later date.  Cesar’s aunt remembers us and we have a nice conversation with her.  She also introduces us to whom she regards as a “salsa queen,” a girl in her mid/late twenties named Celia.  Celia is very friendly, and invites Abi and I to dance with her group style during some reggaeton songs.  In addition to these contacts, we are able to meet the DJ.             Abi, Aaron, and I are able to dance more than in our recent excursions, partly because of the dance-friendly environment and partly because we know quite a few Tech students who are also at the salsa night.  Thus, we are able to do much more participating than in previous observations.   Back

October 17, 2006 Rec. Center Beginner Salsa Dance Class, by Aaron

Dance lessons are offered at the rec, which includes salsa dancing.  The group signed up and have started going.  Because of my tardiness in posting my field notes, I am going to combine my first two experiences at the dance lessons.               The room is a long ballet style room with mirrors all across the front wall.  We have two dance instructors who are willing to let us video tape the class, with the consent of the rec, and have allowed us to hand out serves to the people who have decided to attend the class.  Both dance instructors are Hispanic, and have heavy accents.  This makes me wonder if there primary language is Spanish.  If this is the case, I think it would be great to hear from them what some of there favorite songs are (not a bad idea anyway) and find out what these songs are about.  Maybe we can find a pattern in the type of music they like to what the songs are about.                 When the class was ready to start the instructors started out the class by teaching what they call the basic.  The basic is the dance pattern that dancers do throughout the dance.  The basic goes as follows, with the left leg (if you’re the guy) step forward make a small step with the right, and then step back with the left leg to where you where before.  Then you step back with your right make a small step with your left, and return your right leg to where you started.  This three beat pattern is done in a “cha cha cha” kind of beat.  The instructors went around to everybody in the room to make sure that everyone was getting alright, they do this after every new dance move they teach.  After the basic was learned, they then taught the first dance move, which was a turn.  First they taught how to turn the ladies, and then they taught the men how to turn themselves.  It was explained that in salsa dancing the man always leads.  This was all the class had time for, except for the introduction into what we where going to learn next time, because the class was surprisingly full.  My wife tried to sign up for the class and was not allowed because there was no more space left in it.             On the second day of class, they did a lot of review.  It started out by simply going over the basic again and then shortly reviewing the turn.  Most people where able to start reviewing turns immediately again as it was still remembered by most from the last week.  After everyone was warmed up, they then moved right into the move that they had only introduced in the last class that is called the “cross body lead”.  This is where the dance partners switch what side they are dancing on.  Basically, the guy step to the side and the girl moves past him while the guy keeps the basic going to the song.  In addition to simply moving past the guy, they also quickly added spinning the girl while in the process of going by.  After everyone got the hang of this, which was the majority of the class period, the instructors moved on the next step of this dance move, which is to make the girl do a double spin.  This is where the girl spins twice while going past the guy.  Although it seems pretty simple, it is a lot harder to stay on the beat and complete the move on time.  It requires very specific timing and it also requires the girl to have to spin pretty fast.             It is my observation, after the first two sessions that a lot of the people who are at these dance classes are not just hear to learn salsa.  We have just giving the survey and are not sure what are conclusion are yet as to why everyone is taking the class, but it seems to me that this is what my wife had referred to it as “single mingle time”.  In other words, it seems like a lot of people are taking the class to try to meet a significant other.  There are a lot of singles out there and it is a shy awkward environment around many of the people in the class.  It will be interesting to try and find out how important learning salsa really is to the majority of the students taking the class.  It is always possible that they really are very interested in learning salsa and they can simply try and kill two birds with one stone.  I am curious to find out if the large number of participants stays high throughout the rest of the classes. Back

Jake's 10/5/2006 by Aaron

My second stop was at Jakes sports café where they have a salsa night every Thursday night.  The event is held in a very large back room.  The atmosphere of the place was both very similar and different to Melt.  Jakes had a much larger space to hold the event, as far as square feet.  There was a bigger dance floor and more tables to sit at.  Despite this fact, there really weren’t that many more people in attendance.  The environment set up was defiantly a much more casual feeling affair.  Everything from the dress, to the general behavior of the people there suggested a much less formal feeling.  Although Melt is not a formal event, like I said, they have a stricter dress code and the focus seemed to be more on the dancing, where as at Jakes, the focus seemed to be much more centralized around the drinking and having fun dancing as well.  The music played at Jakes was in a much greater variety than what we experienced at Melt.  They where playing several other genres such as rigaton and rap.  Not all of the music was even in Spanish.  The people who where there seemed to be a much larger crowd of “outsiders”.  I believe this was the case based on the number of people dancing, and the popularity of the songs of which the most people where going out to dance to.  The crowd favorites where the rap songs and things that where not even in Spanish.  Although there where some definite insiders there as well as we witnessed some very good salsa dancers! In addition to these differences there where also some stark similarities that I believe bear the greatest significance of all the data we gathered.  The greatest of these was some of the salsa and meringue tunes that where played at melt and Jakes multiple times.  It will be important to get more information about these pieces in our next visit with the DJ’s.  The information we will need to include is why these songs are the more popular songs, what are the translations into English, and other information about it that may be significant.  The atmosphere in which both events took place where very similar as they where both in a dark bar setting.  Is there a correlation between this setting and salsa music?  Why do these setting seem to pair up?  Is it just coincidence?  Are other salsa dancing places not in a bar kind of setting?  All questions that could be answered by some of your primary contacts that we are continuing to make contact with.  As a final note I think it is important to note that when we where dancing and observing this time, I noticed that meringue dancing can be very similar to that of a swing dance.  I was doing swing dancing during some of these songs and fitting right in with some of the moves that where taking place with some of the other people that where dancing. Back

October 17th and 24th, 2006: Salsa Class at the Rec., by Aaron

Dance lessons are offered at the rec, which includes salsa dancing.  The group signed up and have started going.  Because of my tardiness in posting my field notes, I am going to combine my first two experiences at the dance lessons.               The room is a long ballet style room with mirrors all across the front wall.  We have two dance instructors who are willing to let us video tape the class, with the consent of the rec, and have allowed us to hand out serves to the people who have decided to attend the class.  Both dance instructors are Hispanic, and have heavy accents.  This makes me wonder if there primary language is Spanish.  If this is the case, I think it would be great to hear from them what some of there favorite songs are (not a bad idea anyway) and find out what these songs are about.  Maybe we can find a pattern in the type of music they like to what the songs are about.                 When the class was ready to start the instructors started out the class by teaching what they call the basic.  The basic is the dance pattern that dancers do throughout the dance.  The basic goes as follows, with the left leg (if you’re the guy) step forward make a small step with the right, and then step back with the left leg to where you where before.  Then you step back with your right make a small step with your left, and return your right leg to where you started.  This three beat pattern is done in a “cha cha cha” kind of beat.  The instructors went around to everybody in the room to make sure that everyone was getting alright, they do this after every new dance move they teach.  After the basic was learned, they then taught the first dance move, which was a turn.  First they taught how to turn the ladies, and then they taught the men how to turn themselves.  It was explained that in salsa dancing the man always leads.  This was all the class had time for, except for the introduction into what we where going to learn next time, because the class was surprisingly full.  My wife tried to sign up for the class and was not allowed because there was no more space left in it.             On the second day of class, they did a lot of review.  It started out by simply going over the basic again and then shortly reviewing the turn.  Most people where able to start reviewing turns immediately again as it was still remembered by most from the last week.  After everyone was warmed up, they then moved right into the move that they had only introduced in the last class that is called the “cross body lead”.  This is where the dance partners switch what side they are dancing on.  Basically, the guy step to the side and the girl moves past him while the guy keeps the basic going to the song.  In addition to simply moving past the guy, they also quickly added spinning the girl while in the process of going by.  After everyone got the hang of this, which was the majority of the class period, the instructors moved on the next step of this dance move, which is to make the girl do a double spin.  This is where the girl spins twice while going past the guy.  Although it seems pretty simple, it is a lot harder to stay on the beat and complete the move on time.  It requires very specific timing and it also requires the girl to have to spin pretty fast.             It is my observation, after the first two sessions that a lot of the people who are at these dance classes are not just here to learn salsa.  We have just giving the survey and are not sure what are conclusion are yet as to why everyone is taking the class, but it seems to me that this is what my wife had referred to it as “single mingle time”.  In other words, it seems like a lot of people are taking the class to try to meet a significant other.  There are a lot of singles out there and it is a shy awkward environment around many of the people in the class.  It will be interesting to try and find out how important learning salsa really is to the majority of the students taking the class.  It is always possible that they really are very interested in learning salsa and they can simply try and kill two birds with one stone.  I am curious to find out if the large number of participants stays high throughout the rest of the classes. Back

October 5, 2006: Fieldwork at Jake's, by Danielle

Aaron, Nicky, and I arrive at Jake’s before 10 pm.  This is our first visit to the salsa night at Jake’s.  Abi arrives shortly thereafter.   The salsa night is held in the back room, so you have to walk through the main seating and bar area to get to the salsa area.  It takes a while for the scene to pick up.             The room layout is as follows: the dance floor is in the far back of the room (as you walk in), the bar closest to the entry door, the tables between the bar and dance floor.   The room is very dark, with smoke inside to make the light show visible.  The volume of the music is very loud, so we have to yell just to be heard.             Simply in terms of dance, you can get away with not dancing quite so well at Jake’s because the dance floor is mostly dark and on the other side of the room.  So, people can’t see you if you mess up or make a fool of yourself.  At Melt, however, the dance floor is fairly well lighted and central to the entire place.  As a result, everyone can see each step you make and can easily tell if you know what you are doing (or not)......             The social aspect of salsa is very obvious in Jake’s.  People mostly come and spend time in large groups.  The dance floor was usually crowded and more people seem to be dancing more frequently.  This simply may be a factor of age- the crowd at Jake’s mainly consists of college-age students.  There are few people in the room over the age of 30.  There is also a lot of drinking going on.   People drink at Melt, but there we don’t usually see people just guzzling away at the bar like we see at Jake’s.             The DJ plays sets of salsa and merengue, broken up by sets of reggaeton and occasionally cumbia.  This prompts a hearty “this isn’t salsa!” by my dance partner at the time.  Actually, it is more like several hearty “this isn’t salsa!”s.  Felix, with whom I was dancing, is from Mexico.  Apparently, in Mexico, “salsa” means mostly just salsa and merengue (not reggaeton, which is frequently included in the US and based on hip hop).  So, this upsets him to some degree but he just goes along with it and dances anyway.             Abi and I try to find the manager of Jake’s, but he is not present.  So, we are able to talk to the PR for Jake’s salsa night, Cesar.  We actually met Cesar and his aunt (who coincidentally is also Joe’s aunt) previously at Melt.  We make preliminary contacts with Cesar and discussed the purpose of our project, in hopes of scheduling an interview at a later date.  Cesar’s aunt remembers us and we have a nice conversation with her.  She also introduces us to whom she regards as a “salsa queen,” a girl in her mid/late twenties named Celia.  Celia is very friendly, and invites Abi and I to dance with her group style during some reggaeton songs.  In addition to these contacts, we are able to meet the DJ.             Abi, Aaron, and I are able to dance more than in our recent excursions, partly because of the dance-friendly environment and partly because we know quite a few Tech students who are also at the salsa night.  Thus, we are able to do much more participating than in previous observations.   Back

October 5, 2006 at Jake's: Field Notes from Nicky

The salsa night at Jake's was set up quite differently from Melt. At Melt, the building is smaller and the dance floor is the main attraction. At Jake's, the salsa night was in the back room and there was a $5 cover charge for the men to get in. The front part of Jake's was all a well-lit sports bar/ restaurant where you could get food and drink, and watch TV. The back room was very dark, very smoky, with its own bar and a small dance floor up next to a stage, which was not in use. There was a DJ from a local radio station there in charge of the music. Abi and I talked with him and he gave us the information necessary to set up an interview at some other time because the music was just too loud for an interview to take place efficiently.     There were many people there from Tech, and all the other people present had come in fairly large groups, which was different from Melt because at Melt you have small groups of 2-3 people and the crowd develops from people going from group to group. (The biggest group at Melt was centered around the bar, and the booth in front of the fish tank where Joe usually sits - pictures are up on a website.) When Danielle, Aaron and I arrived there were only a few people besides us in the room, but around 10 - 10:30 the room started to fill up until there was a fairly large crowd, but with the exception of a couple or two every few songs, people didn't really get up and start dancing until around 10:45ish. (I'm estimating the time because it was too dark for me to write anything down.)     The group of people from Tech saw our group and we wound up with our little round tables in a sort of ameobic huddle together. I haven't really decided yet whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that there were so many people there that we knew. On one hand, that's a group of people we can talk to and get information from easily, but on the other hand, that's a large group of people that we already know, acting as a buffer between our group and the rest of the crowd because we stayed with them the whole time. Also, the owner of Jake's had told us at Melt last week that he would expect to see us at his place and I don't think we ever asked to speak with him. Aaron and I couldn't have tracked him down because he didn't meet us, and we didn't know what he looked like. On the up side, there was a lot more dancing going on in our group because we had people willing to dance with us there and Aaron, Abi, and Danielle all got the chance to go dance with one or more people at different times throughout the night. So, it was handy for learning the steps.     We saw a few people there who we knew (and who knew us) from Melt, and we did make contact with two new possible informants (the DJ, and PR person for a radio station that Abi talked to), but I think we could've gotten more out of it if it had been just our group rather than our group plus everyone there that we knew from Tech. (Not that it was bad to see them.)     I don't think going to Jake's was a wasted trip, but I think we should be more cautious in the future in remembering why we are there. There's a difference, in my mind, between participant observation and turning it into a social function and I'm not so sure that we didn't cross that line. Back

October 4, 2006 at Jake's: Field Notes from Nicky

Tonight things seemed to move a little more slowly on the dance floor.      Last week, Aaron and I had to leave around 11:30pm, but by that time the floor was full of people. This time, things didn't really pick up until around 11:15 (ish). Perhaps because it's the beginning of the month? Last week Jacob had mentioned that fair being in town could put a damper on things, but I wonder if perhaps crowds drawn to the fair were also drawn to Melt since things moved more slowly this time around.      The layout of the inside of the building is the same as last time; tables were cleared out of the way for the dance floor. I got a couple of shots of the DJ's setup, but I'm not sure how they're going to turn out because I try to use the flash as little as possible so I don't freak people out - especially while they're dancing. I adjusted the exposure/aperture as much as I could and tried setting the camera on a divider wall they have so that I wouldn't blur the picture by moving.      We have the same waitress/hostess as last time. She remembers us from the last time we were here and she brought us water with a lemon in it. She asked us what class we were here for and seemed pretty interested when we explained to her what the class was and why we were at Melt. She gave us her name and told us to let her know if we needed anything. I think that she could be a valuable source because if she's there every Wednesday (or every night), she would be able to tell us who the regulars are - who is there only on salsa nights, and who comes in sporadically throughout the week, etc.      Joe, Jacob, DJ Mario, and few other people were present that we either knew on site, had talked to breifly, or that Danielle and/or Abi had danced with last week after I left. I don't do a lot of dancing and I think that's because I've been walking around with the camera taking pictures; it's a big expensive semi-professional looking camera so I may try and lay off it for the next night. However, thing may just be made worse because next time we're planning on bringing a video camera.      Jacob seems to be the man in charge of salsa night. Abi and I compare his job to that of an interior decorate (bad analogy, I know) because he doesn't seem to be affiliated specifically with Melt, but he's the guy you call to set your business up with a salsa night and he stays to hang out and make sure things go smoothly. So, when discussing the issue of how/when to introduce the possibility of video on the scene, we asked Jacob. His response was: "Mi casa es su casa" and he encouraged us to bring it in. Abi and I both thought it was very interesting that a) He was so willing to let us in with a video camera so soon and b)That he used the phrase he did. In case there is anyone reading this who doesn't know what "Mi casa es su casa" means, it means, literally, "My house/home is your house/home." and implies sharing of pretty much everything. It's equivalent to saying to a guest "Make yourself at home" (and really meaning it). So we basically got permission and approval to take off our shoes and put our feet on the coffee table - which is awesome progress considering we've only been to Melt once before.      Also, I thought it was notable that when Abi and I came in the door there was a moment of debate whether or not to let me in since I'm under 21. The guy that was handling the door didn't know us from last Wednesday and we were explaining to him why we were there and wanted to get (I forgot my letter of introduction. >.<) when Jacob walked up and said "Y'all are with the project right?" We nodded and he waved his hand at the guy and said "They're cool; let them in." So, we sat down at a table while they searched for a marker and then they came over to draw an X on my hands.      Several people there actually remembered us from last week, and when Joe spotted us after dancing a while he came over to us to talk to us. He introduced himself to me because we didn't actually talk last time, and he asked us how we were doing and how the project was going, then excused himself so he could go out and dance some more. Abi and Danielle tell me that he asked about me after I left. I think it's a good sign that people are remembering us, being friendly, offering to help out, introduce us to people, recommend places to go, etc., etc.      So, even thought it was slow to pick up, I think the trip back to Melt was time well-spent because if nothing else we're starting to become a part of the scene and letting people get used to seeing us around. . Back

September 27, 2006 at Melt: Field Notes from Nicky

Melt is right next to Shooters, on Texas Ave. It was a little on the small side, but had a very classy atmosphere. Lighting was dim and tables used during restaurant hours were moved out of the way to make an area for a small dance floor. There was a large floor to ceiling fountain that divided the room into two unequal sections. On either side of the fountain were open doorways that led to a small room with cushioned booths lining the walls and two flat screen tvs were situated on the back side of the wall that held the fountain.      Both rooms has paintings on the walls. In the main room with the bar and dance floor, there were paintings of people playing guitars, drums, and a flute.      The crowd was (with the exception of three of our four group members) over 21, and topped around 55.      Dress code required collared shirts for men, no baseball caps, no shorts. Women were all dressed very nicely, but not "formal". Two women did come in wearing a very short, tight version of Peter Pan and Captain Hook costumes. To be honest, we couldn't really figure out why.      The crowd was very friendly and welcoming not only with our group, but with everyone in the club. People didn't necessarily have to be there "with" someone in order to get a chance to dance. One man that we interviewed danced with several different people and taught them a few dance steps, though for the most part everyone seemed to have a very good idea of how the dances went. Our was encouraged to learn how to dance and one man that we interviewed insisted that lessons were okay, but that the best way to learn how to do the dances and learn the steps was to be in a place like Melt, on the dance floor, learning as you go.      We got names and names of place from several different people that will be very useful in our project. Aaron and I had a brief, impromptu interview with DJ Mario, who was the DJ in charge of the music. He was very helpful and seemed excited to learn that we were there to learn about salsa. He gave us his business card and encouraged us to set up an interview later on so we could sit down and talk without the noise of the music and the crowd.      The salsa community in Lubbock seems to be very close-knit. DJ Mario knows a woman, Theresa, that I had talked to (she suggested we go to Melt) as well as a man who gives salsa classes at the Rec.; he introduced us to the man who started salsa nights in Lubbock (Jacob?), who introduced us to the owner of another business that holds salsa nights (Jake’s), and it seemed like everyone knew someone that we hadn't met yet who could give us more information, or teach us the dance steps, give us more ideas of the music to look at, or that would know yet another person we could interview.      Everyone we talked to was very proprietary, too. This was "the" place to be, and it was "their" salsa night. Many people asserted that Melt was the place to be, and that other places in town didn't quite meet the standards for a "real" salsa night. Back

October 11, 2006 at Melt: Field Notes from Nicky

Tonight I took a video camera. I had to use the night vision option because it was too dark to film regularly inside. I arrived at 10:30pm and had to explain at the door why I was there and that I was underage. I think everyone in the group has just started saying "I'm with the project.", and they let us in. Naturally, I got a nice permanent marker "x" on my hand since everyone else in the place has to be over 21. The dancing didn't really pick up until after Danielle, Abi, and Aaron were all here and I got quite a bit of it on film.      It turned out to be pretty easy to be unobtrusive with the camera because the only place open to sit when I arrived was in a corner booth in the back part of the place, where there is a short dividing wall and a curtain. I just set the camera up on the wall, aimed it at the dance floor and left it. I had to move it a couple of times because we were so successful at being unobtrusive that a rather "touchy" couple wound up parking right in front of the camera for a break from dancing, oblivious to the fact that they were being filmed. After that small setback we got some really good video of the dancing. Joe and his dance partner (whose name I do not know) were on the dance floor for most of the time that I was filming. I personally think it makes for a really nice comparison between beginners and people who really know how to do all the dances because you see them all out there dancing together.      There was a sort of special event going on, but the atmosphere and the crowd seemed to stay pretty much the same. Jacob, Joe, DJ Mario, and various other people we know by face if not by name were there, doing their own thing per usual.      It was actually sort of nice to go back and see all the same faces, hear some of the same music and wave at people who knew me on sight. So, I feel like the group is finally a little more "in" at Melt - not that people weren't welcoming to begin with, but now I think we're beginning to be seen more as regulars and maybe a little less as "those guys doing some project about salsa". . Back

October 17, 2006 at the Rec: Field Notes from Nicky

Our group attended the first Beginner Salsa Dance class at the Student Rec. It's an evening class, and though it was cancelled previously due to lack of enrollment, there were plenty of people in the room when my group arrived. Abi had been planning to do a survey of people in the class and we started wondering how soon her printer would run out of ink as people trickled through the doors to the classroom. I think the final tally, with our group included, was over 35 people.     Everyone was around the age of everyone in our group, with a couple of people there that were older than the rest of the group. The intructors, Gilbert and Margarita, kept a tally of who was in attendance that night.     The thing that first struck me as I walked in was that very few people in the class seemed to know anyone else in the class. Everyone was sitting along one wall in a long, long line and nobody was talking. Our group seemed strange because we were actually there in a group.     We were all advised to dance in our socks because of the slippery flooring, which had it's downside; by the end of class the room smelled very strongly of Foot.     The class moved pretty quickly, in my opinion, for the first class for a group of beginners. We all learned the basic step first, then we partnered up and started learning turns. We first learned the turns where the guy turns a girl. The guy has to give his partner a signal with his hand, and the girl turns on her left foot, while the guy keeps the basic step going. When the turn stops the two people are supposed to be right back in rhythm, doing the basic step. It took us a while to get that down. At one point Aaron and I were actually dancing on the off-beat, which was cool, but incorrect.     Next, we learned the turns where the guy turns. For this, there is no signal, and the girl takes on the role of keeping the basic step going. It's pretty interesting, because any time either person does a turn they have to start with a certain foot forward, turn on one foot, then land with a certain foot going back and keep up with the basic step.     The music was interesting. Some of it sounded very familiar to our group, from Melt or Jake's. Tempos varied, which made staying in step more interesting as we learned the turns and started doing consecutive turns or alternating guy-girl turns.     By the end of class everyone was doing pretty well and seemed a little tired. (Danielle and I talked about our feet hurting because we weren't wearing shoes and we were dancing on the balls of our feet for an hour.)     I think there's potential for information in that class, especially if we can get at least 10 people out of the class to actually fill out and return a survery. . Back

October 31, 2006 at the Rec: Field Notes from Nicky

I missed class #2, when everyone learned the cross-body lead, so I had a bit of catching up to do. The guy I wound up dancing with had taken dancing classes before, and that worked out fairly well because he has made it to all the classes and helped me figure out what was going on. In this class, the level of complexity in the dancing skyrocketed. (It wasn't just me, either.)     So far we've gone from the basic step, to turns, the cross body lead, to the cross body lead with turns and now something so complicated that I don't think it even has a name. I can't describe it well in words, but I will try anyway.     The first thing is to start off with the basic step: back, together, forward together, etc., then the guy signals the turn, and the girl turns and halfway through the turn she lets go of the guy's hands, and he grabs her hands to that his right and left hands are together. When the turn is complete, the guy's arms are crossed in front of him. Both partners keep the basic step going through this and the turn ends with the girl's right foot back. Then, the guy steps to his right for the cross body lead; the girl steps forward, turns, and ends with her right foot back again. After this the guy turns - without letting go of his partner's hands. One hand goes over his head, the other hand goes down behind his back, and as he turns he ducks under both of his arms. Confused? We were, too.     After the guy finishes his turn, there's another cross body lead with a turn, hands are still crossed, and the guy brings one of his hands behind the girl's neck, and bring one of her hands behind his neck, and then you bring your hands back together straight forward and keep doing the basic step, adding in turns and this complicated series of moves whenever you feel like it.     Our group also handed out surveys. The class was smaller this time, but I think we got back every survey we handed out. There was, however, some confusion over *why* we were handing them out. Several people thought we were with the Rec. center and some of the answers reflected that.     One survey really amused us because in answer to the "Why are you taking this class?" question, one person replied (honestly): "Sheer boredom."     That works.     Everyone that we talked to about the surveys seemed interested in what class it was we were doing research for and why we joined the class. Most people looked confuddled (or impressed with the big word) if we just said "Ethnomusicology", but once we explained a little more they thought it was really interesting. My dance partner wound up asking me which places did salsa and when, which I find interesting. I'm not quite sure what the implications are, other than that he's interested in finding someplace to go to dance salsa and wasn't aware of the presence of the salsa community here in Lubbock, but I think those two things are interesting enough. Maybe he was wondering how in depth our research was? I'm also curious about the answers on our surveys. I wonder how answers would or did differ when they thought it was for the Rec. and when they knew it was for research - will answers be really different in length, content, or the type of information they're willing to give us? I also wonder if we'll be able to look at answers and say "This person thought it was for the Rec. because of these answers." or "This person knew it was for our project because they said..."     I also wonder about how many people in the class have taken other dance classes. At least two people that we know of have also taken the swing dancing class, so maybe they're focusing less on the "salsa" part, and more on the "dance" part. If they are focusing on dance, maybe we should just isolate that for a bit and look at that. (Just enough to see they why's and how's of it, no necessarily in depth since we don't really have time for that.) How are dance and music the same or different? What priorities or categories do people have for dance/music? Are they linked in one crowd, but separate in another? (For example, at Melt are salsa and dance basically one thing (or one word, like "danceandmusic") and at the Rec. center is it "dance AND music"? I'm not sure it would be vital to find these things out, but I think it would be interesting to compare the different attitudes in the different places about how dance and music are, or are not, linked. . Back

November 1, 2006 at Melt: Field Notes from Nicky

I arrived a little earlier than everyone else tonight, so the kitchen was still open. I took a look at a menu and ordered an appetizer to snack on while I was waiting for things to start happening. It turns out that the menu at Melt is a little on the expensive side, and very clearly sends the message that Melt is a “nice” restaurant. The appetizers were priced from $4.99 - $7.99, the “blue collar” plates like burgers ran from $7.99 and up, and the salads, grill items and nicer dinners ran from $12.99 and up. There were also several pages in the back featuring an extensive wine list along with the mixed drinks you see on the mini-menu that’s left on the tables after the kitchen closes.      Now, I think the menu is interesting because the kinds of things you see in a menu can place the establishment socially and economically, so here’s a list of things I noted: Appetizers: Potato Wrapped Shrimp Stuffed Jalapenos Breaded Portabellos Tuscan Dip Calamari (fancy, huh?) Crab Cakes Grill: Chicken Wrap Turkey Sandwich Quesadillas Melt Burger Entrees: Chicken Toscana, etc.      Another benefit of arriving early was that not only did I get some tasty food, but I got to see the switch from restaurant to club. I saw DJ Mario, Jacob, and the hostess for the evening crowd arrive and start setting things up. Tables were moved out of the way for the dance floor, lights were dimmed, the fountain in the back, which had been off, was turned on, Mario set up his sound equipment and all that good stuff, Jacob helped clear the dance floor, chatted with the people who worked there as well as some people that were there for dinner, and he and I had a shoot-the-breeze sort of conversation. He asked me how my food was and thankfully I could say that it was pretty good. (I got breaded mushrooms and though I’m not a huge fan of fungus, it was fairly tasty.)      As usual, I think it’s really nice how our group was sort of adopted into the community. They know us on sight now and we seem to be treated like regulars instead of researchers. They’re very hospitable.      After the group arrived, along with Aaron’s wife, Danielle we sat down and chatted for a while. It was a lot more relaxed than our other field experiences at Melt since we’re so close to wrapping things up. We got the chance, finally, to just be there and be a part of the crowd.      I wound up heading home a little bit early because the crowd was slow and because I badly needed sleep since I have work on Thursdays. I had also taken notes on the menu and the behavior of people as they arrived on the scene. . Back

November 3, 2006 at Southbeach: Field Notes from Nicky

Southbeach is in the depot district (should that be capitalized?) just like Melt. Unlike Melt, they charge cover. For those 21 and over, it’s $5. For those of us under 21, it’s $10. I guess they’re making up for the money I don’t spend on alcohol. Southbeach is just as dark on the inside as Jake’s, but it’s a bigger space and less smoky than Jake’s was. The dance floor at Southbeach is right smack in the middle of the building, with bars on the far ends. Bathrooms are hidden behind on of the six sets of staircases that lead up to a balcony area that circles the inside perimeter of the building. The balcony area provides a good view of the dance floor and the stage, so that’s where Aaron and I sat.      The crowd is older than the crowd at either Melt or Jake’s, but perhaps less mature. Most of the people seemed to be there for drinking and dancing. In that order. Unfortunately, there was no salsa music at Southbeach. There was a live band, in which all members wore zoot suits…and here’s the scary part: the bass player was in charge.      Southbeach seemed, to me, primarily about taking people’s money. The cover charge was expensive for people under 21, beer signs were prominently displayed, and a couple of people walked around selling glow sticks, teddy bears with roses that were somehow lighted with blue or red light, and fake roses that had a light in the middle of the flower. I’m not sure how much these items cost, but I know they weren’t free.      I personally prefer Melt, or Jake’s to Southbeach. They seem classier, friendlier, safer, and less bent on taking your money. (Of course all three business make plenty of money, but at Southbeach I almost felt like I should have left my purse locked in the trunk of my car.)      I don’t think the Southbeach trip was wasted, but I understand now why one of our informants was saying that the crowd at Melt was more mature, but if we went to Southbeach “…not that you would, but if you did…” we would see a less mature crowd of people. . Back

October 12, 2006 at Jake’s: Field Notes from Abi and Danielle

Tonight was our second night at Jake’s. Our first discovery of the night was the fact that cover is not the same for those under 21 as it is for those who are 21 or above. I actually thought the guy collecting the money was joking when he said it was $10 for Danielle to get in, but he wasn’t. Rather taken aback by this bit of information, I offered to pay for Danielle since she had to wait for me to finish some other work in order for us to drive together. (Cover is charged beginning at 10 pm). Armed with wristbands and the appropriate stinky permanent marker Xs for those who had to have them, we proceeded into the room and located a table.          After sitting down, I immediately noticed that the DJ working the salsa night was not the same guy we had met the week before. I was a bit confused by this, since the DJ I had spoken with told me he always did the salsa nights at Jake’s. I decided the change was either because A) the regular guy couldn’t be there, or B) that perhaps there was a rotation of people through the radio station who worked the salsa nights. [Unfortunately, I was never able to find a connection between the DJs working and the radio station (95.5 FM). I hoped that someone at the station would be able to explain any possible connection, but we were never able to establish any actual relationship between the station and the DJs (who were apparently hired/contacted through a separately listed DJ service in the phonebook – Hub City Entertainment. This was mostly due to the fact that we were never able to get anyone at the station to contact us back, though I called on several occasions.)]          The next thing we noticed was the extreme emptiness of the room. The first night we went, there were a ton of people; all the tables and bar stools were full and there were lots more people standing. Tonight there was hardly anyone there. I estimated there were between 25 and 40 people. The lack of people was only emphasized as time passed and hardly anyone else showed up, compared to the first night we went, which was busy to begin with and got consistently busier.          While we watched, I sketched an outline of the “Back Room.” I made it a point to sketch the lighting on this floor plan, as I thought it was quite interesting that there is more than adequate lighting available for the room which was not being utilized. Obviously, a conscious choice was being made to keep the lights off. This was partially due to the fact that strobe lights were flashing on and off; I guess they were trying to simulate a club-type feel. I mentioned to Danielle that the week before, I had found the lack of lighting frustrating because it was really difficult to follow my own dance partner, let alone to try not to crash into the other dancers on the floor. She agreed with me, and then we fell to discussing the size of the room versus the size of the dance floor. We couldn’t understand why the dance area was so small when the room had enough space to allow for a much bigger one. Finally, after sitting for a couple of hours, we decided to leave, since we weren’t getting anywhere. On our way out the door, we said hello to Cesar, who had been there for a little while. Even though we left early (for us), we both felt that nothing was going on that had much relevance to our project, so we opted to try again the following week to see how or if anything changed. . Back

October 25, 2006 at Melt: Field Notes from Abi and Danielle

This was our fourth week at Melt, after having skipped one salsa night due to the fact that it was the night right before our midterm. Danielle and I felt right at home; one week’s absence did not have a negative impact on our acceptance in the community. We spent more time tonight watching people than dancing, both of us being fairly tired.          One of the first things we did make note of were the huge number of promotional cards laying all over the tables. As it is the week before Halloween, it is clear that there is a significant effort being made to draw clientele in for the special Halloween night event, even if it happens on a Tuesday night. However, it is being done in a very classy manner. The cards are on nice, thick cardstock, with color inks and an elegant c–reminiscent font. They are even coated with a glossy finish. What I find even more interesting is the advertisement on the cards offering the opportunity to win a prize every 30 minutes on that night. I like the fact that the cards get the point across, but not in an in-your-face sort of way. (The radio advertisements for the same event follow this same type of approach.) They seem very suitable and in taste with the environment which Melt wants to be known for having.          After sitting and talking for a while, Joe (who has been dancing up a storm with multiple dance partners) comes over to say hello. He asks how we are doing and how everything is going. After we small talk for a bit, he asks us if we want to dance, which of course we always do. Both of us have a dance and then he says thank you and heads back to his usual partners. This doesn’t bother us like one might think it ought to; the more we consistently observe recurring patrons in this environment, it becomes more and more clear that there is some sort of unspoken obligation to give your friends the most enjoyment they can have out of the event. Naturally, if you bring a dance partner, you are going to dance with them as often as you can, not only because of friendship obligations, but also that non-verbal “contract” that exists in this setting between participants.          This was definitely one of our shorter fieldwork nights, as it is very hard to sit still and enjoy dancing when there aren’t enough dance partners to go around. Interestingly, there were plenty of existing dance partners present. However, most of the single men there stood around for most of the night and just watched the dancing. I jokingly told Danielle that it was pity they “chose to languish with beers” rather than perk up the nerve to get a dance partner, as there were plenty of us available, too. . Back

November 2, 2006 at Jake’s: Field Notes from Abi and Danielle

Tonight, I arrived at Jake’s much later than I had originally planned, due to having to stay at home with my family. When I finally arrived, I was pleased to discover that I’ve been enough times that the people who collect cover at the door recognized me. They even said hello and asked how I was doing, how school and the project were going, etc. After the small talk, they waved me on in and told me to have a good night. I joined the table with Danielle and a few other students we know from Tech. nbsp;        While we were sitting and talking, I got up with the aim of getting some water to drink. When I got over to the bar, Cesar made a beeline for me. He gave me a big hug and asked how I was doing. Then he asked me whether the people from the radio station had ever called me (he had taken my contact information to the people at 95.5 so we could try to get in touch with them, since they are the station that always has a van at the salsa nights at Jake’s. I believe they are the station Jacob used to work for, which thus consequently makes them the station that has the contract with Jake’s for the salsa night. I still wonder how the DJs tie into this, however…). When I told him no one had called me (still!), he got really frustrated and apologized profusely because they hadn’t. I told him there were no worries, but he obviously felt bad that we hadn’t heard from anyone because he hauled me over to a woman seated a few feet away at the bar and introduced me to her. He told her (in Spanish) something to the effect of, “Remember the girl I was telling you about who is doing the salsa project… this is her.” When she nodded, he told me her name was Blanca and that she is the production manager at 95.5. I talked to her for a second and she told me that Monday or Friday afternoons were the best times to come down to the station. I told her I would tell everyone in the group and she said to just call the station and let her know we would be coming. I thanked her and, forgetting all about my water, went to tell Danielle what had just happened.           While I was in the middle of telling Danielle about Blanca, a guy I didn’t know who had apparently seen me talking to Cesar at the bar, came over to the table and asked me to dance. Before I could really answer, he hauled me off to the floor while Fabian and Felix gave me some really odd looks (I happened to think it was a little odd myself). After a couple of songs, Danielle came up and said she had a headache and was going to go home. I told her to have a good night and that I would stay a little longer to make sure we didn’t miss anything. A friend of ours, who had ridden with Danielle, offered to stay with me so I wouldn’t be by myself. He walked Danielle out to her car. While they were walking out, I attempted to extricate myself at the end of the song, saying I was going to sit down. This guy would not let me go, but kept dancing! By this time, I was looking over his shoulder at our friends with a silent plea for help, but I don’t think they could see me. Much to my chagrin, they started to put their coats on and I thought, “Oh dear, they are leaving!” They came up and gave me hugs and said they were sorry but they were going to head home. In the meantime, this guy stood as close to me as possible (even though I kept moving) and listened in on my conversation. Then he tried to tell me, “Oh, are your friends leaving? Are they leaving you? I can take you home.” I very politely, but firmly, declined and said I had driven myself and would be taking myself back. nbsp;         I tried to sit down again, but still couldn’t, much to my dismay. Finally, my friend came back in and sat down. I was heading to the table but he motioned for me to keep dancing. I was finally able to get him to walk over long enough for me to ask him if he needed to leave. He told me to stay as long as I wanted or needed. Having already been in the clutches of this guy for four songs, I was doing my best to at least get off of the dance floor and just sit at the table. I was finally able to accomplish this; unfortunately for me, the creepy guy followed me there and sat trying to talk to me over the music, while I did my best not to cringe too much. When I got up to get some water from the bar, he ran ahead of me and got it for me. Not being too trusting, I never drank any (rude though this may have been, I don’t think he noticed). He finally left long enough for me to tell my friend that I was ready to go, and we exited as quickly as possible without looking like we were running away. It felt very undercover… haha. nbsp;        All in all, it was an interesting night. I got some very useful information, but had to put up with someone who clearly (or willfully) misunderstood the concept of personal space. Despite my discomfort, it was a rather good example of someone who takes away from the atmosphere that is normal. Had he been the only guy I ever danced with, I would probably not ever want to go back to a salsa night! . Back

November 16, 2006 at Jake’s: Field Notes from Abi

This was the final night at Jake’s, for fieldwork purposes at least. When I finally arrived, I got a small surprise because cover was apparently free for women. Hooray for unforeseen money saving, even if it was only $5.          The room was fairly dark, as I typically observed during previous trips. The music was its standard volume level, but there were a lot more people dancing than usual. The crowd wasn’t the largest I have seen at Jakes, by any means, but the room was still considerably fuller compared to some of the other nights I went. And, of course, many more of them were involved in the dancing. Again, I attribute this to the fact that the music played at Jake’s spans more genres, thus generating more appeal in a wider group of people. What I thought was most interesting to see, particularly on this night, was the behavior of a rather distinctive group of people. Mostly dressed in “clubwear,”* I was not surprised to see these people dancing to the Latin hiphop/reggeton when it was being played. It was more surprising to see them dancing comfortably to salsa and merengue, ghetto clothing and all. Many of them made the switches quite easily (from one music/dance to another). In fact, I got the impression that a lot of them simply just wanted to be dancing for the sheer enjoyment of the activity. This was also the largest amount of cross-partnering I have seen at Jake’s. Generally, people come together and dance together. Tonight, however, everyone was going to people at other tables and asking them to dance. I thought it was very interesting, especially considering that most people were asking for dance partners with no prior-established base connection (i.e. friends from school or someone with whom an acquaintance has already been established).          To me, this brings up some interesting questions about the meanings of music within cultural communities. Clearly, Lubbock does not fit the typical parameters of a city with a large salsa-oriented population. The salsa sub-community here is rather small and easy to discover in the sense that most related events happen at the same times every week in one of two places (Melt and Jake’s). Obviously, the people attending these events must have some exposure to salsa, though of course on varying levels. Most of the younger generation that attends are from Lubbock, not foreign countries, so their exposure to salsa is more limited because they have grown up listening to Tejano and hiphop (musics which are much more typical to this area). Jacob told me that he started salsa nights here in town for the foreign students/professors who are mostly found in the Tech population. Yet, lots of people from outside those (foreign) cultures attend the salsa nights. I am curious to know what factors influence these peoples’ exposure and background in salsa, considering they know how to dance the steps and recognize the artists/songs, yet the “culture” they grew up in is not one that has prominent roots within such a genre.          Overall, I didn’t really dance too much this last time. This had its benefits, though, as I was able to get into a long discussion about learning foreign languages with a graduate student who is teaching French in the foreign language department at the university. He is from Puerto Rico (San Juan), and I had actually met him the very first night our group attended Melt. I thought this was a very interesting conversation, as he and another mutual friend of ours proceeded to discussing dialects of language found within individual countries. He made some insightful comments about how topography is a clear influence on cultural shifts; he told a story about meeting a woman in his same department who was also from Puerto Rico, but who came from the mountainous region located in the center of the island. He said for the longest time she would not talk to him and called him a snob because he was from a different area of the island than she was (more urban?); he said that the two regions were almost like two different cultures existing side-by-side. If I had more time, I think it would be interesting to look at (music) artists and compare the inflections in their singing and also the dialects of Spanish they use alongside the genres of music they create, along with the audience the work is intended for as well as the “audience” that supports/purchases that work. . *By clubwear, I mean loose, baggy clothing for guys, such as jeans/khakis, jerseys, hats, chains, and sunglasses. Girls were dressed in a variety of jeans and nice slacks, with nice shirts and jewelry. Back

October 4, 2006 at Melt: Field Notes from Abi

Tonight, Nicky and I arrived closer to 10:00 (this being after she had to wait for me in the parking lot and very kindly stood in a parking space until I got there). The music was already going when we went inside and there seemed to be more people in the building than there were at the same time last week. I found it interesting that I could immediately observe that most people present we did not recognize, even though we had only been there one other time. In fact, excluding the people who worked there, the only person we actually knew was Jacob. The nice thing was that he immediately recognized us, even when the restaurant staff didn’t, and told them that we were okay, to let us in, etc. This was highly significant because he is clearly the person in charge, regardless of the fact that he is not the manager or owner of the restaurant. He even asked us how all of our research was going and if we were finding the information we were looking for; before we went to sit down, he told us again to let him know if there was anything we needed. After situating ourselves at one of the little round corner tables, the same waitress we had last week came over and brought us water. She introduced herself (Jovonne) and asked us what class our project was for; she even asked us to explain ethnomusicology so she could understand what kinds of information we are seeking and the point of our fieldwork. This was definitely different from last week, where we were still clearly “outsiders.” It almost seemed like, at least in terms of the wait staff, that we had already been accepted as regulars. On a funny aside note, we have apparently been termed “the project.” I can’t decide whether this can be construed as simply an easy way to identify us to the people who need to know who we are to allow our entrance (i.e. the staff), or whether they think that we literally ARE the project – i.e. we are the people being worked on, being taught, etc. I am inclined to think it is a little of both.           The clientele followed similar groupings as those of last week. They entered in small groups or were seated in small groups. Again, many of them were congregated near or at the bar. However, I observed that there seemed to sort of be dinner-time leftovers, as there were two or three groups of people who were seated at tables or the bar that left fifteen or twenty minutes after we arrived. We didn’t see our first “regulars” until around 10:30. Joe and his aunt arrived and joined a woman who had obviously been waiting for them. They sat at the same booth as they did last week. [Whether this is relevant will remain to be seen at future salsa nights.] Since we were sort of tucked away in a corner, Joe didn’t end up seeing us until much later, but that was okay. Nicky and I were still a little in business mode. We hunted Jacob down and asked him about his openness to us shooting video footage. He said “that would be great, whatever we wanted to do.” And then he told us the most important thing we heard all night: “Mi casa es su casa.” My house is your house. You are accepted here.          After this exciting occurrence, we went back to our table and proceeded to observe the clientele a little more, since there were still no dancers. Most of the people there were dressed much more nicely than people last week. I even observed that the predominant footwear of men is dress shoes, while women tend to wear heels (sometimes sandals) or heeled boots. I observed that the first hour or so of the night seems to be “down time,” where everyone is kind of relaxing and socializing. As I looked around, I noticed George (the professor Danielle and I spoke with), sitting at a table with some people we didn’t know. (We later found out it was his brother, who is not so much into dancing as he is into just enjoying the music; hence, their departure happened sooner than we thought it would based on our previous experience). While scanning the room looking at people, the thought also occurred to me that the room was designed very well acoustically. Not only does it have a high ceiling, but the room is pretty much open, so the music carries well. This was only emphasized by 11:00 when the music had actually overridden the conversation level. I think Mario eventually adjusted the balance, but there for awhile I thought our group might have to take up lip-reading in order to be able to communicate with each other without adjourning to the bathroom or freezing outside.          Joe arrived with his regular dance partner just before Danielle appeared at 11:15. At this point, I made a beeline for the restroom so I could rest my ears and try to fill Danielle in on the things I’d made note of thus far. Back out in the room, we start watching the way people are dressed again, trying to locate some sort of pattern or connection in the way people dress. Fortunately, there were no garish costumes to assault our eyes, though we DID see a guy with an awful mohawk… About 11:25, Danielle and I spotted our “double-dancing” partner from last week and five minutes later the exceptionally tall man whom we refer to as “the guy who tossed the little short lady around.” By 11:45 the dancing has really picked up. Going back to my assessment of the atmosphere, I notice that the artwork hanging on the walls have small tags with the artists’ names on them stuck to the right of each photo/picture. Even more surprising was my discovery of the tags immediately below these, listing the prices for each piece. This is not cheap artwork. The least expensive price listing was $400… the most expensive being $800. If that isn’t a statement about what kind of atmosphere the restaurant is trying to create, I will be amazed. I wondered if the art had actually been purchased by the restaurant owners or whether it was a situation where the artists were allowed to display work in the restaurant so that patrons might purchase it. The latter seemed much more likely when considering that there were a few pictures that had no information next to them at all.          Another behavior that became much more evident during this salsa session was the interaction between the DJ and the participants. The DJ is constantly addressing the dancers, either encouraging people to dance or commenting on the dancing and calling positive attention to the couples out on the floor. Likewise, when the DJ plays songs that are obvious favorites among the crowd, huge cheers go up, along with whistles and catcalls. It is kind of cool to watch the interaction between people; it is like personal validation by other members with large-scale interpretation. While we are watching the couples dance, Danielle and I note that in this community it is considered perfectly acceptable for group dancing to occur. In fact, it is common to see groups of women dancing in a circle out on the floor. Sometimes it seems due to a lack of male partners equaling the numbers of women who want to dance; other times it seems like they just want to be dancing. Joe (who has been dancing) has obviously noticed Danielle and I watching the dancers, comes over to where we are standing and says hi. He then jumps right in and starts pointing out various couples and the way they dance. For example, his friend (from Colombia) dances much more conservatively than the other couples on the floor; his movements are smaller and much less exaggerated. In my memory, I remember watching George dance on the first night, and he danced with large movements and in the “free-style,” which simply means you are not anchored to your partner constantly. Back

Collaborative Field Report by Aaron, Abi, and Danielle

Upon going to Melt this time we have discovered a new event that is happening. After talking to Jacob we found out that they are having dance competitions for about the next month. He said that they would take the winner of every night and have a big final with a live band. Apparently they will have to go to San Antonio or El Paso in order to find a band to do the gig. This is a huge insight into the sub-community because it defiantly says that the Lubbock salsa community does not place much emphasis on live performing, but more so on dancing and socializing. The winners will be awarded their own private salsa night at Melt.        In addition, the dance competition has made us suspicious as to a possible reason as to why we have not been seeing as many of the regulars the last couple of weeks. It is our suspicion that the regulars knew about the up and coming dance competition and did not want to be a part of this. If we continue to find that this is the case, it could lead us to another crucial insight that what goes on in this community is something that is not meant to be competitive, and is something that the regulars will not support. This shows an even greater emphasis on brotherhood, as well as the importance of space. These people obviously have a tradition, and use this time as an opportunity for these people to get together and have fun with one another. If our suspicion is correct, it is very likely that the dance competition is being viewed as a violation of space from outsiders and others who are making a friendly environment competitive, which was not the intent of the regulars. South Beach Field Notes from Aaron: November 3, 2006     Nicky and myself went to South Beach tonight to compare the salsa night there to the ones at Jakes and Melt. This place was the biggest as far as physical square footage, but there where probably equally as many people here as the other two. This building looked like it had been a really fancy and popular place at one time, but it had been run down, or not very well maintained. The painting was in poor condition and many of the ceiling tiles had water damage and where covered up with black paint. The floors where stained and extremely dirty. You could feel your feet sticking to the floor. The club was set up with a large dance floor in the middle and a bar on each side of the building. There was an upstairs balcony that ran across the back wall facing the stage. Up on the balcony was where the DJ was located as well as several pool tables. The building was really dark and the music was extremely loud, being played to the full capacity of the sound system that was big time over kill. Later on in the night a live band came out and performed and the sound was turned up even louder. They started having a lot of difficulty with feedback because the music had gotten so loud.     Overall the experience at South Beach is completely different from what is going on at Jakes or at Melt. The crowd that was there was a similar age group to that of Melt with people ranging in ages primarily somewhere between 21 and 55. I would say that the average age and the majority of the people that where there were around age 35. I Believe that they have called this a salsa night based on the umbrella term for salsa, and not the specific genre. While the DJ was playing he played a mix from country, to rap, to Mexican music, but very little of it was actually salsa music. The majority of the music was actually Mexican traditional music and not really that much salsa. The emphasis on Mexican tradition music was made more pronounced when the live band that was there came out and played a program of all that kind of genre. Maybe because of the genre of music, or maybe the atmosphere, but regardless of the reason we did not see any of the people that we had made contact with from Jakes and Melt. We had noticed that between Jakes and Melt there has been a very close community of people that all seem to know each other in some way. This being the case, it seems pretty unlikely that South Beach falls under the sub-community that we are studying very much. If our project was on Spanish or Mexican traditional music, then this might be a more helpful place to go for our ethnography. But it can still be very beneficial to see what other places consider to be salsa music. And it does back up the idea, like I said before, that salsa can be used as an umbrella term to talk about a variety of Spanish musics.     It appeared to me that South Beach is a club that is probably really struggling to make ends meet. Not only did the run down building give the impression, but also the emphasis on items they where selling also suggested this as well. Minors are charged a $10 admission and anyone over 21 is charged $5. Once inside the building the DJ after every few songs was reminding everyone of the drink specials going on that night. “$2 dollar wells and long necks all night long”. Although all of this is fairly normal for a night club, what particularly made me start to wonder about the desperation for making money was a couple of employees that where going around table to table and selling glow sticks and roses. They had roses with a glow stick attached or even a flashlight kind of thing that was shaped to look like a rose. Back Melt Field Notes from Aaron: November 1, 2006     We are at a point now in our fieldwork where there are not a lot of new things to talk about at Melt. We have gotten to a point where we know what to expect every time we go. But This Wednesday was different because it was the least crowded I have ever seen it since this project has begun. There have been slow nights in the past, but what I find interesting in all this is that a good majority of the regulars where all not there. There where a handful of regulars that did come, but the majority of the people there where people we had never even seen before. This absents makes me wonder if there was something amongst the sub-community that was going on Wednesday night that not only they really knew about. I had asked the DJ and other people that I did recognize if they knew why it was such a light crowd and no one had any good explanations. I suspect that there was some strictly insider event that was being held privately.       If, in fact, there was a separate event going on that night for just the insiders, then there are several questions that could go along with that. First of all, I’m wondering if this kind of thing happens frequently, or if this is something that only happens every once in a great while. I’m also wondering to the validity in which people where claiming they did not know what was going on. To me, it seemed as thought the bar knew to expect a light night as they only had one waitress on staff the entire night. Although are group has come a long way in getting to know the insiders, and they have really started to open up to us, it seems possible that there may still be quite a bit that we don’t know about, and maybe a lot of people that are fairly close to this community don’t know about.       I would also like to add that on this night we had finally met the “hey, how are you” person that CJS talked so much about in class. He came right up to us and introduced himself and started asking us a variety of questions. It didn’t take long for us to find out what his motive in talking to us was as he had mentioned later on in our conversation that his family owns a restaurant here in town and told us that we should go and check it out some time. Although this person was fairly easy to pick out and has no further relevance to our project that I can foresee at this time, I wanted to mention this in my field notes as it was bound to happen sometime and I thought that CJS would be amused by the situation, especially if he witnessed it himself.       At any rate, it was an extremely weird night last night because of the unusual lack of attendance. It could possibly be just a coincidence and everyone was just tiered that night, but I am more inclined to think that there was something else going on that we didn’t know about, and maybe a lot of people didn’t know about. This seems like it is something that, if in fact there is an event, is very personal, and if it happens again it would be great if we could somehow get in to see this side that obviously they are not trying to advertise to the rest of the community. Back