Final Reflection

How has your viewpoint/perspective changed from before the course to now about Salsa?

My perspective of Salsa has changed drastically over the course of the class. When I signed up for the class all I knew about Salsa was that it was a type of dance with Latin origins. Through the class, I learned about the history, techniques, struggles, and essence of Salsa. I see now that it has had a tremendous impact on the world through community building, representation, voice, and energy.

What are your 3 key takeaways from learning about Salsa?

My main takeaways from this course are:

1. Even something as simple as music and dance can have a large impact on a population and society.

2. Music, particularly Salsa, is alive, everchanging, and special.

3. Salsa is a community experience that anyone can and should participate in if given the opportunity.

What does it mean to live life with a "salsa" mindset/frame/lens, and what does this "salsa" mindset offer us?

For me, a salsa mindset means having a passionate and understanding view of life. This means that, like in salsa, sometimes you have to lead and other times you have to follow. It also means being able to adapt, lift others, and raise your voice in support of things you care for. Having a Salsa mindset can sometimes be difficult, but I think it can offer balance in one's life.

What worked for you about the course? What would you let go? What would you add or add more?

This class had a lot more reading than I expected coming into it. While I was able to handle it and I understand why it was important, I kind of thought there would be more "lecture-y" type videos. I actually really enjoyed the group discussions and would have liked to do more of them rather than the blogs. For the blogs, I had a hard time writing a lot because there was so much information to take in, I ended up forgetting a lot of it. This was different from the discussions because I was able to jump off of what my other group members said and learn more about Salsa from them and their understanding of it.

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