Discussion #5: Vacunao & Sexy Latinidad (Latin-ness)
Compare/contrast
1. Rudolph Valentino dancing tango in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
2. Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in the 1951 episode of I Love Lucy
3. Carlos Embale & Celeste Mendoza dancing in the 1964 film Nosotros la Música.
6:30 is vacunao/botao!
Vacunao is part of a flirtatious dance-game of sexual pursuit that flourishes throughout the Afro-Latin dance world, in Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. As tango became an international dance craze beginning in the second decade of the twentieth century, this steamy embrace—a sacred Africanist dance motif—became a vehicle, like the shimmies and knock-kneed steps of the Charleston, for the New Woman of the 1920s to push for greater autonomy and sexual freedom. Look at these four film clips and talk about the ways each embodies the image of Latinidad – Latin-ness. How did sexy film representations of Latinidad contribute through to the discourse on consumerism, race, women’s evolving social roles, and social activism?
Don’t be afraid to disagree with me or with each other—just please do so in the healthy spirit of democratic debate.
You must support your point of view by referring to at least one of the readings for this Module.
Your post should be 3 well-written paragraphs, each containing 4-5 well-written sentences.
Paragraph 1: Describe the movement of vacunao/botao in these four film clips: what changed, and what remained the same? Paint a picture of the movement with words, and consider also the music, the intended audience, and the story the dance is telling—that is, its place in the narrative.
Paragraph 2: Analyze the changing women’s roles visible in these three clips.
Paragraph 3: Discuss some of the politics of these representations of Latinidad.
For this and all class discussions, you must respond to at least three posts. Please spend no more than an hour! Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Get it out, say what you think, and be confident that your opinions are valuable. All of your discussion posts will be graded according to the rubric found in “Grades”—the link is in the navbar at the top of the course page. Briefly, be polite and mindful of your language, including giving credit to the words and ideas of others. But don’t be afraid to disagree! The subject line of your comment should tell the reader what your comment is about.
