Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Salsa dance'

La danse salsa est une pratique musico-chorégraphique hybride qui entremêle les propriétés techniques et esthétiques à la fois d'une danse, d'un univers culturel, d'un art du spectacle mais aussi d'un genre musical. Le nouveau contexte de la scène au sein de laquelle cette danse populaire évolue s'est avéré déterminant pour la reconnaissance et le développement de la création chorégraphique. Les festivals spécialisés de salsa se sont multipliés à partir des années 2000, invitant les danseurs français à s'approprier une danse venant d'une culture éloignée. Affectée par les facteurs historiques, commerciaux et politiques, la danse salsa voit se modifier les manières de la chorégraphier et de la pratiquer. Les éléments fondamentaux de base de la création chorégraphique tels que le corps, l'espace, le temps, l'énergie sont transgressés par une mixité de styles contrastés et de formes provenant d'imaginaires, de sons ou de gestes. Comment les performances scéniques participent-elles à l'évolution et à la redéfinition de cette pratique ? Que reste-t-il alors de la « salsa traditionnelle » ? À partir d'un travail de terrain en France et dans les Alpes-Maritimes, cette thèse aura pour objet de montrer que cette pratique internationale est marquée par de nombreux débats autour des questions de tradition et modernité du fait de la diversité de ses styles de danse, de ses cultures, de ses moyens de transmission et de diffusion ainsi que de ses pratiquants. L'engagement corporel du danseur dépend de plusieurs facteurs : sa motivation liée au contexte dans lequel il évolue, sa sensibilité par rapport aux choix musicaux, sa capacité physique à exécuter les mouvements corporels et enfin son identification sociale et culturelle<br>Salsa dancing is a hybrid multi-choroegraphical exercise which mixes technical and aesthetical properties from a dance, a cultural universe, a performing art but also a musical genre. The new concept of performing on stage in which this popular dance is evolving was crucial for the recognition and the development of the choreographic creation. The specialized salsa festivals have multiplied in the 2000s, inviting french dancers to appropriate a dance coming from a distant culture. Influenced by historical, commercial and political factors, salsa dancing has seen its practice and choreography change along the time. The basic fundamental elements of the choreographic generation like the body, the space, the time, the energy have been infringed by a diversity of contrasted styles and forms coming from imaginations, sounds or gestures. How stage performances engage into the evolution and the redesign of this practice ? What is left then from the "traditional salsa" ? From the field work in France and in the Alpes-Maritimes, this thesis will have as an objective to show that this international activity is marked by a myriad of discussions and questions between traditions and modernity because of the diversity of dance styles, cultures, transmission and broadcasting mediums and because of its practitioners and performers. The body engagement of the dancer depends on multiple factors : motivation linked to the context in which it evolves, its sensibility with respect to its musical choice, its capacity to execute body moves and, at last, its social and cultural identification

Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.<br>Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 2, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-118).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006.<br>Title from first page of PDF file (viewed June 27, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 853-893).

Dance<br>M.A.<br>This thesis investigates Brasil’s Nightclub, a Philadelphia salsa club, as a site at which notions of Latino/a identity are produced and performed. Research for the thesis was conducted over the course of five months and was ethnographic in nature. From February 2016 until June 2016, the author attended Brasil’s Nightclub and collected participant observations and interviews. Findings reveal how the club accommodates multiple conflicting narratives of Latino/a identity and how these narratives are embodied through salsa dance practices.<br>Temple University--Theses

In Montreal, salsa dancing is both an expression of Latin identity and a cultural commodity. Many Montrealers of Latin descent adopt salsa dance as part of their cultural heritage only after arriving in Canada, connecting, through salsa, to a transnational Latin identity that crosses the Americas. This situation illustrates how cultural affiliations are not necessarily fixed, but can be acquired in response to changing circumstances. Since salsa is not indigenous to the city, residents of Montreal can only access it through cultural institutions and community media outlets. This commodification influences the manner in which salsa expresses Latin identity in the city. At the same time that salsa dancing proclaims Latin identity for certain individuals in the city, the practice thrives in a multicultural context: the Montreal salsa scene comprises diverse individuals who promote, teach, and dance salsa. This dissertation addresses points of division and cooperation among diverse cultures, ethnicities, races, and both sexes, as they are played out in aspects of salsa dancing in the city. The unfolding of these relationships is influenced by both the commodification of salsa dancing and its link to Latin culture. This analysis seeks to provide a theoretical account of the tension between salsa's expression of identity and its status as a commodified cultural practice. This perspective integrates various approaches to the study of dance and culture stemming from anthropology, sociology and cultural studies. Analyzing the Montreal salsa scene, I draw from in-depth interviews with individuals involved in the promotion of Latin dance and music, as well as participant observations in salsa dance classes, clubs and events. The methodology of this research combines ethnography with various areas of concern: the history of salsa, Latin immigration patterns in Montreal, theories of multiculturalism, transnationalism and diaspora, the Latin influence in ballroom dance, Europe

Este trabajo de investigación es un aporte etnográfico e histórico sobre la sociedad barcelonesa a través de su cultura, su música y su salsa. Para la realización de esta contribución me he centrado en un sector muy específico de la escena musical salsera identificada con un estilo de salsa que evoca su origen diaspórico, marginado, bravo y el cual ha terminado siendo rememorado, legitimado e identificado como símbolo de alta y heterogénea cultura salsera. Además, un estilo musical que ha adquirido relevancia social en Barcelona a través de diferentes espacios en los que confluyen la sociabilidad festiva, la creación o re-creación musical, la melomanía salsera más y menos profesionalizada, las propuestas de pedagogía bailable y la capacidad emprendedora focalizada en el ocio musical nocturno. Dicho de otro modo, he realizado un análisis de las áreas de afluencia de un estilo de salsa proveniente de barrios latinos de Nueva York, emblemática de los años 1960 y 1970 y monopolizada a través del sello y de las estrellas de la Fania, además representativa de una manera rítmica, imitativa y más bien espontánea de bailar, y he centrado la atención en las sesiones festivas en Barcelona a través del estudio de caso de la fiesta Entren que caben 100. Ahora bien, para que pudiera llegar a este nivel de concreción, fue necesario que detectara que la salsa brava es una más de varias escenas que existen en la capital catalana sujetas a gustos personalizados y a la sociabilidad que se genera en torno a éstos. Además, si he apostado por una mirada diferenciada del escenario salsero, como contenedor de prácticas musicales y como metáfora teatral, es por un doble y amplio ejercicio de subjetividad académica. El de otras personas con sus respectivas miradas investigativas así como vinculaciones musicales, y el propio apostando a un atrevimiento de igual tipo. En este sentido, mi intención ha sido centrarme en una escena hasta ahora un tanto huérfana, inadvertida y escurridiza que me ha servido sobre todo para la experimentación metodológica a través de la incorporación de mi experiencia desdoblada en la investigación. Así pues, la principal problemática que presentó lo que ha sido una afición y mi escenario de estudio fue el de entretejer las múltiples dimensiones de su cualidad nómada, su evocación geográfica, histórica, religiosa y social, así como referenciada en la metáfora globalizadora empleada por el etnomusicólogo Ramón Pelinski para el tango. Exactamente lo que quiero decir, es que primero tuve que caer en cuenta de que la salsa brava en Barcelona es itinerante, se escenifica a través de sesiones festivas que aparecen, desaparecen y cambian de “espacio”; que a través de ésta y otras programaciones se le rende culto a un estilo de salsa cuya época de auge comercial ha quedado anclado en el pasado, qué quienes integran la escena son personas que, por un lado, coquetean con la otredad y, por el otro, gozan de capital simbólico haciendo posible que ciertas músicas marginadas pasen a ser legitimadas. Y mi principal pregunta fue, ¿cómo se materializa y se entreteje todo esto?<br>Despite the historical absence of women in "Entre que caben cien" and of their directing roles in the scene, an interesting aspect of the ethnography is that when they assume a certain visibility within the scene they appear to be more permissible than men regarding the selection of other salsa songs and of other music styles that distance themselves from the so-called "salsa brava", questioning at this point whether the latter really exists, or does it perhaps ceases to be such when it begins to be called like this? This lends us to other significant questions such as to what extent the more one insists on otherness the more one tries to legitimate what he doesn't want to be? While bigger gets the desire for authenticity and alternative, more massive and hegemonic it becomes? While the bigger the quest for own manifestations derived from subaltern and marginalized culture gets, more extended get the petit bourgeois practices that end up disguising or adapting the first to the taste of the second?

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005.<br>Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 264-268). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Cette thèse propose une approche culturelle et lexicale de la chanson populaire caraïbe dans quatre zones : Cuba, Porto Rico (et New York), la République dominicaine et la Colombie. La première partie est une introduction d'ordre historique, culturel et littéraire qui donne les informations essentielles quant à la naissance et l'évolution des principaux rythmes ruraux et urbains de la caraïbe. Ces musiques donnent naissance ensuite à la salsa urbaine à New York. La salsa se propage ensuite dans les pays de la caraïbe où elle fusionne avec les musiques locales. Une analyse thématique permet de replacer les chansons dans leur contexte, démarche essentielle pour la bonne compréhension du lexique ensuite étudié. La deuxième partie est principalement lexicale. Sur la base d'un chansonnier de 380 chansons (150 pour Cuba, 130 pour Porto Rico et New York, 50 pour la République dominicaine et 50 pour la Colombie). Elle aborde les différenciations lexicales de chaque zone étudiée, met en relief les caractéristiques extra hispaniques (indigénismes, africanismes etc. ) de l'espagnol véhiculé dans les chansons et montre ainsi les spécificités lexicales de chaque pays. Elle analyse aussi les glissements de sens et la double interprétation dans la chanson populaire et étudie la presence du parler populaire et/ou musical dans la lexicographie actuelle. Le parler de la chanson conserve et diffuse l'héritage linguistique de l'espagnol caraïbe. Nous constatons aussi que l'intégration du lexique cubain dans la chanson des autres pays est indéniable alors que l'inverse ne se vérifie pas ou beaucoup moins. Cuba exerce une sorte de domination lexicale sur la chanson caraïbe. Une enqueêe de terrain en Colombie nous permet de dzmontrer que la chanson caraïbe insulaire diffuse un parler particulier qui s'intègre dans le parler caraïbe péninsulaire. Cela nous permet d'affirmer que la chanson et la musique populaires exercent une influence certaine sur le parler populaire à notre époque.

Orientador: Marília Vieira Soares<br>Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes<br>Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T08:03:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Figueiredo_ValeskaMarleteGuimaraes_D.pdf: 5415097 bytes, checksum: b6283eedb567edcc445c4eb7d83576a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012<br>Resumo: Esta tese busca entender como que, numa dança, a noção de corpo e a disposição espacial da cena expõem uma postura política, bem como constroem uma concepção de mundo. A dança não está apartada das esferas sociais, econômicas e políticas, pois ela é, por elas, constituída e, delas, constituinte. Pesquisou-se estas questões nas trajetórias artísticas de Sandro Borelli, diretor e coreógrafo residente da Cia Borelli de Dança, e, em Vera Sala, diretora e criadora-intérprete do Núcleo Artístico Vera Sala. Foram, nesse sentido, destacadas algumas de suas criações tidas como relevantes na construção de certos aspectos dos seus pensamentos em dança. Suas perspectivas estéticas e políticas são bem distintas, porém parecem ter em comum o interesse por questionar determinados padrões dominantes e ordens normativas. As particularidades do trabalho de cada artista exigiram um campo teórico específico para discutir cada trajetória. Assim, examinaram-se os princípios norteadores de suas pesquisas corporais, a disposição dos corpos no espaço da cena e os modos de relação entre eles, os seus procedimentos de criação, as suas formas de organização e de criação enquanto grupo. Investigando estes trabalhos, foi possível verificar que as suas criações propõem uma maneira de perceber e de atuar no mundo. Implicações estéticas e políticas da arte foram analisadas e discutidas, junto a uma gama de pensadores, chegando-se a proposição de que para a arte ser crítica precisa criar dissenso; e para ser ética necessita aumentar a potência de ação e/ou de inação de uma coletividade. Há de se fazer da inquietação instigadora do processo criativo uma forma de vida, constituindo-a corporalmente através do seu trânsito entre o cotidiano e extracotidiano. A resistência artística aos atuais esquemas de controle e exploração dá-se através do vazamento dos processos criativos. As ficções, invisibilidades, latências e lacunas podem, assim, penetrar a vida ordinária, dessa maneira, desestabilizando certas ordenações<br>Abstract: This thesis seeks to understand how in a dance the notion of body and spatial arrangement of the scene expose a political stance, as well as build a world view. The dance is not separated from social, economic and political spheres, as it constitutes and is constituted by them. These issues were researched in the artistic trajectories of Sandro Borelli, director and resident choreographer of the Borelli Dance Company, and Vera Sala, director and creator-interpreter of the Vera Sala Artistic Group. We highlight some of their creations, understood as relevant in the construction of certain aspects of their thoughts on dance. Their aesthetic and political perspectives are very different, but they seem to have a common interest for questioning certain dominant standards and normative orders. The particularities of each artist's work demanded a specific theoretical place to discuss each trajectory. We examined the guiding principles of their research of the body, the arrangement of bodies in space of the scene and the modes of relationship between them, their creative procedures, their organization and creation as a group. Investigating these works, we found that their creations propose a way of perceiving and acting in the world. Aesthetic and political implications of art were analyzed and discussed, along with a range of thinkers, coming to the proposition that for art to be critical, it needs to create dissent, and for it to be ethical, it needs to increase the power of action and/or inaction of a collectivity. One has to make the instigating inquietude of the creative process a way of life, building it bodily through the transit between daily and extra-daily techniques. The artistic resistance to current schemes of control and exploitation takes place through leaks in the creative processes. Fictions, invisibilities, latencies and gaps can thus penetrate ordinary life, destabilizing certain offenses<br>Doutorado<br>Artes Cenicas<br>Doutor em Artes

A presente investigação analisa a difusão de determinado repertório e estética musical imbricados ao fenômeno da dança e prática dos bailes, no contexto de modernização de São Paulo. Particularmente, abordamos o momento em que uma nova centralidade redesenhou sua fisionomia urbana grosso modo entre meados de 1930 e 1950. Nesse cenário, tal musicalidade, não apenas se mesclou de maneira singular às representações do moderno, como também fomentou no imaginário da metrópole emergente certo ideal de progresso e modernidade. A análise apreende o sentido desse repertório musical no entrecruzamento da \"experiência do cinema\" e da prática do baile<br>This research concerns the diffusion of a particular repertory and musical aesthetic related to dance and the balls in the context of São Paulo\'s modernization. We focus particularly on the moment that a new centrality emerged in the cityscape, between, the 1930´s and 1950\'s. In this context, the musicality has been blended with some representations of the Modern as well as has improved in the urban imaginary certain ideas related to progress and modernity. We search for the meanings of this musical repertory in relationship to the \"experience\" of the cinema and the practice of the balls

Submitted by Irvana Coutinho (irvana@ufpa.br) on 2017-02-03T16:11:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_DefendendoPavilhaoDanca.pdf: 10912126 bytes, checksum: b44d1492e82b9e7f31f662448517c2fb (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Irvana Coutinho (irvana@ufpa.br) on 2017-02-03T16:12:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_DefendendoPavilhaoDanca.pdf: 10912126 bytes, checksum: b44d1492e82b9e7f31f662448517c2fb (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-03T16:12:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_DefendendoPavilhaoDanca.pdf: 10912126 bytes, checksum: b44d1492e82b9e7f31f662448517c2fb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-02<br>Esta dissertação trata da dança autoral dos casais de mestre-sala e porta-bandeira das escolas de samba de Belém do Pará, participantes das atividades da Academia Paraense de Mestre-sala, Porta-bandeira e Porta-estandarte, da qual sou instrutora e que serviu de campo de estudo e aplicação metodológica da pesquisa. A dança autoral é uma proposição constituída a partir do meu processo de composição coreográfica e pesquisa do movimento enquanto porta-bandeira, bailarina e professora de dança. Desta forma, esta pesquisa implica na análise do processo de investigação corporal como fomentadora de assinaturas na dança que identificam e diferenciam os casais de mestre-sala e porta-bandeira, mesmo diante do compartilhamento de um repertório gestual comum. Assumo como metodologia a etnografia, a autoetnografia e o “número 3 em sua dimensão simbólica e metodológica na pesquisa em artes”. A dança imanente é a principal base teórica adotada, por subsidiar minha investigação sobre a dança autoral através do encaminhamento da dissecação artística do corpo. A investigação do corpo, dos movimentos, o reconhecimento e assinatura da dança autoral efetuados pelos casais de Mestre-sala e Porta-bandeira, demarcam resultados alcançados com este estudo.<br>This dissertation regards to the mestre-sala (master of ceremony) and porta-bandeira’s (flag-bearer) authorial dance, as a couple, in samba schools of Belém, Pará, which take part in the activities of Pará Academy of Mestre-sala, Porta-bandeira and Porta-estandarte (standard-bearer), where I act as an instructor. The academy assisted me as field of study and methodological application for the research. The authorial dance is a proposal constituted from my choreographic composition process and movement research as porta-bandeira (flag-bearer), dancer and dance teacher. Thus, this research implies the analysis of the corporal investigation process as fomenter of signatures in the dance, which identify and distinguish the couples of “mestre-sala” and “porta-bandeira”, even facing the sharing of common repertoire of gesture. I use as methodology of this research ethnography, autoethnography and the number 3 in its symbolic and methodological dimensions in the arts’ research. The immanent dance is the main theoretical base adopted, because it supports my investigation about the authorial dance throughout application of the artistic dissection of the body. The body and movement’s investigation, the recognition and signature of the authorial dance made by the mestre-sala and porta-bandeira couples format the results reached with this study.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to map the meanings of salsa in the life of recreational dancers. Pair salsa dance was intentionally chosen as a representative of the so-called social dance group, which is characterized by its unique improvisation and self-expression. The theoretical part will be devoted to key topics focused on salsa dance and improvisation, phenomenon of flow, self-transcendence, expression of emotions, dance movement therapy. In the theoretical part, we were interested in other professional research with similar topics. The empirical part of the diploma thesis deals with the research topic of the importance of salsa for recreational dancers. This research served as an exploratory study of salsa, which is not yet very psychologically explored. It is a qualitative research that uses analytical procedures with elements of grounded theory. Research data were obtained through an in-depth interview with 13 informants. We interpreted the resulting information to understand the mental states and processes on multiple levels in the context of salsa and its importance in the lives of recreational dancers. From the data analysis, we created a Bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model of salsa. At the same time, we received answers to research questions, what impulses lead informants and their...

This study explores principles of motion based communication in animal and human group behavior. It develops models of cooperative control that involve communication through actions aimed at a shared objective. Moreover, it aims at understanding the collective motion in multi-agent models towards a desired objective which requires interaction with the environment. In conducting a formal study of these problems, first we investigate the leader-follower interaction in a dance performance. Here, the prototype model is salsa. Salsa is of interest because it is a structured interaction between a leader (usually a male dancer) and a follower (usually a female dancer). Success in a salsa performance depends on how effectively the dance partners communicate with each other using hand, arm and body motion. We construct a mathematical framework in terms of a Dance Motion Description Language (DMDL). This provides a way to specify control protocols for dance moves and to represent every performance as sequences of letters and corresponding motion signals. An enhanced form of salsa (intermediate level) is discussed in which the constraints on the motion transitions are described by simple rules suggested by topological knot theory. It is shown that the proficiency hierarchy in dance is effectively captured by proposed complexity metrics. In order to investigate the group behavior of animals that are reacting to environmental features, we have analyzed a large data set derived from 3-d video recordings of groups of Myotis velifer emerging from a cave. A detailed statistical analysis of large numbers of trajectories indicates that within certain bounds of animal diversity, there appear to be common characteristics of the animals' reactions to features in a clearly defined flight corridor near the mouth of the cave. A set of vision-based motion control primitives is proposed and shown to be effective in synthesizing bat-like flight paths near groups of obstacles. A comparison of synthesized paths and actual bat motions culled from our data set suggests that motions are not based purely on reactions to environmental features. Spatial memory and reactions to the movement of other bats may also play a role. It is argued that most bats employ a hybrid navigation strategy that combines reactions to nearby obstacles and other visual features with some combination of spatial memory and reactions to the motions of other bats.

This thesis deals with the musical and dance style known as "Salsa" which roots can be traced to the Caribbean of Latin America. In this work, salsa is investigated as a global phenomenon in the local context of Prague and at the same time as a commercialized product. In terms of salsa as a global phenomenon, the work deals with the characteristics of salsa as a social dance in the local context and tries to trace its social functions. In addition to the effects of the commercialization and tropicalized ideas of salsa and Latin American cultures on its form, the thesis also touches on topics such as internal negotiation and external construction of Latin American identity (latinidad), which are related to salsa as a global phenomenon and its commercialization. The work is based on several months of ethnographic research and semi- structured interviews conducted mainly with salseros from Latin America, the Czech Republic and others, not only European countries. Key words: salsa, social dance, global phenomenon, commercialization, product, commodification of culture, Latin American identity, latinidad , tropicalization, imagination

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>This thesis explores the ways in which Cuban identity is expressed, understood, maintained and recreated by Cuban migrants in Sydney and the wider Australian society. Initially, the analysis focuses on some of the most visible ethnic markers used by people outside the Cuban community to recreate Cubanness: politics, through the promotion of Cuba as a ‘socialist paradise’ by leftist Australian organizations and solidarity groups with Cuba; and music and dance, taking as an example the salsa boom in Sydney, and the advertising of Cuba as an exotic tourist destination in Australia. Throughout the work an argument is developed that the very different demographic configuration of Cubans in Australia has fostered a singular praxis of maintaining their identity. In doing so the study examines why politics does not play a primary role in the recreation of Cubanness in Australia, in contrast to numerically larger and higher profile Cuban settlements. Rather, Cubanness in Sydney has centred more in preserving eating habits, memories of Cuba as a place, listening and dancing to Cuban music, and other practices kept in the domestic space. This is achieved through the Cuban migrants’ strategic borrowings from other migrant communities, from food products to people and institutions, such as the Catholic Church being used to maintain the traditional worship of the Virgin of Charity. Finally, the study explores how migrants and outsiders understand the identity of Cubanness in Sydney, and considers the contribution of some major theories of ethnicity and identity to understanding this phenomenon.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>This thesis explores the ways in which Cuban identity is expressed, understood, maintained and recreated by Cuban migrants in Sydney and the wider Australian society. Initially, the analysis focuses on some of the most visible ethnic markers used by people outside the Cuban community to recreate Cubanness: politics, through the promotion of Cuba as a ‘socialist paradise’ by leftist Australian organizations and solidarity groups with Cuba; and music and dance, taking as an example the salsa boom in Sydney, and the advertising of Cuba as an exotic tourist destination in Australia. Throughout the work an argument is developed that the very different demographic configuration of Cubans in Australia has fostered a singular praxis of maintaining their identity. In doing so the study examines why politics does not play a primary role in the recreation of Cubanness in Australia, in contrast to numerically larger and higher profile Cuban settlements. Rather, Cubanness in Sydney has centred more in preserving eating habits, memories of Cuba as a place, listening and dancing to Cuban music, and other practices kept in the domestic space. This is achieved through the Cuban migrants’ strategic borrowings from other migrant communities, from food products to people and institutions, such as the Catholic Church being used to maintain the traditional worship of the Virgin of Charity. Finally, the study explores how migrants and outsiders understand the identity of Cubanness in Sydney, and considers the contribution of some major theories of ethnicity and identity to understanding this phenomenon.