Into the Light World Tour

Captured during a two-night stand at a Dutch arena, this 100-minute concert special documents Gloria Estefan's lavish 1991 world tour, which underscored the Cuban-American singer's graduation from acclaim as a dance-floor diva to the ranks of female pop superstars. At its best, Into the Light World Tour displays the relentless energy, personal warmth, and crack musicianship that Estefan and her husband, producer, and principal collaborator, Emilio Estefan Jr., had evolved through her old band, the Miami Sound Machine, and taken uptown through her solo career. When the star and her band kick into high gear, percussion simmering and horns blazing in taut, deftly arranged choruses, the propulsive lure of salsa is hard to resist.

Technically, Estefan is a singer with a supple tone but modest range, hardly suggesting the caliber expected of a bona fide diva. Neither does her small, compact frame suggest a dancer's physique, despite the production's reliance on extended dance sequences. Yet she makes the most with what she has, harnessing formidable physical energy and transmitting considerable warmth to her audience. Her material, including both Miami Sound Machine hits and subsequent solo signatures, works best when staying closest to her roots, riding the giddy syncopations of uptempo Latin rhythms, or plying the lambent emotions of traditional ballads. Her exhortations to dance--"Get on Your Feet," "Conga," and "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" being the inevitable faves--work handily with an ecstatic audience.

More grizzled viewers should be forewarned that this, like most recent concert films, isn't purely documentary--apart from backstage sequences that duly flatter the star, the live sound has been liberally sweetened during post-concert production. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Review: A great concert
I never actually saw this video. I was at the concert. The concert was awesome, so if this video does a decent job of capturing it, then it should be great too.
Customer Review: Gloria is the best and so are her concerts
Gloria is the best singer ever. On stage she's a divette. She's the best and so are her shows. The way she sings live is great, and so is her dancing. The band is great too. They know how to play and everybody goes wild in the audience!!!!!!!Always!!!!! I love her with all my heart and soul, 4 ever.....

Origin:

Rumba has two origins: Spanish as well as African. Rumba was first danced by African slaves as early as the 16th century. The Rumba folk dance had sexual connotations with the male having a sexually agressive attitude and the female having a deffensive attitude. It gaining popularity in Latin America in the 1920s.

Music:

Like Salsa, Rumba music is played in 4/4 but the music is much slower at just over 100 bpm. Traditionally, Rumba is danced on the second beat with a pause on the first beat although American style Rumba is danced on the first beat. The forth beat is usually accentuated.

Dance:

Rumba is primarily a sex pantomime. The hip movements are quite exaggerated, especially for the men. The men have a sexually agressive attitude in the dance and the women have a sexually deffensive attitude. The women usually dance with a hankerchief in their hands which is waved in front of the body enticing the men, but when the men react the women quickly "cover up". Traditionally, the men "attack" with their hips by getting very close to the women, but some variations allow men to "attack" with other parts and from a distance!

Latinos NZ Popularity Scale: 3/10

Rumba is not a very popular dance in New Zealand's Latin clubs, primarily because Kiwis are fairly reserved on the dance floor. But, as more and more dancers learn the dance it is definitely becoming more popular!

Rumba is the dance of love and sex. So, don't be scared to have some fun!

Article taken from Latinos.co.nz (http://www.latinos.co.nz)

latin music downloads