Word: grouping
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fast: any explicit instruction in the Ten Commandments would alarm guardians of the church-state wall. And in any case, they would have to be translated into modern educationese: Thou shalt model caring behaviors in interactive relationships with thy peer group. In the public schools, where any kind of commandment might be deemed unduly judgmental, character ed revolves around pillars or building blocks of character--universally accepted values bleached of any sectarian contamination. And they are transmitted by the familiar methods beloved of today's pedagogues: posters and banners, role playing and sharing, multi-culti storytelling and words...
Ricky Martin is a fresh face, but he is not an entirely new one. For 15 years now the 27-year-old singer has enjoyed a kind of second-tier, ESPN2 level of fame: he was a member of the teen group Menudo, he once co-starred in Les Miserables on Broadway, has appeared on the ABC soap General Hospital. The cultural wave Martin is riding--Latin pop--we must admit, is also not an entirely new phenomenon. Salsa, rumba, mambo and other Latin musical forms have made inroads on American pop music--Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, Gloria Estefan, Ritchie...
What is new is this: as the century turns to double zero, a new generation of Latin artists, nurtured by Spanish radio, schooled in mainstream pop, are lifting their voices in English. Of this group, Martin is the hottest; Lopez, 28, the most alluring; Anthony, 29, the most artistic. With Hispanics poised to become America's largest minority group within the next few years, this music could be the sound of your future. Latin-tinged pop is blowing up because it fits the musical times: it has a bit of the street edge of hip-hop (Lopez worked with rapper...
Look at Martin today, and you can tell he was a child star--he wears the spotlight like ordinary folks wear house slippers. Indeed, Martin got started early: at 12 he auditioned to join Menudo, a Latin singing group comprised of boys ages 12 to 16 whose roster rotated when members grew too old. Martin was rejected on his first try because he was too small and too young-looking. Martin tried out again. Rejected again. On the third try, he made it. It was an early sign: what Martin lacked in talent he made up for in pure doggedness...
Over the years reports have surfaced that the social and emotional lives of the kids in Menudo were poorly supervised, even neglected. Diaz will admit only that the group did have "problems," though he denies he was the root cause. Says Diaz: "I think a lot of problems come from the house, from the family, some of the parents the kids have." Martin, Diaz says, actually fared better than most. "Ricky had that special personality, like a charm," says Diaz. "He could handle himself...