Salsa is one of the most fun dances around. It is danced to fast music that can be found at numerous Latin nightclubs around town. Is an amalgamation of Cuban dances such as mambo, rumba and pachanga as well as swing and tap. The basic Salsa dance rhythm consists of taking three steps for every four beats of music. The odd number of steps creates the syncopation inherent to salsa dancing and ensures that it takes eight beats to loop back to a new sequence of steps. You can learn Salsa in our Latin Ballroom Group Dance Class or Ballroom Sampler Group Dance Class.

History of Salsa

Like many of the social dances alive today, Salsa’s roots can be traced to a blending of European and African music and dance traditions that occurred as a result of European descendants importing African slaves to the New World. Salsa’s history reads like the family tree of Cuban music, Rumba gave birth to Mambo, which in turn gave birth to Salsa. 

There is still much dispute about using the word Salsa versus Mambo to describe music and dance. Tito Puente, the King of Latin Jazz, was quoted as saying, “Salsa is what you eat.”