salsa

The tradition & historical record

Salsa is the name for Latin American dances that are danced to salsa music. Salsa is one of the most popular types of Latin dance that is practiced worldwide, and is typically danced with a partner, although there are elements of solo footwork as well. There are several distinct styles of salsa that are danced around the world. ¹

The term "salsa" was popularized in New York in the 1960s and 1970s by Johnny Pacheco, Fania Records, and the Fania All-Stars as an umbrella label for a New York-based form of Afro-Caribbean dance music with roots in Cuba and mid-20th-century New York. Salsa dance developed from a longer lineage of Afro-Cuban and Caribbean social dances, especially Son cubano, danzón, mambo, cha-cha-chá, and rumba. Salsa's movement vocabulary reflects both African-derived and European-derived influences. African and Afro-Cuban traditions contributed polyrhythmic movement, body isolations, grounded footwork, improvisation, and call-and-response interaction, including influences associated with Yoruba, Bantu, rumba, and Santería/Orisha practices. European-derived social dance traditions contributed partner-dance structures, couple formations, and ballroom lineages, especially through Cuban danzón, which developed from European country dance, French contredanse, and Spanish contradanza in contact with African rhythmic and dance practices. In the United States, modern salsa dance was shaped by Palladium-era mambo and related Latin dances, while also absorbing influences from jazz, swing, hustle, tap, and other U.S. social and stage dance traditions. New York and Los Angeles styles later became internationally influential through dance schools, performance teams, congresses, and commercial salsa instruction. Cuban casino, often called Cuban salsa outside Cuba, developed from related Cuban antecedents such as son, mambo, cha-cha-chá, rumba, and danzón, while retaining a more circular partner-dance structure than the slot-based forms common in New York and Los Angeles styles. ¹

Salsa dance steps can be done individually, but salsa is most popularly known as a partner dance where the lead takes the follower through a series of spins and turn patterns to music. Salsa's tempo ranges from about 150 bpm (beats per minute) to around 250 bpm, although most dancing is done to music somewhere between 160 and 220 bpm. The basic salsa dance rhythm consists of taking three steps for every four beats of music. Salsa dancers can also break apart to dance solo, known as "shines". The two main styles of partnered salsa dancing are linear and circular. In linear salsa, dance couples remain in their "slot", with each dancer switching places from one side of the slot to the other, similar to West Coast Swing—New York–style salsa and LA-style salsa are both danced this way. The second style of partnered salsa dancing is circular salsa. Here, dancers circle around each other, reminiscent of East Coast Swing. Both Cuban and Colombian salsa follow this circular pattern. Incorporating other dance styling techniques into salsa dancing has become very common for both men and women: foot work, arm work, body movement, spins, body isolations, shoulder shimmies, body rolls, hand styling, acrobatics, and even lifts. ¹

Salsa dance socials are commonly held in night clubs, bars, ballrooms, restaurants, and outside, especially if part of an outdoor festival. Festivals are held annually, often called a salsa congress, in various host cities aimed to attract a variety of salsa dancers from other cities and countries. ¹

Over the years, many different styles of salsa dancing have evolved around the world. Many of them are compatible with each other, but others are different enough to make dancing between dancers of different styles difficult. Salsa has many similarities with other partner dances, the styles and skills learned in salsa can be applied to other partnered dances like Bachata or West Coast Swing. Incorporating other dance styling techniques into salsa dancing has also become common, with dancers incorporating styles and movements from dance styles such as ballet and hip hop to create new fusions of dance styles. ¹

"On 2" style salsa originated in New York and is often referred to as New York style. It is a linear form of salsa, where dancers dance in a slot, similar to LA style salsa. Unlike other styles of salsa, however, New York style is danced on the second beat of the music ("on 2"), and the follower, not the leader, steps forward on the first measure of the music. There is also often a greater emphasis on performing "shines" in which dancers separate themselves and dance solo with intricate footwork and styling—a phenomenon that likely has origins from Swing and New York Tap. New York style is the first style of salsa to emerge following the birth of salsa music in New York, and is a mixture of Cuban dances, such as mambo, son, pachanga, and rumba as well as American dances such as swing and tap. One of the most influential figures in New York style salsa is Eddie Torres (known as "the Mambo King"), who is credited with helping to formalize the on 2 salsa timing (based on the tumbao rhythm) and helping to popularize it by teaching it in dance studios in New York and through early instructional tapes. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Salsa (dance)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

salsa is dance form, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 17 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²