You might know “Salsa” as the delicious dip you take with your chips — but it means something different in the dance world! Salsa is a sensual kind of dance that was popularized in the US around the 1960s. Its origins are deeply linked to African and Caribbean sources — which explains the spicy and sensual moves. Just like its name sounds like, Salsa is a mixture of many dances from different sources. It takes some cues from Cuban dances like mambo and rumba — and mixes them with some spices of American swing and tap. Salsa dance is coupled with a music genre of the same name. Both go hand in hand.
Interested to know more about this sensual dance and music genre? Read on..
The history of Salsa dance dates back to the 1900s when dances with different rhythms and styles were mixed in Eastern Cuba. The two main elements were Cuban son and Afro-Cuban rumba. It wasn’t known by the name “Salsa” back then, nor was it exactly the same as we have it today, but it was a start. People used various instruments to devise a new spicy music genre, and the dance to go along with it. Salsa soon started spreading to other parts of the world. After around 50 years, it reached Havana where it picked up some new flavors from other Cuban dances. Some American jazz was also thrown into the mix. When Cuban musicians relocated to America in around 1960, they brought salsa with them to the US, mainly to New York. There, these musicians found an ideal community, the Hispanics, to further develop salsa. With time, salsa kept growing and evolving until it became the salsa we know and love today. Many local communities mix and match salsa to suit their local styles. That’s why there are multiple salsa styles on the planet today.
Interested in learning salsa? We got you covered!
Salsa’s basic steps are easy to learn. However, it can be hard to master its full potential without putting the time, a little of effort and dedication to learn this fun, sensual and happy dance. Lucky for you, we at DanceSport Dupont have the right salsa classes that take you from the very basics steps all the way to becoming a salsa master!