Salsa

Salsa is an interesting and popular dance type danced by all ages and is originally from Cuba.    It is known for its flashy moves, large variety of hand and arm patterns, and fun social approach.    There are Salsa competitions too, where Salsa is taken on a somewhat more serious level.

In some circles of dancers, Salsa is referred to as a ‘Latin Dance’, making it confusing to Ballroom dancers who think of Latin dance as including only Rumba, Cha Cha, Samba, Jive, and Paso Doble.    The American Style dancers have also recently adopted Salsa as one of the their satellite Rhythm dances.    This has led to some people thinking (or declaring) that there is a Street (Club) Salsa and a Ballroom Salsa.

However, Salsa is not a standarized dance.    Because of that, it often draws on many other dance styles including Ballroom dancing, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, and other styles, depending on who is dancing it and their interpretation of it.    So the term ‘Ballroom Salsa’ may not really make sense.

Most of the time Salsa is danced as an easy going social club dance, so therefore should be stylized in a relaxed way rather than a formalized way (as in Ballroom dance and Ballet).

There are several types of Salsa danced today.    These include Salsa on 1, Salsa on 2, Cuban Salsa, Columbian Salsa, and others.    The most popular style is ‘Salsa on 1′, often referred to as L.A. style.    At John Howardson Dance, we emphasize the L.A. style. 

The information given here is very general.    If you have further questions, feel free to contact us by email or phone.

Tel: 1-855-543-2623               or just simply               1-855-JH-DANCE

Email: info@johnhowardsondance.com