(Workshops) Beginner Salsa (on One)
Salsa dance is without a doubt one of the most popular Latin-American dances in the world. Part of its success is based on the music, which is known for its fast and infectious dance beats. Salsa is a dance that was created fairly recently with the mixture of many different styles and musical techniques that all came together in Cuba, where many Latin dances and music styles originated. Named after the sauce – the dance as well can be considered “hot, spicy, and full of Latin flavour.”
Salsa is continuously evolving and newer modern styles have been named after the original geographic areas that developed them. The most well-known variant styles are from Colombia, Cuba, LA, New York, and Puerto Rico. Mixing other dance styling techniques into Salsa dancing has become very acceptable, for both men and women. This styling may include shimmies, spins, body isolations, rolls, even acrobatics, and lifts. The dance incorporates incredibly fast footwork and tight spins and is designed to dazzle the spectator by including patterns that are exciting, sexy, and flamboyant with lots of dips, spins, and drops.
Even though Salsa is primarily a partner dance, it has developed some variations such as the Rueda, which means “wheel.” True to its name, Salsa Rueda is danced in a circle. It generally employs the same kinds of turns and steps you would normally use in ordinary Salsa dancing. However, each move has a name, which is called by the leader of the Rueda. Leaders execute the move and pass the follower around to the next leader in the circle. Calls come in quick succession, creating an exciting dynamic between the dancers. Each move has a name and most have hand signals since it was sometimes difficult to hear in noisy nightclubs where the dance originated. This wildly popular dance, which was done everywhere in Cuba—in the streets, parking lots, clubs, and in homes, is now taught in Studios all over the world!
Lessons
(Workshops) Beginner Salsa – Week One
(Workshops) Beginner Salsa – Week Two
This is the second and final lesson in our two-part Workshop Beginning Salsa series. The first pattern in this Workshop is called the Ladies Outside Underarm Turn and the second is the Cross-Body Lead. Both these moves are fun to dance but they are also crucial to learn because they initiate a lot of other […]