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Cuba, the land of beautiful white, golden, and black sandy beaches, tropical weather, joyful people with their love for music is where Son, Mambo, Cha Cha Cha, guaguancó and rumba came to life.
Puerto Rico, equally as magical and beautiful is where Taíno, Plena and bomba music originated. Decades later, expat Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians introduced their afro-cuban/portorican rhythms to Jazz musicians in the nightclubs of New York city while jamming. Swing dancers mixed with Latin dancers in the famous Palladium ballroom, which then fusioned, creating what we now call Salsa dancing.
The origin of the name “Salsa” is still a mystery; some say it was from the Queen of Salsa herself, Celia Cruz improvising in one of her songs saying “Echale Salsita” or from legendary Johnny Pacheco’s explanations stating that it’s because of it’s spicy and hot connotations. However, a lot of people associate it with its meaning “Sauce”, as the ingredients used in making a sauce represent the fusion of dance styles that made the Salsa dance! Nonetheless, salsa has traveled the world making it one of the most loved, contagious, competitive and fun styles of dance that anyone can dance. Some compare salsa moves to mathematical equations, as there is no end to how many patterns you can come up with. Always fusioning, always surprising, that is salsa.
The origin of the name “Salsa” is still a mystery; some say it was from the Queen of Salsa herself, Celia Cruz improvising in one of her songs saying “Echale Salsita” or from legendary Johnny Pacheco’s explanations stating that it’s because of it’s spicy and hot connotations. However, a lot of people associate it with its meaning “Sauce”, as the ingredients used in making a sauce represent the fusion of dance styles that made the Salsa dance! Nonetheless, salsa has traveled the world making it one of the most loved, contagious, competitive and fun styles of dance that anyone can dance. Some compare salsa moves to mathematical equations, as there is no end to how many patterns you can come up with. Always fusioning, always surprising, that is salsa.
All the changes and fusioning that the Salsa dance went through, were the reason we have many styles of this sensational dance, of which:
Like most dance styles that require partners, you will surely hear about “Leaders” and “Followers”, and the Salsa dance is no exception. Generally, the Lead/Leader is the man, and the Follower is the woman, but hey, it is totally fine if you want to switch it up and choose whatever role suits you better, the most important thing that you should keep in mind is that both are equally important and what matters the most is the communication and connection!
As the names indicate, the Leader is the person in charge of leading and executing moves all while giving the Follower enough room and freedom to express themselves with their styling!
You should also note that one can be both leader and follower at the same time, which will help the dancer to have more awareness and understanding of their partner and create a smoother communication between the two.
Join montreal’s best rated dance school where you can take salsa, bachata, kizomba, fitness classes and much more.
