Salsa (dance)
[6] The basic salsa dance rhythm consists of taking three steps for every four beats of music.
[7] Salsa dance socials are commonly held in night clubs, bars, ballrooms, restaurants, and outside, especially if part of an outdoor festival.
On the other hand, salsa dancing is also done in very informal settings, such as parties in a home or backyard.
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 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 mambo) and helping to popularize it by teaching it in dance studios in New York and through early instructional tapes.
Later dancers such as Alex Da Silva, Christian Oviedo, and Liz Lira are also credited with developing the LA style of dancing as we know it today.
In this way, rather than following a beat, the dancers themselves contribute in their movement, to the polyrhythmic pattern of the music.
In the same way that a "sonero" (lead singer in Son and salsa bands) will "quote" other, older songs in their own, a "casino" dancer will frequently improvise references to other dances, integrating movements, gestures and extended passages from folk dances.
The major difference that distinguishes the Miami-style from other North American styles is the "Atras" or "Diagonal", back breaking steps performed backwards diagonally instead of moving forwards and backwards as seen in the New York style.
Instead, dancers keep their upper body still, poised and relaxed, focusing on foot movement.
Pairs of dancers form a circle ("Rueda" in Spanish means "Wheel"), with dance moves called out by one person.
[citation needed] "Rueda de Miami" originated in the 1980s from Miami, is a formal style with many rules based on a mix, and is a hybridization of Rueda de Cuba and North American dance styles, with some routines reflecting American culture (e.g. Coca-Cola, Dedo, Adios) which is not found in the traditional Cuban-style Rueda.
It is also worth noting that Cali's style of Salsa has been heavily influenced by the nature of its social scene, where in the 90s most nightclubs, named Disoctecas after the record discs used to play older Salsa music, had a period of time where they would transform into a Viejoteca, a nickname for point of time in which nightclubs would play the Salsa equivalent of Golden Oldies.
[14] The central feature is the footwork which has quick rapid steps and skipping motions called "repique".
Their footwork is intricate and precise, helping several Colombian Style dancers win major world championships.
[17] Salsa dancing has been shown to manifest "moments of luxury" in which people use hedonistic escapism to leave momentarily the constrains of ordinary normal life.
