Salsa

Salsa is a partnered social dance performed to salsa music, combining Cuban and other Caribbean traditions with later developments in New York and elsewhere.

Salsa timing: The organization of salsa steps in relation to musical beats and phrases. Dancers coordinate basic steps and breaks through shared timing, though styles count the music differently.
Cuban son: A Cuban music and dance tradition that blends Spanish-derived song forms with African-derived rhythms. Son supplied foundational partner-dance steps and musical patterns for salsa.
Clave rhythm: A recurring two-bar rhythmic pattern that organizes much Afro-Cuban music. Salsa dancers and musicians orient phrasing around the underlying clave structure.
Bachata: A Dominican music and partner-dance tradition with a characteristic four-beat step and hip movement. Bachata shares social-dance settings with salsa but has a different musical and movement vocabulary.
Salsa basic step: A foundational salsa step pattern that shifts weight across a repeating sequence of beats. Its recurring weight changes anchor more elaborate movement.
Rumba: A Cuban family of secular music and dance traditions rooted in Afro-Cuban communities. Rumba movement and rhythmic sensibilities shaped salsa’s expressive vocabulary.
Son clave: A five-stroke clave pattern used in Cuban son and much salsa music. Its two-bar pattern helps explain salsa’s characteristic rhythmic orientation.
Merengue: A Dominican music and partner dance commonly danced with a marching step and close partner connection. Its steady step contrasts with salsa’s varied timing and turn-pattern vocabulary.
Salsa turn patterns: Sequences of turns and hand changes used in partnered salsa dancing. Leads and follows use these patterns to build social-dance combinations.
Mambo: A Cuban-derived music and dance form that became popular in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. Mambo’s break-step timing and New York popularity helped prepare the ground for salsa.

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Ballroom danceCompared with: Salsa shares Latin influences with ballroom styles but follows a different social and musical vocabulary.