Salsa Dance Lessons

This page about learning to dance salsa. You can find info about:

• The basic salsa step
• Cuban hip motion
• Learning to dance salsa online at a Latin dance school.
• Salsa instructional videos and Dvds

• The value of salsa dancing.

Why Salsa?

It feels good.

It's great exercise.

It's a great way to meet to people.

There's a great joy in moving together as one with a dance partner.

Salsa Basic Step

There are a few various of the basic step in salsa:

• Forward and Back Salsa
• Step Side
• 5th Position Breaks (Cuban style basic)

The video at the end of this Hub, illustrates these 3 forms of the basic step.

In California, most beginning salsa dancers are taught forward and back salsa. So that's what I'll describe here.

Forward and Back Basic From Leader's Perspective.

Simply put, the forward and back basic step is:

• Forward with left foot.

  
  

• Replace weight to right foot

  
  

• Bring feet to Together (pause)

  
  

• Back with right foot

  
  

• Replace with to left foot

  
  

• Bring feet Together (pause)

  
  

Now let's look at this in more detail. Most club salsa teachers count musical pulses, rather than beats when teaching salsa.. A musical pulse, as I describe it here, is not really a beat, but a subdivision of a beat -- it's a light pulsation, but not something you could clap your hands to or tap your foot to. A beat, on the other hand is a strong musical accent that you would tend to snap your fingers with, clap to, or tap your foot to. A musical pulse, though, is too fast for that. You'd soon get tired trying to tap your foot to a musical pulse. For accuracy and teaching purposes, salsa instructors have fallen into the habit of accounting musical pulses in groups of 8. Here's what happens from a leader's perspective on each count.:

1. Step forward with left foot (changing weight to left foot)
2. Replace weight back to right foot.
3. Bring left together with right foot.
4. Pause and press left foot into the floor straightening left leg.
5. Step back with right foot (changing weight to right foot).
6. Replace weight back to left foot.
7. Bring right foot together with left foot.
8. Pause and press right foot into the floor, straightening right left.

Cuban Hip Motion.

Cuban hip motion is a sexy hip motion caused by properly shifting weight and bending and straightening of legs while dancing. it takes a while to learn, but once you get it, you look great on the dance floor. Here's a tip to get you started:

When you first bring your left foot together with your right foot (count 3), your right hip will initially be out to the right. As you press your left foot into the floor and straighten your left leg (count 4), your left hip will move smoothly out to the left.

Learn More. There is a very good lesson on Cuban Hip motion at a Latin dance school online. You can try out the school and see if works for you. If it doesn't, you can get a refund. Click the following click to learn more about this salsa online dance school.

Technical Note:: the video at the bottom of this Hub shows the basic steps in salsa using a count of quick quick slow. The first quick quick slow is equivalent to 1-2-3 (4), if you break on count 1 (as is often done in California salsa).

I put the "4" in parentheses, here, to show that there is no step on count 4.

From the leader's perspective, breaking on 1 means to step forward on count 1. Some salseros -- especially those in New York --prefer to "break on 2." They count: (1) 2,3,4 (5) 6, 7 8. Breaking on 2 gives salsa a very exciting, syncopated feel. To learn more about syncopation, see my article at:

http://www.LoveMusicLoveDance.com/syncopat.htm

Salsa Instructional Video

See a salsa instructional video by clicking here.

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About the author

Phil Seyer has been teaching salsa since 1995 and currently teaches salsa at his Professionals Guild dance parties for singles in the Bay Area and Sacramento