SALSA HISTORY

The popular usage of the word “Salsa” for danceable Latin Music began in 1933. Salsa is a distillation of many Latin & Afro-Caribbean dances. Each played a large part in its evolution.
SALSA is similar to MAMBO in that both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. In Salsa, turns have become an important feature, so the overall look & feel are important are quite different from those of Mambo. Mambo moves generally forward and backward whereas Salsa has more of a side-to-side feel.
Salsa has many roots & many branches. The important thing is that Salsa is played throughout the Hispanic world & has received influences of many places within it. It is a sample of flexibility & evolution.
Musically speaking, Salsa is a group of Latin rhythmic styles that contain the clave beat. The five note syncopated rhythmic cell of African origin. The clave beat is infectious; it makes the listener “have to move”. Although there are many African clave patterns, the most popular in what is called Salsa today is the son clave
Salsa music is the synthesis of European & African musical influences that was born in Cuba. The European part being mainly the melodies & harmony of the Andalusia region of Spain while the African part in Salsa is mainly from the Western Coast of Africa where the slave trade was most prevalent.

 

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