Confusion about styles

Someone once said "A Rose by any other name would be just as beautiful"

How true that is. No matter what you call it, it is still the same beautiful flower.. this applies to salsa too!

There are many different terms/nomenclature for salsa and its different style. Call it whatever u want but at the end of the day, you are doing nothing but paying respect to the soft mud from the earth in cuba..


Common points about Salsa no matter what style

1. Music : 8 beats to the bar. If someone can prove there are 7 or 9 i will stop teaching.

2. Rhythm : Quick-Quick-Slow. End of discussion. Hence 3 weight changes every half bar (6 changes over 8 counts)

3. Instruments : Clave, conga, tumbao, cowbell, macaras etc etc etc

Now the styles..

CrossBody on1 / LA / London / Puerto Rican style:

This is arguably the most popular and "easiest for beginner" style.. You would essentially break forward (for man) on 1 count and dance to the 1,2,3 and 5,6,7 beats.. 4 and 8 are not danced. The combinations are "straight-line" or sharp.


on2 / NewYork style / Contemporary Mambo / Modern Mambo:

Popularised by Eddie Torres / Nelson Flores / Santo Rico. The man starts with the 1 on the left foot in place and takes the 2 back with his right foot and then transfer the weight back on 3 to the left foot...
Then steps the five forwards with right foot next to the left and move forward with the left foot on the 6 and transfers back to the right foot on the 7.. The transfers are still on 1,2,3 and 5,6,7.. but forward basic is on 6 and back basic is on 2..

Moves are again cross-body. This style ppl say, is better for spins as it gives an extra count to turn based on the structure of the bar.. It is also more musically oriented sometimes.. ask me i would prefer on 1 anyday.

Classical Mambo style:

This style is not danced much nowadays and is similar to the on 2 NY style just that the man breaks forward on 2 and back on 6


Cuban style:

Mainly danced on 1. But the movements are not straight line as crossbody. they are circular. they are not always as complicated as cross body combinations, but are more earthy and natural and "thumpy" . Henry herrera is a good cuban style dancer


Casino rueda:

Like a casino wheel, many couples dance together and exchange partners after every move in this style.
The routines are very complicated sometimes and uses the basic elements of cuban style dancing along with the refining of the cross-body style.

great fun for large groups. needs a caller who gives hand signals or callouts for the moves.

Drawbacks of this style is that it needs space, all dancers must be of a certain level and need exact couples.


Karin ? your comments ?

Andy thanks

ur a gem

Kai

hi tarun,

do you know what the appendix in the human body is ? a redundant piece which has degenerated due to evolution which can be done away with surgery.. similar is the tap in salsa.. it essentially is part of the older classical cuban style and maybe even the classical mambo style.. but it was during a period in history where the moves were simpler and the music slower.. with todays speed and complexity of combinations, the tap in salsa is almost redundant..

the tap was usually danced on the second half of the slower beat..hence in on1 style if u were to do the tap it would be on 4 and 8.. it essentially would be tapping the right foot close to the ball of the ankle of the left foot before going back and vice versa with the left foot before going forward...

hope this helps
anand

hi tarun,
that's a good question....anand, thanks for answering that.

since we are talking about the 4 and the 8 beat...just wanted to add that these 2 beats are great to do styling on (especially when the music is slow). the tap is almost like a styling step. but like Anand mentioned...these days the music tends to be so fast that there is hardly any time to do the tap.

cheers,
sangeeta