How to Choreograph a Salza

The salza or salsa is a seductive and enticing dance. Originating in Puerto Rico and Cuba, this dance has very strong roots. Learning to dance the salsa can be fun and sometimes difficult. Feeling the rhythm of the beat is important because salsa dance is rooted in a sense of instinctive movement, so choreography can be difficult. Learn how to choreograph a salsa that looks both natural and technically correct.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. First learn the basic structure of the salsa dance. Watch videos of people dancing the salza to get a feel for how the dancers translate the music through their bodies.

2. Become as well versed in personally dancing the salsa as you can. Take private lessons and practice extensively so you can at least master the basics of the dance and familiarize yourself with salsa music.

3. Choose a salza song to choreograph your routine to. Find a partner that will help you choreograph so you can choreograph both parts of the dance.

4. Begin your choreography by integrating the quick-quick-slow movement. Incorporate a variety of turns or to break the movement up to dance in 2's instead of 4's or rapid directional changes to make the dance more visually stimulating. Also, make sure you integrate a break step into your routine as this step is an important feature of the salsa.

5. Integrate your personality into the steps and try to keep the seductive quality of the dance alive. Create your salsa routine in 8 count sequences for better memorization and practice each sequence over again as many times as possible to allow for ample comprehension.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to learn to dance salsa and to choreograph it is to simply do it. Get out and take a course or go social salsa dancing for the best research material.

Resources

• This website has some basic salsa steps that you can learn at home.
• Search this website for some more steps and videos on salsa dancing.