Introduction to Salsa Dancing for Beginners

Series Summary

Salsa is a Latin dance and musical style that was introduced to the United States during the Cuban and Puerto Rican immigration between the 1940s and the 1970s. There is some debate as to the origin of salsa, but the rhythm is a fusion of traditional African and Cuban and other Latin-American rhythms, including the Mambo and the Rumba. Salsa dancing is one of the most popular dances worldwide, and because the rules of the dance allow for a lot of creative improvisation, many different styles have developed, including Miami style, Puerto Rican style, New York style, L.A. style and Cuban style.

In this series of free video dance lessons you’ll learn the basics of the Los Angeles style of salsa dance. Latin dance expert Leslie Sack will give you instructions and demonstrations of the rhythmic steps, turns, moves and footwork you’ll need to get out and start salsa dancing.

Video Transcript

" Hi! This is Leslie Sack for expertvillage.com and you can visit my website at www.lesliesack.com. Today I'm going to be teaching you salsa. Salsa is supposedly from Cuba. We count it in 4 counts but our steps are 3. There are different ways to do salsa. There's Cuban salsa, there's LA style Salsa and I am going to be teaching you LA style salsa but we are also going to be learning the correct rhythm that you use anywhere you are in the world. Salsa is a Latin dance so we don't really move around very much but it looks fancy because there are lots of turns and spins with the girl and the music is really vivacious and it will really make you want to dance."