Information & History of Afro-Cuban Dancing

Series Summary

One of the many Latin originating dances, Afro-Cuban style dancing embodies many characteristics and styles of other traditionally Latin steps, the unifying principle between all of the Latin dances is their deep attachment to their culture and people. Most Latin dances combine the elements of joy, celebration and tradition in their music and art. The musical traditions of Cuba go back to the '30s and '40s, when mambo and cha-cha were in their early stages of popularity. Over the years, the two styles of Latin dance took on their own areas of importance and have since helped shaped the way that Cuba's African population combined elements of Latino music and culture into their own style of dance and expression. In this free instructional video series, our expert will show you the basics of Afro-Cuban dance by teaching basic steps, giving pointers on special moves and techniques as well as history on the origins of Afro-Cuban dance and the music and musical instruments that accompany it. Learn everything you need to know to dance salsa, mambo, cha cha, and other Latin dances in this easy to follow online dance lesson!

Video Transcript

"My name is Alex Ruiz from Miami Beach, Florida with Salsa Mia dance studio, and today we’re going to teach you Afro-Cuban music. Now, I’m going to be talking a little bit about the history of Afro-Cuban. As it sounds, Afro-Cuban is half African and half Cuban. It originally started in Africa and then when the slaves went to Cuba. The way they communicated, they communicating through music because that was the only freedom they had, and they started as a dance. Afro-Cuban also has many other names. They danced throughout all of south of Central America. It could also be known as tambores, which is drums. What you’re going to be learning is mostly the movement of your body. There are many ways you can move your body; many directions. It’s great for workout; it’s great for an exercise."