In recent years Salsa has enjoyed increasing global popularity and along with Samba, Tango, Merengue, Reggaeton and Bachata, it is one of the principle forms in which interest in Latin American popular culture has been articulated in the UK.  If you have ever attended a UK salsa dance event it may on first impressions appear to be a glamorous social gathering of a multi-cultural group of jazzy, colourful people of all ages united in their common interest in Salsa. One can also observe an enthusiastic public who are happy to escape from the mainstream bars and binge drinking culture to the safety of the dance floor where they can exhibit their latest moves. Thus it could be very easily concluded that Salsa dancing is an alternative cultural scene that exists parallel to mainstream culture. However, on closer examination we can see that the salsa scene is a far more complex scenario to the one described above.

On the whole, the UK salsa dance scene can be seen as a complimentary but at the moment slightly fragmented alliance between Latin Jazz; Afro-Cuban; Traditional Latin American salsa; New York & LA salsa; R n B; Hip-Hop; Reggaeton; Dance hall; Ballroom and commercial Latin pop elements that could at any moment go their separate ways. The smooth sprung wooden dance floor has therefore become a battleground where the smooth, flashy, stylised and refined forms of New York and LA salsa dance compete with the frenetic body movements of the raw, rudimentary, traditional Cuban and Colombian salsa. Meanwhile, on the hard edge of the dance floor, the hybrid forms of urban Latin, Reggaeton and Salsaton dancers eagerly await new alliances.

So why are there so many different styles of Salsa dancing ? Salsa’s arrival, appeal and spread throughout the UK and the world for that matter has involved a long term ongoing process of dissection, fusion and assimilation of diverse cultural ingredients. The presence of so many different styles of salsa has prompted several debates about the exact origin, ownership and even the meaning of the term “Salsa”.  Therefore, understanding why there are so many different styles present in salsa is ultimately a question of understanding what Latin American culture is all about.

Before analysing the relationship between salsa and Latin American Culture it is necessary to understand what is meant by the term salsa.  The purpose of this article/blog is to define the term “Salsa” and to highlight some of the current literature and debates on the evolution and history of Salsa music and dance. Due to limited time and other constraints I will be adding to this blog on a weekly basis. In my next blog I will explore the relationship between Salsa and Latin American cultural identity so keep checking this site for updates.