A recipe for salsa

A Recipe for Salsa ….

If you’ve been swept up in the vibrancy and passion that envelopes you on a good night at La Bodeguita Del Medio or Candela Pura by merely watching good dancing, you may have wondered, where can I learn this hot Mexican salsa dance? The funny thing is, contrary to popular belief, it’s not Mexican.  Latin, yes…well kind of, but it also has roots from so many other countries including England and France. The origins and history of salsa dancing are as rich and complex as your next plate of chicken mole.

Let’s start with the basic ingredients of where it all started….

Salsa’s origins are debatable depending on who you ask and where they came from, but most will agree that we must give credit Cuba for the ancestry and origins of its inception. This is where Contra-Danze (Country Dance) of England/France, later known as Danzón was brought by the French who fled from Haiti.  Danzón is still alive and kicking as evidenced particularly in the plaza  in front of  La Iglesia de Guadalupe here in PV on Sunday nights, but I digress. Now in Haiti, Danzón then  begins to mix itself with Rhumbas of African origin (Yambu, Colombia, Guaguanco).  Blend  in Són of the Cuban people, which was a combination of the Spanish troubadour (sonero) and the African drumbeats and a  unique partner dance was born.

The Dominican Republic, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and other countries also experienced this syncretism in smaller degrees. Soon bands of these countries such as the famous Perez Prado, the great Cuban influencer of mambo took their music to Mexico City in the era of the famous films of that country. Not too long  after, a similar movement to New York occurred and this is where the music was first coined, ‘Salsa.’ There was a great deal of investment into the music that went on in these two cities and as a result, more and more promotion and syncretism occurred which commercialized salsa music even further and increased its popularity.

New York created the term ‘Salsa, but it did not create the dance. The term became a nickname to refer to a variety of different popular dances from several countries of Hispanic influence such as Rhumba, Són Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danzón, Són, Guguanc, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue, among others. Many of these styles  maintained their individuality, but at the same time many were mixed creating salsa dance.

If you are listening to modern-day salsa, you are going to find the base of són, and also hear Cumbia, Guaracha and maybe even some old Merengue, built-in the rhythm of different songs. Almost always, you’ll hear many of the old styles infused within the modern beats. Salsa music and dancing varies from place to place.

Much like the salsa we eat, salsa dancing has many ingredients and many flavors, but one passion that unites us all.  The important thing is that salsa continues to play throughout the world and has received influences from several continents. No one place can take the credit for salsa music or its dance and not one style is better than the other. In fact, the more you individualize your own sense of dance style, the better. Variety is the spice of life. Viva la Salsa!

Marcella Castellanos has been dancing salsa for over seven years and teaches at Yoga Vallarta. You can contact her via Facebook or Twitter at Latin Motion PV or at www.latinmotionpv.com or visit her blog at

http://latinmotionpv.blogspot.com/.