

In some cases people do the Salsa in solo mode. Salsa is a slot or spot dance, i.e., unlike Foxtrot or Samba, in Salsa a couple does not travel over the dance floor much, but rather occupies a fixed area on the dance floor. Typically the music involves complicated percussion rhythms and is fast with around 180 beats per minute (see salsa music for more). However, this skipped beat is often marked by a tap, a kick, a flick, etc. Salsa patterns typically use three steps during each four beats, one beat being skipped. Salsa is danced on music with a recurring eight-beat pattern, i.e. It is a song titled Échale salsita, wherein the major refrain and chorus goes “Salsaaaaa! échale salsita, échale salsita.” During the early 1950s, commentator and DJ “bigote” Escalona announced danceables with the title: “the following rhythm contains Salsa.” Finally, the Spanish-speaking population of the New York area baptized Celia Cruz as the “Queen of Salsa.” The very first time the word appeared on the radio was a composition by Ignacio Piñeiro, dedicated to an old African man who sold butifarras (a sausage-like product) in Central Road in Matanzas.

The word is the same as the Spanish word salsa meaning sauce, or in this case flavour or style.Īccording to testimonials from musicologists and historians of music, the name salsa was gradually accepted among dancers throughout various decades. Salsa is a partner dance form that corresponds to salsa music, however it is sometimes done solo too.
