As music develops & changes, so too does the style of dance. Across the world the music music tends to differ slightly so the way people dance also tends to change slightly from country to country and again differently over a period of time. As people travel around the world, they are influenced by these differences and they influence people around them so styles then tend to merge. Salsa dancing developed from a number dances, but principally from Son & Afro-Cuban Rumba. Cha Cha Cha, Pachanga, & the Latin Ballroom version of Rumba also developed from Son.
Cuban Salsa has a circular feel to the dance and there tends to be much less spinning than Crossbody styles. The Miami style is very similar to Cuban except that dancers often tap on beats 4 & 8 rather than pause - this is how Cubans originally tended to dance salsa. Miami Salsa dancers also tend to incorporate more spins in their Salsa than Cubans & have some different names for the same Rueda moves. The Crossbody styles tend to make the lady travel in a straight line while the man steps aside to let her pass through. There are timing differences between the L.A., New York & Puerto Rican styles. Nowadays L.A. style is sometimes referred to as New York On1 style. New York style is also called Mambo or On2. It is unusual in the UK learn to dance On2 before learning On1 for a number of months or even for several years. It is worth learning to dance Cha Cha Cha (which is also danced on 2) before learning to dance Mambo On2 as the music is slower. Colombians generally tend to dance very basic steps style is mostly except in Cali where Salsa is mostly about footwork based on Pachanga & Boogaloo, but it does not have the characteristic bounce that Boogaloo has. Very recently some world champions from Cali have introduced a new style called LA Cali which combines amazingly fast footwork with LA crossbody style moves. It is such a new style that very few people know it and so it may be a few years before it is likely to be common in the social dance scene.
There are a few clubs which advertise themselves as Cuban clubs with Cuban classes. Others specialise in Crossbody styles (also known as Mambo, L.A., New York & Puerto Rican). The L.A. style is currently the most common style in London. A few people dance Miami style too which is somewhat similar to Cuban style. A few clubs nowadays cater specifically for Colombian style but very few in the UK dance true Puerto Rican style (also called "Power On2, or New York Palladium style Salsa) style nor the Dutch Curacao style. The latter is no longer common even in Holland nowadays. A popular variation in both Cuban & Miami styles is "Rueda De Casino" - Spanish for "Casino wheel". In this style, all couple arrange themselves in a circle, and one person calls out the name of a move, then all couples dance that move.
If you listen carefully to the music you will find that some styles tend to suit certain types of music better than others. This is the main reason for the differences between the various styles. E.g. New York mambo music tends to have more empasis in the Conga beat, which is loudest on the second beat. There is no reason why other styles can't come into fashion eg dancing Salsa On Clave, or perhaps dancing Boogaloo On 2.
BestSalsa Classes start with teaching Cuban style, but once our students have grasped the basics we teach both Cuban & L.A. style at improver level & occasionally Cali Style Salsa or Cha Cha Cha, New York "Mambo" style (also known as "On2"), Bachata, Merengue & Boogaloo.
For further details see the Video Clips section or the Wikipedia.
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