Salsa dance      Salsa is a very popular dance form in Latin America, U.S. and Europe. The word is the same as the salsa meaning sauce. Who and why applied this name to the music and dance remains disputed, but all agree that the name fits. There are different styles that developed in different regions:      New York style salsa, Colombian style salsa, Puerto Rican salsa, Cuban style salsa, L.A. style salsa. One may also use the terms "salsa on one" and "salsa on two". Salsa evolved from Mambo, but emphasizes different rhythms.

		Basic Step      The Basic step is quite different for different styles, both in term of rhythm and footwork, however they are fairly similar. Salsa patterns typically use 3 steps during each 4 beats, one beat being skipped. However this skipped beat is often marked by a tap, a kick, a flick, etc.

"Salsa on One"      Salsa is best grouped in pairs of 4-beat patterns counted "One-Two-Three-...-Five-Six-Seven-...". The (full) Basic step consists of two halves. Forward Basic: Starting from the left foot, step Forward-Replace-Backward, counting 1-2-3. Backward Basic: Starting from the right foot, step Backward-Replace-Forward, counting 5-6-7. In-place basic: Starting from any foot, step In-place, In-place, In-place, counting 1,2,3 or 5,6,7.      As a standard, every step must be taken with full weight transfer. Steps must not be large, especially when the music is fast.      When the leader dances the Forward Basic, the follower dances the Backward Basic and vice versa. In addition, the basic steps are parts of many other patterns. For example, the leader may dance the basic step while leading the follower to do an underarm turn.

The following variants of the Basic step may be used, often called breaks.

• Forward break: Starting from any foot, step Forward, Replace, In-place, counting 1,2,3 or 5,6,7.

• Back break: Starting from any foot, step Backward, Replace, In-place, counting 1,2,3 or 5,6,7.

• Side break: Starting from any foot, step Sideways, Replace, In-place, counting 1,2,3 or 5,6,7.

"Salsa on Two"
     This step is also referred at as Mambo or Salsa New York Style. It Attention: or 6 (which is also called Ladies style) and works very close to the clave rhythm, which is three ticks, a pause and two additional ticks. The mambo starts on the second tick within the clave beat or at the 6th tick if the 'ladies style' is danced.

Shines
     Normally Salsa is a partner dance, danced in a handhold. However advanced dancers always include shines, which are basically "show-offs" and involve fancy footwork and body actions, danced in separation. They are supposed to be improvisational breaks, but there are a huge number of "standard" shines. Also, they fit best during the mambo sections of the tune, but they may be danced whenever the dancers feel appropriate. They are a good recovery trick when the connection or beat is lost during a complicated move, or simply to catch the breath.

Salsa Rueda (Rueda de Casino)      Was developed in Havana, Cuba in the 1950s, as a particular type of round dancing of Salsa. Pairs of dancers form a circle, with dance moves called out by one person, a caller. The names of the moves are in Spanish. Many of the moves involve rapidly swapping partners.