I was wondering ... how may "kinds" of salsa are there? So far I've noticed two slightly different types. Could anyone enlighten me? Is there a standardized universal salsa dance style?

As far as I can tell, salsa has not been completely defined/refined by the "ballroom crowd" yet - there are nearly as many styles as there are instructors, and alot of ongoing discussion regarding the distinctions between mambo and salsa. I would recommend going to the A#1 best source for Latin dance info - Ron Montez, of course! He has many videotapes out, and I know that they are available at http://www.dancevison.com, amongst others.

Paul

It is my understanding that while there may be subtle variations in style from dancer to dancer and city to city, there are indeed two disctinct styles of Salsa overall. I don't know the "official" names, but I beleive that one is sort of a "Miami" style, while the other comes from the west coast cities.

From what I gather, the west coast style is smoother and more rotational, with a looser, more "tethered" connection. Miami style is tighter and more rhythmical, similar to Mambo but without the ballroom-ization or the 2-3-4 count.

I don't claim to be an authority on this matter, and I'm sure you will hear many conflicting opinions. But I don't think anyone will argue that there is more than one way to dance Salsa, and being a nightclub dance, it leaves lots of room for personal style and interpretation.

If you really want to see a difference in Salsa styles, purchase one video from each of these vendors:

Josie Neglia, "Dance Hot Salsa" www.latindance.com

Jami Josephson, "Club Salsa" www.learn2salsa.com

Incidentally, Jami is from Miami, and Josie is from Los Angeles. I think you'll see what I mean.

Sincerely,
Jonathan

Hi. I'm new to this site. I am two years new to salsa dancing and I'm addicted.

Ok, in reference to the discussion. I would have to agree with Paul. I'm not an expert, but I do think there would be many New York style dancers that would say that their style is as different from Miami and LA style as Miami and LA are different from each other. I dance in an area where we don't really have a style we can call our own, and nor do we follow one style or another. So, if you actually take a good look around the latin club, you will see many, many styles that are very different and quite specific to the place, (country) they learned to dance. An example, I have a few friends from Columbia; while each person's personality plays a big part in the way they dance, there is also a noticeable similarity in their style of dance that is not inherent in let's say someone from the Dominican, or Puerto Rico.

And oh, if you really want to get confused, just get into a discussion about where in the musical measure the basic step begins. LA, or so I've read, dances on the "1". New York usually teaches dancing on the "2". I've read articles from people who dance in Europe, and they describe dancing on the "3". The first person who taught me to dance was from Costa Rica, I've been told he dances on the "3". I had a teacher, who learned and taught in New York, and vacationed in Cuba. I asked her, "So, what do they dance on, "1" or "2"?" She said, "It was weird, sometimes it was on the "2" and sometimes it was on the "4".

"Salsa" seems to be an appropriate name for the dance, doesn't it?

AN

I'm a salsa addict living in Guatemala where they clearly all dance on the one. Although, salsa really is a street dance down here. None of the teachers have any idea what "dancing on the one, two or three" even mean. They just dance they way they always have since they were kids. But watching its obvious the dance mostly on the one, sometimes the three. From what I have seen of other dancers in other places there are many salsa styles, not just NY, LA, and Miami, maybe as many styles as there are teachers when you get down to it. I happen to like the NY "mambo tipico" style for its fluidity but no one knows how to dance that down here.