I love Salsa music and dancing. Last year I joined a Salsa combo and learned how to play clave and some timbali (percussion instruments in a salsa group). I was amazed at how much it helped me to understand the music and dance it better.

I love the rhythms of Salsa. It has so much energy. I also love to do syncopations to the music. Understanding the beat structure has really helped me in my improvisation.

I teach beginning Salsa. I still have more to learn in the leader parts as a teacher before I can teach more advanced levels. As a follower, it is no problem.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, were I live, Salsa is primarily danced in clubs with live musicians or D.J.'s. Those who frequent the clubs are 95% latin.

Some ballrooms have started to introduce Salsa dancing to their repetoire. I will be going to a live music dance at the Metronome on September 5th and will be interested to see how it goes. Ballrooms, in my opinion, have not yet been able to successfully capture the fire and energy of the dance in their parties. But, I actually prefer the large dance floor in a ballroom to a club's dance floor, so I will be very glad if this upcoming party and introduction of a series of parties works out. A lot of it depends upon who goes.

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Karen E. Lile

Karen,

I took a few classes in Latin percussion back when I was in music school, and I have to agree with you. There's no better way to truly grasp the style than to learn the music first-hand, and with Salsa and Mambo, it's all about the percussion.

I would highly recommend to anyone who really wants to master Salsa or Mambo taking a course in Latin percussion. Not only will you gain a deeper understanding of Salsa as a style, but you'll have a lot of fun, too! And it's not even necessary to be a musician (although it does help).

Sincerely,
Jonathan

What can I say? I'm with ya girl. I am competing in a ball room compitition which included salsa. I'm so exited I can't wait.