All about Salsa

The most basic steps for Salsa starts with a tap left on the first beat, a step forward on the same foot, a rock back onto the right foot and the sequence is finished by stepping back left to close. This is the forward basic movement, which is followed by the back basic movement. Tap right, step back right, rock forward left and close right. so while the man performs a forward basic movement, the woman performs a back basic movement and visa versa.


It has been becoming increasingly popular in the Indian metros in an astonishingly short time. While Bangalore is being called `Salsa Capital' of the country, (it even hosted the first Indian Salsa Congress in August, bringing together national and international salsa dancers), the Latino limbo has become an effective form of social networking in Mumbai and Delhi, where salsa clubs unite enthusiasts. And in Chennai too, `salsa nights' are becoming more frequent, bringing together different dance schools and drawing hordes of curious onlookers. When Havana kicked off their salsa nights a couple of months ago, with a workshop by Lourd Vijay (who runs a popular Dance Studio and organised the Bangalore Salsa Congress), the floor was packed in minutes, by dancers from across Chennai and even a gang from Auroville, where they organise a doubtless picturesque salsa night every full moon.

Salsa's parent dance is the Mambo. As the tempo of Mambo music became faster, it’s dance steps had to be modified and so we have Salsa. To stop the dancer moving off the beat, the Mambo's one beat step on count 4 was replaced by a half beat step, with a placing of weight on the next half beat. Because the music is screaming for you to move on the next beat, an additional step, a tap followed by a half beat pause, was introduced on the next count to act as a brake, to stop the dancer moving. Salsa music seems to scream for you to start moving and keep moving, so many dancers start with the tap on the first beat of the music.


There are two basic movements to the Salsa - the Forward Basic Movement and the Back Basic Movement. Variously coupled or combined and often with small variations in body position, these two movements create the Salsa moves. A move is loosely defined as any sequence of eight steps. When you combine the two basic movements, they make up the eight steps of the first move, the Forward Basic.

The Lady facing the man, will perform steps complimenting his. So if the man moves his left foot forward, the lady will move her right foot back and visa versa. This is very sensible. Otherwise, the man would probably tread on her!

In the Forward Basic Move, the man will perform the Forward Basic Movement, followed by the Back Basic Movement. Whereas, the Lady will do the exact opposite. She will perform the Back Basic Movement, followed by the Forward Basic Movement.

Another important move is the Back Basic. All the fancy moves originate from it! Basically it is the performance of the Back Basic Movement twice. On the first step, the man steps back onto his left foot mirroring the woman's movements. After completing the first movement, both the man and woman step back. The man needs to push away from the Lady to stop her from stepping forward.

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