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Karen in Cuba

Karen on the film set of
BOXING ACADEMY
Filmed for Channel 4
November 2004

Updated 24.March.2011
Designed by KGD © 2001

~Learning to dance Salsa~
Getting started can be quite daunting as Salsa is very different to the way we usually dance in the UK but with a good teacher, plenty of practice and understanding the beat/what happens when you can soon get the hang of it - smiling when things go wrong & not stressing about it helps too!

Beginning dancers often have some difficulty following the salsa beat... It is VERY important that you learn to follow the beat

Salsa music has a regular tempo & you need to listen for the heavy rhythmic bongo beat in the music which generally sounds on beats 1 & 5

The beat is normally counted as 4 quarter notes or beats per musical measure (4/4 rhythm). Measures are grouped into phrases of 2 bars of 4 beats each thus counting is generally over 8 beats. You need to cover each of these beats

The teachers in The Latin Experience team all teach Salsa starting on beat 1 - step on beats 1, 2, 3 & pause/transfer weight on the fourth beat, 5, 6, 7 & pause/transfer weight on the eighth beat, thus you move on three beats and hold one (see table below)

There is a leader & a follower
The leader's and follower's steps are mirror images of one another and there is a simple rule - The Leader instigates the moves & the Follower follows!

General Dance Tips for Beginners

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Basic Salsa dance step - The "forward basic" or “Mambo” step (On 1)

~Other Basic Steps~
The “On the Spot” or "in-place basic" is a basic in which the break steps are very small

The “Drop Side” or "sideways basic" is a basic in which the break steps are to the left and right instead of forward and backward

The “Drop Back” or "backwards basic" is a basic in which the break steps drop back instead of forward and backward

The “Cuban Open” is a drop back but you take the backwards step diagonally, opening to your left & right sides
“Side & Cross” is a drop side step but instead of bringing the feet into side by side position during the close step, cross the right foot in front of the left