Salsa styles

Salsa is a free dance - there are not so much rules as in other dances. But there are some main styles which you can see on a Salsa dance floor

Cuban style

The most popular style in Berlin because many Cubanos live here. The woman is dancing in circles around the man. The dance on 1 or 3. That means: The change of the basic step ( to back ) is on beat 1 (or 3). Music is mostly Cuban Timba.

New York style

Comes from ... yeah right: New York. The partners dance on a imaginary line. One of the most important figures is the 'Cross Body Lead'. The partners change their positions with that CBL on the line. The change of the basic step ( to back ) is on beat 1 or 2. The change on 2 is also called Mambo :-) Music comes also from New York or Puerto Rico.

L.A. style

This is nothing but New York style on 1. Some artistic figures like dips and drops are added. Often you see how the man is throwing the woman into the air. You should avoid this on a dance floor. It's better for shows. Music should be very fast. Invented by the Mexican Vazquez brothers. They lived at this time in Los Angeles - therefore the name.