Salsa Lessons North York

Do you love Latin dancing? “Salsa” is a favored name for a type of Latin music which, for the most part, has its roots in Cuban culture and is enhanced by jazz textures. Salsa lessons in North York are very popular. The word, Salsa, means sauce denoting a “hot” flavor and is best distinguished from other Latin music styles by defining it as the New York sound developed by Puerto Rican musicians in New York. The structure of the Salsa, as you’ll learn at our Salsa lessons in North York, is largely associated with mambo dance type patterns and has a particular feeling that is associated mainly with the Clave and the Montuno. If you’re interested in other Latin ballroom dance lessons, Samba lessons, Tango lessons, Mambo dance classes, Rumba dance lessons, Merengue dance lessons, or Cha cha dance lessons you’ll find plenty of options in our North York and area classes. Salsa North York classes are available at multiple locations. Locations include: North York, Etobicoke (The Kingsway), Downtown Toronto (Yorkville), North York/Scarborough, and Vaughan (Woodbridge).

About our North
York Salsa Classes

North York Salsa lesson students get to experience the unique blending of traditional Latin sounds and dance steps of the Mambo and the Cha Cha with the freedom and turning actions of Swing and Hustle. Our North York Salsa classes offer you the true nightclub dance that fits onto small crowded floors, a real must for Latin social dancing.

Salsa History

Salsa is the Spanish word for “sauce” denoting a spicy or hot flavor. As a dance it can be danced to a variety of different rhythms. Generically salsa music encompasses many Afro-Latin rhythms driven by the clave (two wooden sticks struck together). Today’s Salsa is the result of many years of rhythmical evolution due to economic, social and political change. Salsa is the national music and dance of Puerto Rico. Many of the Salsa dance patterns are closely related to those of the Mambo.

Salsa Music

In 1933 Cuban songwriter Ignacio Piñiero wrote the song Echale Salsita (throw on some sauce) after tasting food which lacked the Cuban spices. But it wasn’t until 1962 when Jimmy Sabater’s tune Salsa y Bembé suggested the dancers liven it up or spice it up by adding a little “salsa” (sauce) to their movement when they danced.

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Salsa Dance Characteristics:

Danced to four beats using only three steps, each step being a beat long, the remaining beat is used as a tag to the last step or perhaps an adorning (tap, kick or pause) movement called a highlight. Steps can be traveling or on the spot.

Salsa artists include:

  • Albita
  • Marc Anthony
  • Celia Cruz
  • West End Mambo
  • Tito Puente
  • The Latin Explosion