Salsa isn’t just a tasty sauce. It’s a dance style and music genre that has become very popular all over the world. It can be danced solo or in partnership. It originated in New York City in the 1970s. It was based off another style called the mambo. Salsa clubs are all over and is danced alongside bachata, cha cha, merengue, cumbia, and reggaeton.
There are multiple styles of salsa dances. There’s on-1 which refers to LA style, and there’s on-2, but multiple on-2’s exist. There’s classic style on-2 which is similar to LA style, except it starts on the second beat of the measure of the music, and there’s modern style or New York style on-2 which starts on the first beat of the measure, but the timing is slightly different because the break step is on the second beat of the measure. Despite that, patterns in LA style and New York style are compatible with each other. These are the two dominant styles in the USA. There’s also Cuban style which is more circular and is also used to dance a group-style that involves swapping partners called rueda de casino.