Salsa Cubana versus American Style Salsa Dancing

People in general start with Salsa dancing because they have seen others dance and fell in love with what they saw happening on the dance floor. Others hear Salsa music and decide they want to learn how to express themselves the proper way. 

There are also people who, after returning from their vacations to Latin American and Caribbean countries, desperately seek ways to maintain the connections they have had with these exotic cultures. 

After some time budding Salsa dancers realize they are not learning to dance the way they initially imagined they would. Or, they soon discover they cannot lead or follow when dancing Salsa or Mambo in their favorite clubs. The difference between different styles of Salsa and Mambo dancing seems to be the main reason for this disappointment. This article explores the differences and similarities between the two mayor Salsa Dance Styles: Cuban Salsa – or Casino – and LA Style Salsa On1.

Differences

The first difference between LA Style Salsa and Mambo would be their histories. Cuban Salsa is much older than LA Style Salsa On1. The root of Cuban Salsa lies in the Cuban Son. The music and the partnering dance were literally born on January 1, 1879, when Cuban bandleader Miguel Failde created the Cuban  Danzon music, which, in turn, caused the Line Dance Contradanza  to become a partnering dance in the period of Cuba’s liberation from Spain. LA Style Salsa was conceived in the early 1990’s in Los Angeles California. The Mexican Vazquez brothers Francisco, Luis, and Johnny developed the style by combining what they learned at their Salsa classes, a combination of West Coast Swing and Mambo, with their own Mexican Quebradita and Streetdance techniques. 

The second difference would be the approach of the dancers to their dance styles. LA Style Salsa, like most of the Salsa dance styles, which evolved in Western society, is considered a hobby or a sport of sorts. The practitioners belong to a sub-culture, and the dance or music are spread mainly for commercial reasons. Cuban Salsa dance and music are official cultural heritage of the Cuban nation. Most Cuban dance instructors are also Santeros, Cuban priests, spreading their culture and religion through their dance and teachings.

The last difference would be the nature of the dances itself. Cuban Salsa or Casino dancing is more circular as the dance couple constantly travels around each other. The basic LA Style Salsa is danced in a line or slot. The women – or followers – in LA Style Salsa have a more independent role than their Cuban style counterparts do. The leaders in Cuban Salsa have a more dominating role. This last difference allows LA Style women to employ more Styling and other dance techniques as Spinning, while the Cuban Style followers use more body movements to accentuate their femininity. 

Last but certainly not least: both dance styles also had a different approach concerning music interpretation. There are more differences, but they are too much to cover in just one article.

Commonalities

Both Cuban and LA Style Salsa have the same basic dance basic, the ‘Quick-Quick-Slow’.  Cuban Salsa is generally danced ‘Contratiempo’, meaning the dancers break against the ‘normal’ dance timing, which is the first beat of the music. Cuban Casino can also be danced On1. Dancers of both dance styles also employ many elements of the ancient Afro Cuban Rumba when dancing Solo, Freestyle, or Shining. Over the past few years Cuban Salsa Dance Instructors living and teaching abroad started to assimilate more elements of Western style Salsa and Mambo into their Casino Dance. And LA Stylers have been doing the same in a more indirect way by ‘borrowing’ Cuban dance technique which On2 Mambo dancers coped from the Cubans.

Over the past few years LA Style dancers  started to get more into the music caused by the Musicality hype, and Cuban Dancers are organizing more Cuban Salsa Congresses. Teachers of both dance styles are mixing them together.  It is a matter of time before Salsa Cubana and LA Style Salsa On1 blend into a new hybrid Salsa Dance Style.