The Adaptability of Modern Salsa Dancers

Until a couple of years ago it was “not done” to dance Salsa on other music than Salsa music. The evolution of the dance in combination with club owners choosing for commercial music is pushing Salseros and Salseras all around the world past the boundaries of Salsa by acting 'out of the Salsa Box'.

I have been a guest Salsa DJ/animator/Salsa Dance instructor for a couple of years in a “Salsa bar” located on a European island known for its large tourist industry. I gave free Salsa classes 3 days a week from 8.30 to 10.15 p.m. The people had 15 minutes to dance Salsa. After that, I was instructed to spin Latin commercial music like Latin Pop and Reggaeton music. If I played a Salsa song, then I would have to also pick a girl and make a show of the dance. Needless to say, all Salsa dancers fled away from the club after 10.30 p.m. When asked I just told them the truth: Salsa dancers do not consume enough alcohol for the club to generate much profit, and they take over the dance floor making the “normal” consuming crowd feel quite intimidated. This 'behavior' results in the money-spending clients leaving to the competitors.

An alternative would have been for the Salsa dancers to just dance Salsa on the music being played. After all, Salsa is played in a 4/4 measure, just like most Western music is. Dancers are very emotional beings, and Salsa dancing is expressing yourself to the music. This makes it difficult to dance Salsa on music that is not clave or tumbao related. But, the winds of change are blowing over Salsa-land.

Yesterday, the manager of a resort on another island decided to organize a Salsa party after my Salsa workshop. There were less than ten die hard Salsa dancers present at the time, but enjoying every minute they could dance, because the possibilities for Social Salsa are practically non-existing on the island. After a while, the resort management just threw a Latin commercial CD with songs of Cayenne, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, etc in the CD deck. To my surprise, I saw all these intermediate level Salsa dancers continue to dance LA Style Salsa on1, Cuban Casino or Cha Cha Cha adapting properly to all kinds of music that was thrown at them.

I went to sleep with lots of pain in my neck but with a big smile on my face, knowing that the future of Salsa dancing is safe and sound. Or am I wrong to think in this manner? Is it a sacrilegious to dance Salsa on other music than Salsa music?

A clip of Jae and Erica dancing Salsa on R&B music.