World’s Top Salsa Dancing from Colombia

Colombian Style Salsa Dancing, or Cali Salsa Style, has been growing in dominance at the World Salsa Championships. There are very important factors impeding Colombian Style Salsa dancing to dominate the top of the world.

 In 2005, Murillo Ricardo Murillo and Vivian Vargas from Cali, Colombia, won the first competition in the Cabaret Division. In 2006, the Salsa Show team ‘El Mulato y su Swing Latino’, also representing Cali, became the winning troupe of the ‘Team’ Division. John and Johanna from the same Colombian city ended in third position for the Cabaret Division. The Cabaret and Team divisions continued to be dominated by the Colombians in the following years. John and Judy from Cali won the competition in the Cabaret Division of 2007. In 2009, a number of couples and groups, which are not from Colombia were dancing Colombian Style Salsa during the competitions. ‘Stilo y Sabor’ – also from Cali - won second place, and ‘El Mulato y su Swing Latino’ ended in third position in that year.

Rumors are going around about the Colombian Style Salsa getting a separate division in a couple of years.

The answers to questions such as why the Colombians are not ranking high in the On1 and the On2 Divisions, or why Colombian Style Salsa has not taken over the international top of the Salsa and Mambo dance scene, can be found in the nature of the dance itself.

This is a video clip of children dancing the Cali Style Salsa in a team formation.

The dominating Salsa Dance Style in Colombia is the fast-paced ‘Cali Salsa Style’.  The Colombian city of Cali is also known as ‘World’s Salsa Capital’. Cali is one of the few cities in the world where Salsa is the main genre in nightclubs, parties and festivals in this century. The main elements of the Cali Style Salsa are: fast slipped steps & footwork, not one basic but a few – the dancers break horizontally and vertically -, and they do not hold one certain beat ; they usually break on the first and on the third beat following the rhythm of the ‘campana’ or cowbell. This makes the dance more difficult to teach to Westerners used to a certain amount of order.

Another significant difference between the Colombian Salsa and the rest: Cali Style Salsa does not keep to the universal ‘Quick Quick Slow’ basic, which defines the other Salsa and Mambo Dance Styles. And the Colombians do not use the Cross Body Lead or the Cuban ‘Dile Que No’ as basic dance move. Instead, the men just guide the women from one spot to the other while dancing or turning. Salseros and Salseras from Colombia do not shift their body weight much, and they do not use a lot of body movement. They prefer to keep their upper bodies still, relaxed, and poised while their feet execute endless intricate dance steps. The partner work knows simple turns, but the dance couples execute elaborate Dips & Tricks. The lack of intricate Turn Patterns makes Cali Style Salsa makes the dance to be not interesting enough for an international social Salsa crowd. Intricate Dips & Tricks are ‘not done’ on the social dance floors.  

Cali Style Salsa is born out of a mixture of Afro-Colombian rhythms, Tap, Twist, Boogaloo, Rock 'n Roll, Swing, Mambo, Pachanga, Descargas and Foxtrot. This makes Colombian Salsa Dancing a very unique but  difficult style to imitate and reproduce in regular Salsa dance classes. Colombians start from childhood dancing this style, which is taught in more than 80 highly professional Dance Academies.