I wanted to be able to do the Salsa dance at my wedding, so I learned about how to do it and where it originated from. I had no idea it was a social dance from the Caribbean.
Oh I love to watch people salsa but have no idea how to do it myself
You know, it's actually not as old as people may think. It, along with Salsa music, comes from 1970s New York, with origins from the Puerto Rican bomba and plena, Cuban Son, cha-cha-cha, mambo, and others. So, it's kind of an amalgamation.
Its got a great uplifting beat to it for sure!
Well, not only that, but Salsa dance socials, where people kind of get together to dance Salsa in a group--they're usually held in night clubs, bars, ballrooms, restaurants, and outdoor festivals. So the dance just naturally lends itself to creating large social gatherings that are positively charged.
I can see where its a great thing to get people to socialize and connect it looks so fun!
To revisit your earlier fear of not knowing how to do it, to give you a brief overview, a lot of Salsa styles incorporate the dancer shifting their weight by stepping, with the upper body remaining level and almost nearly unaffected by the weight shifts and changes. These weight shifts naturally lead to the hips moving, and then arm and shoulder movements are incorporated.
Well thanks for that info, I may practice at home before I attempt it in public :)
Yeah, practice is wise. It's an upbeat dance, like you mentioned, and the music is the main driver of that. Most Salsa music aims to have 150 to 250 beats per minute, with you having a dance rhythm that consists of taking three steps for every four beats of music. So, you can see how physically taxing that could get.. You'd have to build up some stamina for it.