Fascinating Facts About Cuban Salsa That Will Surprise You

Cuban salsa is a vibrant and emotional dance performed mainly in pairs. It shows human interaction and tells a specific story through simple body movements to energetic music. Like many dances of foreign origin, Cuban salsa is characterized by passion and a whole love story that excites the audience and keeps them on edge until the very end of the performance.

Cuban salsa is also called 'Salsa Casino.' It got its name from the casino where it was commonly danced. Initially, the style was unknown and had no name of its own, but was characteristic of that venue. When visitors were asked what they were dancing, they could only say 'estilo casino,' which literally translates to 'casino style.'

The predecessor dance similar to Cuban salsa was called 'Son,' so Cuban salsa actually belongs to the Son style. Yes, you heard that right — Cuban salsa is not a salsa style. 'How can that be?' you might ask.

Very simple. Cuban salsa emerged much earlier than salsa itself, and its original name was 'Casino.' Casino was not danced to salsa music, at least because salsa didn't exist back then. Only later did people start dancing Casino to salsa music and called it 'Salsa Casino' to spark interest in the dance's exotic origins.

Casino, as already mentioned, was performed in casinos, hence it is a ballroom dance. Moreover, an expensive ballroom dance invented by ordinary white people. In the second part of the movie 'Dirty Dancing,' it is said that Cuban salsa is widespread among the lower classes — that is an outright lie.

The national dance of Cuba is considered to be Danzón. From it came the elegant Son dance, into which elements of Cha-Cha-Cha were later added, resulting in the Casino known today. Interestingly, Casino developed quite naturally, and it can be safely said that it went through an evolutionary path and reached its peak.

Another small nuance: many dance schools teach only two basic positions. The reason is that Son dance has only two basic positions, while Casino has three. Moreover, schools teach dancing on bent legs and at a running pace, but real Casino is danced with an upright posture and never at a run. And the most interesting thing is that in Cuba, they don't even teach Cuban salsa at all!

Many beginners who have completed dance school consider themselves Casino gurus and insert movements from African dances, mixing two completely different styles. Don't forget that the origins of these two dances are completely different, so combining them into one dance is merely a sign of ignorance. Let's recall that Cuban salsa is an expensive ballroom dance, while African dances are primarily tribal dances for the common people.

Like all dance styles, Cuban salsa has its distinctive features. Real Casino dancers know that steps backward cause injuries, as do large steps. Therefore, movement always goes only forward along a specific trajectory with small steps, and it is not acceptable to stomp in place.

Finally, it's worth mentioning some benefits of Cuban salsa. Like most dances, Cuban salsa helps develop a sense of rhythm, because you need to feel the music and move in time, not just execute movements sequentially. Cuban salsa also helps people open up and stop feeling constrained, because this emotional dance is bound to pull all your emotions out and open your soul wide, which will undoubtedly benefit you and help you connect better with people.