In order to understand the roots and evolution of Salsa Music, we need to define first the definition of something called "Rumba". Rumba is a secular dance/music/poetic expression that developed among the various African ethic groups first brought to Cuba as slaves during the Colonial times.

Initiated in the nineteenth century, the Rumba, more than a song or dance, is a festival, a secular ritual of recreation first created by blacks and later assimilated by all Cubans. In fact, any informal gathering among the black lower class in the city was often referred to as a Rumba. At the turn of the century, rumbas were played on a variety of drums, wooden boxes, chair and tabletops, spoons, jars, or almost any available item that could produce a percussive sound. This style of drumming and singing that developed in the rumba influenced the popular music of Cuba and its most popular derivative called Salsa.

Duany (1984) also summarizes that Salsa is an amalgamation of Caribbean folk traditions, musical styles, and rhythms. It's most characteristic traits are precisely this transculturation of songs, instruments, and dances of various groups of Caribbean migrants to the United States. Salsa Music, as Duany tries to show, is deeply rooted in Puerto Rico's popular sectors, despite the recent disco and rock fever and the proverbial upper class disdain for "native" music. Salsa is above all a symbol of resistance to the loss of national identity, whether through the migration experience or the cultural penetration to the Island. Like "comida criolla" (creole cuisine) or the Spanish language, Salsa is one of the ways through which the popular sectors can resort to their cultural traditions to re-align their mode of life. When a group of youngsters gathers to listen, sing, and dance Salsa, it is celebrating and recreating the values, beliefs, and practices of its cultural heritage. Likewise, when new Salsa Orchestras invade TV and radio stations, they are expressing and reaffirming a staunch collective will not to assimilate, not to lose themselves within the Anglo-Saxon cultural orbit.

• Cuban style
  The original salsa style, as considered by most, which has been developing in Cuba since the 1950s. Cuban-style salsa can be danced either “on one” or “a contratiempo” – the latter is often referred to as “on two”. An essential element is the “cuba step” (also known as Guapea), where the leader does a backward basic on 1-2-3 and a forward basic on 5-6-7. The follower does the same, thereby mirroring the leader’s movement.
• Colombian style
  This style is common in Latin American countries. The leader and follower do most of the movements while standing in place. It stems from the Cuban style.
• On 1
  Developed in recent years, this is a style of salsa much effected by Hollywood and by the swing and mambo dances, thus being the most flashy style, which is considered “more show than dance” by many.
• On 2
  The “NY Style” is a combination of the “On 1” and “On 2” systems. The timing of the steps are on the 1-2-3, 5-6-7 as in “On 1” but the breaks (where the body changes direction) occur on the 2 and 6 as in “On 2”. NY instructor Eddie Torres developed this step pattern around the late 70s and the 80s.
• Ballroom Mambo
  This style is similar to Los-Angeles style, but it is danced "On Two". The basic step timing is 2-3-4, 6-7-8 with the breaks on 2 and 6.
• Puerto Rican style
  This style can be danced as "On One" or "On Two". If danced as "On Two", it is always danced on count 2, and not on count 6 as in Ladies-style NY.

The Cha-cha-chá is a style of popular dance Cuban music, which developed from the danzón in the early 1950s. Its creation can be attributed to a composer named Enrique Jorrín. He inserted some montunosin the danzones, like "Constancia" and "Nunca", and the musicians start singing short refrains. While seeing the dancers having difficulty with syncopated rhythms of the danzón-mambo, stepping on the upbeat (contretemps, 2/4), he came up with pieces like "La Engañadora"(1951) moving the accent to the first beat. This balance between melodies on the downbeat and the upbeat give birth to a new sound with a novel structural conception: introduction-verse-bridge-coda in double time. The steps of the dancing public on the Silver Star Club in Havana, made peculiar sounds as they grazed the floor on three successive beat. This symbiotic relationship between the music and the dance gave birth to the name: Cha-cha-chá.

The cha-cha-chá has more elements from the danzón and the danzonete than from the son, like the use of the flute and violins. The principal element that differentiates the cha-cha-chá from the danzón is the rhythmic cell. The charangas, a typical Cuban dance band format made up of a flute, strings (violins), piano, bass and percussion were the first to present this rhythm to the public. Cuban composers like Rosendo Ruiz Jr. with "Los Marcianos" and "Rico Vacilón", Félix Reina with "Dime Chinita" and "Como Bailan Cha-cha-chá los Mejicanos", Richard Egűes with "El Bodeguero" and "La Cantina" and Rafael Lay with "Cero Codazos and Cero Cabezazos" maintain the popularity during the 1950s. Also Orquesta Aragón and the orchestra of José Fajardo contribute in the development of the Cha-cha-chá.

In terms of dancing, from the original Cuban cha-cha-cha to the present, the count is "two, three, chachacha" or "two, three, four-and-one". It's a sensual dance that may involve a complex polyrhythm in footwork and partnerwork.

With a history attached to the countryside and rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic during the 1960s, Bachata Dance and Music is a well-known form of expression. While the underlying themes of bachata dance and the accompanying melody typically surround a romantic subject, other emotions like sadness and heartache also become a part of this type of dance, which is also referred to as "bitter."

Basically, couples learning this particular style will follow "Back to Front, Front to Back, Left to Right, Right to Left" steps with bachata dance. Often performed by couples, the dance is also known as a participation dance and a social dance. Overall, the dance is quite popular, as it is characterized by simplicity and synchronization.

The History of Bachata Dance and Music.

The creation of bachata dance was the brainchild of servants, who were the first to embrace this form of movement. The music was generally played after returning home from a hard day at work. Dancers performed to music created with the use of everyday items that were commonly found in the backyard, including garbage cans and fences. In some parts of the Dominican Republic, the term 'bachata' actually means trash, while others view the term to suggest a celebration or party.

Another theory regarding the history behind bachata dance and music is that it came from the Italian Ballata, a formally popular music that once thrived many centuries ago in Italy.

Throughout the years, bachata dance and music held close ties to the pan Latin- American style called bolero, which was also romantic in nature. Later, merengue and salsa served as an influence for bachata dance, which infused a faster pace and the use of various guitar styles. As a rule of thumb, male singers provide the lyrical accompaniment of the dance with early icons including Jose Manuel Calderon, Ramon Cordero, and Rafeal Encarnacion. Today, an electric guitar is used to supply dancers with music that is full of rhythm.

Overall, the use of electric instruments are much easier to groove to than earlier styles.

 

Started in Cuba in the mid 20th century and it is the roots of what you can see danced in Miami, and around the world today. In Cuba, the people used to get together in large halls, called "Casinos", hence the name. Some say it started in Santiago de Cuba, others say it started in the famed Casino Deportivo in Havana, or the Casino de la Playa, I don't know for sure, I wasn't there! When the casinos were closed, people still referred to the dance style by using the name of the places where people used to gather to do it: "casino" and the name stuck. Nowadays people refer to the music as "salsa" and the dance as "casino".

Casino itself has its roots in the "Danzón," as well as its derivative, the "Son," Afro-Cuban dances such as "Guaguancó," the "Mambo", a rhythm invented by Cachao in the world-famous Tropicana Club in Havana, in 1943, and popularized by Pérez Prado in Mexico, and "Cha-cha-chá" invented by Enrique Jorrín.

 

Is a Latin American Musical Style that originated in Colombia's Caribbean Region. Traditional cumbia and its associated dance is considered to be representative of Colombia, along withVallenato, Bambuco and Pasillo. Cumbia originated from the Caribbean coast of eastern Colombia, with folkloric variants in Panama from where it spread gaining particular popularity in Mexico, Argentina, and the Andean region. Cumbia began as a courtship dance practiced among the African slave population that was later mixed with European instruments and musical characteristics. Cumbia is very popular in the Andean region and the Southern Coneand was until the early 1980s more popular in these regions than the salsa.