Salsa is a street dance that originated in Latin America and was popularized in New York. Now the dance is spreading like wildfire across the globe. International Salsa congresses are popping up in places such as Japan, Russia, and Sweden. In the US, it is the most popular social dance and it's growing every year.

To learn to dance salsa takes a few beginners lessons where you are being exclusively taught steps and very simple hand signals. It takes normally 3 beginners lessons to feel comfortable with the steps. Once they feel like a second nature, you can start learning more complicated routines.

Salsa has two 4 beat measures in each musical phrase. For example, the beat might go: 1,2,3,pause,5,6,7,pause. The breaking step is the step that "breaks" the momentum of the body before changing the direction of movement. Most people dance by "breaking" on 1. However, you can also break on 2 or 3.

You can wear anything you are comfortable with. You should avoid wearing trainers or boots since they have grips that will make you stick to the floor. Wear something with a smooth sole.