Salsa Rhythm
The First in Colombian Salsa, Pachanga & Boogaloo
The First in Colombian Salsa, Pachanga & Boogaloo
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Regular Workshops & Holidays
All of our courses cover some/all of the following rhythms/dances: Salsa and its associated Rhythms: Pachanga : fast footwork and fast spins Colombian style salsa (a fusion of Cha cha cha and Mambo). Originally only 7 steps - now hundreds. Boogaloo : a fusion of Mambo and Rock and Roll. the original Salsa from the 1960's and 1970's. Originally 12 steps. However in Cali these steps became 30 new steps and became much faster. Son : the root of all salsa, a traditional cuban dance. Guaracha : This dance can almost be described as the cuban version of pachanga and boogaloo. Like pachanga and boogaloo this dance has almost an infinite number of steps, with the dancers interprteting the music with their legs, hips and feet. Fox : similar to ballroom foxtrot - only more like tango. Mambo: A Son Dance derrivative, mixed with mexican influences. Cumbia : a traditional Colombian dance that African slaves danced. There are three different versions of Cumbia dependent on the region. Porro : Porro is very similar to Cumbia in rhythm, however it is normally a little faster. Where in Cumbia there are no turns/spins in Porro spins and turns are part of the dance. Salsa : meaning "sauce". This developed as a mixture of: Son, mambo, Cha Cha Cha and Boogaloo. Currently the major styles are: Colombian salsa, Cuban salsa, Puerto Rican salsa, LA/New York style salsa. Of all these styles the most dynamic is Colombian style salsa from Cali Colombia - the Salsa capital of the world. Charanga : often considered to be a name given to a band. However, Charanga music and dance can best be described as something in between salsa and pachanga. Merengue : Originally from the Dominican Republic, generally danced to two beats. There are four basic Merengue steps. Bachata : this dance's origins are in Conga. Colombian Bachata is danced slightly differently to the Bachata danced in Spain and Dominican Republic. Bolero : Also sometimes referred to as Son Bolero. The origins are in Son - only much slower. There are a number of different boleros with different steps and speeds. Vallenato : This traditional Colombian dance has a number of distinctive rhythms: Paseo, Merengue Tropical: Many different rhythms and mixtures of rhythms. Brief History of Salsa Cali, Colombia is known by most of the Latin America as the world's "Capital of Salsa", not simply for the dancing but also for its richness in music. The "Feria de Cali" is the largest Salsa festival in the world and is held every December, with the world's top dancers and salsa groups performing. Cali, is also home of some of the largest collections of Salsa Music in the world, including associated rhythms such as Son, Mambo, Bolero, Guaracha, Vallenato, Fox, Tango, Cumbia, Pachanga and Boogaloo as well as a further 145 folkloric Colombian dance rhythm's and other dances from Cuba/Latin America. It is unique in that many Salseros in Cali are able to dance all the major styles of salsa: Cuban, Los Angeles/New York, Puerto Rican, Miami and of course Cali Salsa. The lack of popularity of Colombian Salsa in the UK used to be due to the fact that that there were so few teachers outside of Cali that were able to teach this style (many were not able to leave Colombia due to visa restrictions). Luckily this has changed due to many of the Salsa Championships being won by Cali Style champions Swing Latino. And now, Colombian style is back in the picture and Colombian Salsa Dance Schools like Swing Latino with their current five world titles (Cali, Miami & Las Vegas etc) are the main reason why the Salsa world is taking cali style salsa so seriously. Swing Latino group members learned their trade in the popular quarters of Cali where Salsa is a way of life, and are responsible for the new Colombian style called CALI LA Style, where Colombian salsa has been influenced by the LA Cross Body style. Colombian Salsa is generally not danced to the Clave rhythm, or to the count 1,2,3 - 5,6,7 etc. This style is danced to the instrumental rhythms, the beat and to the sound of the instruments themselves, with steps that vary in speed and timing in accordance with the main instrument being played. The advent of Cali LA style has made Cali style more accessible to the LA and NY salsa dancers. The development of Colombian style Salsa (and salsa in general) owes its roots to Pachanga and Boogaloo which were its forerunners. Pachanga is a rhythm that was developed by mixing Cha Cha Cha with Mambo in the early 1960's. It comprises of 7 original steps (in the pre Salsa era) and literally hundreds of new steps (in the post Salsa era). Pachanga started to decline in the mid 1960's being overtaken by The Beatles and Rock'n'roll. By fusing Latin music (Mambo, Pachanga, Cha Cha Cha), The twist, rhythm'n'blues and Rock'n'Roll a new dance called Boogaloo was born. This new music had a mix of English and Spanish lyrics and was created to appeal to both the Black and Latin races in North America who led a hard life in the 1960's. This original Boogaloo rhythm was fairly slow paced with only twelve dance steps. One of the most famous Boogaloo songs of the era was "I like it like that" by Pete Rodriguez, who was known at the time as the " King of Boogaloo ". 'Modern' Boogaloo was developed by speeded up many of the original Boogaloo tracks from 33rpm to 45rpm (or faster) and adding more percussion, instrumentals and a harder beat. (This is why many of the older Boogaloo tracks have distorted high-pitched voices!). Two of the most renowned musicians for Pachanga and Boogaloo were Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz; almost all of their songs were hits. This new faster music traveled to Cali, where Boogaloo dance as we know it today thrived and grew into 30 new steps that were faster and more complex, as well as the original 12 steps. Boogaloo reined until the 1970's before being overtaken by Salsa, which was developed by mixing a number of rhythms including Boogaloo. Many of the Boogaloo and Pachanga steps are used in Colombian style salsa (adapted for the change in rhythm). In fact without these steps the salsa cannot be considered to be Colombian Salsa. In addition many of the New York Style Shines are taken directly from Colombian style. The main difference being: In NY style, shines are part of a choreographed routine of steps, generally danced individually (and normally to a count); In Colombian salsa the steps are danced in unison with a partner, incorporating spins dips and turns to the instrumental beats, speeding up and slowing down as the music dictates. Of the very few Colombian style Salsa teachers, Nadeem is the only teacher in the UK who teaches regular classes in pure Colombian style salsa, Pachanga and Boogaloo. Nadeem has travelled to Cali, Colombia on several occasion's to train and teach with the best teachers. He is widely respected as one of the foremost teachers of Colombian Salsa outside of Colombia. Nadeem and his team of instructors also teach regular weekly classes www.SalsaRhythm.com "The first in Colombian and cali Salsa Pachanga and Boogaloo" or by e-mailing info@SalsaRhythm.com
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