Salsa dancing is a couple’s dance. Salsa dancing is one of the most sensual dances around the world. Here in Panama City, Panama we have a lot of academies where you can go and learn how to dance salsa, but I especially recommend people go to “El Bohio Florencia” located in Via España, infrot of ULACIT University, behind Galerias Florencias. The “Bohio Florencia” have its famous “talleres aprende a bailar salsa” (salsa lessons workshop) all Thursdays from 6:00 p.m to 10:00 p.m.

In these workshops we learn 2 different types of style: the Puerto Rican style, the most common when we talk about dancing with a partner and “La Rueda” originally from Cuba. There also is “cha-cha-cha”, that is even more sensual; its basic steps are 1-2-3 cha-cha-cha 5-6-7 cha-cha-cha. The modern salsa has elements of jazz, ballet, hop-hip and reggae.

The workshops are divided in three groups, the basic level, the intermediate level and the advance level.  In the basic level we find amateur people who are learning the basic steps that are, the forward steps 1-2-3 and the backward steps 5-6-7, the displacement and the lateral steps, and people dance alone the classic “rumba”. In the intermediate level people usually put in practice what they have learned in the basic, but here they are going to dance with a partner. In the advance level people learn the different turns, new steps of “rumba”, and also the famous cha-cha-cha.

Salsa dancers can dance on style 1 and on style 2, the difference of the two is that when people dance on 2, the leader steps forward are done with the left foot on count 2 and when we dance on 1, the leader steps forward are done with the left foot on count 1.  Here in Panama when people are learning how to dance, they usually begin dancing on 1 and then they learn how to dance on 2, something they cannot do, is dance 1 and 2 at the same time because then there are not going to be on tempo and when you are not on tempo you are not dancing salsa. In salsa the men are the one in charge of guiding the partner and memorizing the choreography because if it is a contest the women most follow him, he’s  the leader and the women is the one who excel the couple.