Cuban Salsa, also referred to as Casino Salsa, more than a dance it is an expression of Cuban passion, music, culture and history.  This salsa style is popular not just in it’s home country but all over Latin America, Europe and the world. Dancing Casino Salsa is a very social event, tracing it’s roots from Cuban dance halls where most of the salsa dancing was done in the middle of the 20th century. The term casino itself, is Spanish for dance hall.

The music used for Cuban salsa is the Cuban Son,  with a more upbeat tempo and influenced by Afro-Cuban Rumba body movements and rhythm. Cuban salsa moves are done to the the feel of the music in the spirit of fun, playfulness and teasing movements. The dance has three points, with the partners making a circular motion, couples facing each other with intricate upper body movements, very different from Cali-Style salsa.

Distinct to Cuban Salsa is the basic salsa step called “Guapea” meaning to “chill out”. During the “guapea“ the male lead breaks on his left foot, this is done by stepping forward quickly and rocking back. Most salsa styles have male leads only places the left foot forward. In a partner dance this is done in a together and apart movement as opposed to the usual forward and back step.  Another distinction of Cuban Salsa is the posture, casineros dance with bent knees with the body leaning forward. There are a lot of hip, shoulder and hand movements showing off their dancing prowess.

Machismo as well as seduction is very much displayed in this salsa style. During the dance, the male and female dancers dance very close to each other except when they are doing a “despelote” where they each perform an intricate solo dance, teasing each other with hip and shoulder gyrations and muscle isolations, without actually touching each other.

Cuban salsa is usually a partner dance or “parejas“,  between a male and a female although it can also be danced solo or “Suelta“ as often practiced by singers. It is also done in “trios” and “cuartetos de casino” where there is one lead male dancing with 2 or three female. ”Casino de Rueda” (wheel) is done in large groups where dancers form circles, couples often exchange partners and there is a designated leader who calls out the salsa steps.