At 8 p.m. tonight, Salsa Magic will come to the stage of EJ Thomas Hall. It’s a three-hour, non-stop show, beginning with dance lessons where students can learn the hottest Latin moves.

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At 8 p.m. tonight, Salsa Magic will come to the stage of EJ Thomas Hall. It’s a three-hour, non-stop show, beginning with dance lessons where students can learn the hottest Latin moves.

Salsa dance is becoming increasingly popular in today’s entertainment. This is most likely due to the romantic and seductive movements and sheer closeness of the dancers. It is an electrifyingly dynamic type of dance about the relationship between a man and a woman. Many movies use this type of dance to develop the romantic love stories which can arouse the mood of the movie. Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze springs to mind.

Salsa can best be described as a hybrid of dances and cultures, which originated around the end of the 19th century from Cuban Son music; son is the Spanish name for sound. Son is a richly diverse form of Latin American music heavily influenced by both Western and African cultures. So far, Salsa has evolved into numerous different styles named after their respective geographical origins. Some of these different types of salsa are Cuban, Colombian and Los Angeles style.

The Cuban, or Casino, salsa is an interaction between the sexes with the dancers sexually teasing and taunting each other through the gyrating of the hips and shoulders in very close proximity to each other, without actually touching.

The Colombian, or Cali, salsa is best known for its intricate footwork consisting of rapid steps and skipping movements, while keeping the upper half of the body still.

The Los Angeles style is one of the more recent types of salsa derived from the Latin American music of the late 20th century. A lot of the salsa movements seen in modern performances originate from this style. It takes a lot of its lifts and other fancy stunt work from other types of Latin and ballroom dances.

Because of salsa’s increasing popularity, studios can be found in every corner of the world. Instructional salsa DVD’s are also readily available for both new and more advanced dancers.

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” #1.1965936:1878343051.jpg:Salsa Magic:Students learn to dance at last years Salsa Magic. This year’s Salsa Magic begins at 8p.m. tonight at EJ Thomas Hall:Elizabeth Rose”