How to learn salsa

If you want to learn how to become a great salsa dancer as efficiently as possible, consider this roadmap.

Beginner
Control your own balance and momentum
Basic steps

Improver
Connect with your partner

Beginning footwork
Beginning essential salsa moves

Begin to listen for beat

Intermediate
Intermediate footwork
Intermediate essential salsa moves

Listen for the beat

Advanced

Advanced footwork
Advanced essential salsa moves

Dance to the beat / beginning musicality

Master

Connect with the music (musicality)

Improvisation

Styling

Naturally, there is a lot more to dancing than just these simple things.  And following this roadmap will probably take years.  More likely a lifetime.  But the journey sure is fun.

The essential salsa moves

Most salsa moves, even the hard ones, are based on simple moves. Master the easy ones, learn some variations and combinations, and you'll easily pick up just about any hard move.

So I compiled a list of what I call the essential salsa moves. They are basic salsa moves that I have found to be the foundation for every advanced move that I've learned, at least from what I remember. Really I think that this (plus maybe a couple more forgotten ones) are all there are.

There's only like 30 or 40.


Basic Step
Side Basic
Cumbia
Crossovers
Forward Steps
Back Steps

Head Loop/hair-Comb (style)

Right Turn
Left Turn
Right spin
Left Spin

Cross-Body Lead
CBL with inside turn
CBL with outside turn

Reverse Cross-Body-Lead
(This is actually a variation)
Reverse CBL with inside turn
Reverse CBL with outside turn

Hammerlock
Skater's Wrap
Cuddles
Wrap

Walk-through/New York Walk
Basket
Titanic/Angel
Texas-Tommy/Apache
Enchufle (cumbia)
Copa/In & Out
U-Turn
Knots
Butterfly
Rainbow
Tunnel
Mambo Turn

Back Spot Turn
360

Dips
Drops
Aerials


Of course there's a lot more to becoming a salsa dancer than learning moves, but maybe now the mountain of salsa moves has shrunk a bit for you and you can spend some of your energy on the other more important aspects of becoming a salsa dancer.