September 15 through October 15 is Latino Heritage Month. I decided to do a bit of research on salsa, a popular ballroom dance that fuses elements from Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican music and movement.

The New York Times said that the basic salsa rhythm came from Cuba, but the dance itself originated in New York in the 1970s when a convergence of jazz musicians from all over the world began developing a unique new style. Salsa began as more of a street dance, and wasn’t really taught in the studios or on a professional level until the late 80s. Now you can find Salsa Congressos all over the world (multi-day salsa workshops and performances that often bring in thousands of participants).

There’s a cool activist dance company in LA known as Contra-Tiempo. They teach salsa, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban, abstract theatrical movement, and other dance styles. Contra-Tiempo’s classes “address social, political and race issues through movement and through traditional cultural dance forms....[W]orkshops focus on how the body can be used as a tool for communication....[Our] mission as a company is to create dialogue and greater understanding across populations, in particular around issues of resistance and power.” The company reaches out to underserved youth and communities of color throughout Los Angeles.

And now some salsa inspiration from Contra-Tiempo: