Salsa · Mambo · The Social Floor

Social dancing, and the music beneath it

Technique, etiquette, the roots of the rhythm, and where in the world to go and dance — for dancers who want to go deeper.

On the Floor

Finding Your Timing: Dancing On1 and On2

Rubén Ortiz · March 8, 2026

The difference between On1 and On2 sounds like accountancy and feels like two different languages. Here is what actually separates…

Finding Your Timing: Dancing On1 and On2
The Music

The Roots of Salsa: Son, Mambo and Beyond

Elena Marín · March 2, 2026

Salsa did not appear from nowhere. It is the sound of a century of migration, compressed into four beats and a…

The Roots of Salsa: Son, Mambo and Beyond
On the Floor

The Social-Dancing Etiquette Nobody Tells You

Rubén Ortiz · February 24, 2026

Technique gets taught in class. The unwritten rules of the social floor get learned the hard way — unless someone tells you…

The Social-Dancing Etiquette Nobody Tells You
Dance Travel

Choosing a Dance Retreat That's Actually Worth It

Elena Marín · February 16, 2026

A week of dancing somewhere warm can be the trip of a lifetime or an expensive disappointment. The difference is almost never the…

Choosing a Dance Retreat That's Actually Worth It
The Music

Clave: The Heartbeat Under Everything

Rubén Ortiz · February 9, 2026

Five strokes across two bars. Once you can feel the clave, you can never un-hear it — and your dancing changes for…

Clave: The Heartbeat Under Everything
Dance Travel

The World's Great Salsa Congresses

Elena Marín · February 2, 2026

A salsa congress is three days of workshops, shows and all-night dancing in one hotel. Here is how to get the most out of…

The World's Great Salsa Congresses
On the Floor

Musicality: Dancing the Song, Not the Count

Rubén Ortiz · January 26, 2026

Beginners dance the count. Improvers dance the pattern. The dancers everyone watches are dancing the actual…

Musicality: Dancing the Song, Not the Count
The Music

Mambo, Rumba and the Family Tree of Latin Dance

Elena Marín · January 19, 2026

Salsa has cousins, parents and grandparents. Knowing the family makes every one of them richer to…

Mambo, Rumba and the Family Tree of Latin Dance
Dance Travel

Packing for a Week of Dancing Abroad

Rubén Ortiz · January 12, 2026

A dance holiday is not a beach holiday with extra shoes. Pack for the floor and your week gets dramatically…

Packing for a Week of Dancing Abroad