Salsa Vs. Salsa (Mambo)
Salsa Vs. Salsa (Mambo)
This is the most discussed topic within the salsa dance world. What is what? Why is one called Salsa and the other Mambo? What's the difference?! Here is a brief, simplified, historical (not technical) explanation.
Todays Salsa dancing is a direct descendant of Mambo. Mambo originated in Cuba in the late 1940s, and had a brief run as a super-popular fad in North America during the 1950s (specially 1954). At the end of the 1950s, a slowed down and syncopated version of Mambo -- the Cha-Cha (originally called Triple Mambo) -- usurped Mambo's popularity. Then suddenly, in 1961, everyone in North America started doing the Twist. Then partner dancing, including Latin partner dancing, fell completely out of fashion for about 15 years. In the mid-1970s, the Disco craze created a resurgent interest in partner dancing, and Mambo was revived in the New York Latin dance communities under the new name Salsa. The new dance was primarily Mambo, with noticeable influences and borrowings from Disco/Hustle (which was itself primarily a slicked-up and polyesterized verion of Swing). The new Salsa form of Mambo spread throughout Latin America and became the universal Latin club dance, with occasional modest regional differences.
A note on regional differences. You'll find that many Latin Americans have fierce ideas that only their own country dances "authentic" Salsa. Why regional differences? Simple; in the 1950s, new music traveled much faster than new dance steps. As the original Mambo music spread through Latin America in the 1950s, people quickly adapted local dances to fit it. For example, in Colombia, the sidewards steps of one form of Cumbia became the basis for Colombian-style Mambo/Salsa, and many Colombians still dance a Cumbia-like Salsa. The most interesting story involves the island of Curacao (a colonial possession of Holland), where a local dance called Tumba was adapted to the new Mambo music. Tumba is danced with a "break forward on the right foot" action -- the opposite(!) of Mambo/Salsa dancing everywhere else. However, Salsa teachers in Curacao have recently started teaching conventional linear Salsa footwork.
The cross-border migration of influences continues, now in reverse. Over time, dancers in the main Salsa centers of Los Angeles, New York, Spain, Italy etc. have cheerfully incorporated every idea they see that helps them look good, including moves from almost every regional variation. The cross-pollination also operates beyond Latin dance borders, of course: Salsa, recall, came about from an infusion of Disco (Hustle) into Mambo in the 1970s. More recently, Salsa dancers have swiped moves from the revival form of Swing dance called Lindy Hop, and West Coast Swing dancers have returned the favor by swiping their fanciest spins and wraps directly from high-end Salsa
How close is Mambo to Salsa? Both the music and the dance are closely related. Tito Puente, one of Latin music's greats, used to say at his concerts,
Most Salseros would disagree a little -- you really can hear a difference between classic Mambo and the Salsa of today, but not a lot. Mostly the differences reflect the passage of time: new instruments added to the mix, and new musicians adding their interpretations to the music and rhythm forms."-We play the same music. Before, it was Mambo. Now it's Salsa."
The dance steps have also evolved, although, again, most of the changes reflect the passage of time. The most significant difference between dancing Mambo and dancing Salsa: nearly every Salsa community has simplified Mambo's relationship between the footwork and the music. This simplification is what characterizes the different Salsa styles.
Source: WSF