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In the last decade, research on salsa in the United States has grown. Despite the body of scholarly work that exists on salsa music, explorations on salsa dance have been scarce. This is curious, considering that salsa music and dance are so intimately tied, each existing as a consequence of the other. It is precisely because of this close relationship that the music and dance often share the same spaces--living rooms at home, street festivals, nightclubs, and stages. As such, salsa dance is worthy of more thorough investigation in a space of its own, while still honoring its inseparable connection to its musical form. Due to the dearth of scholarly work on salsa dance, my research draws from a variety of sources: my own experiences and conversations with fellow salsa dancers, performers, and instructors in New York (1996-present), which includes my tenure with the Eddie Torres Latin dance company (1996-1998); articles, films and books on salsa music; and the theoretical frameworks provided by dance scholarship, ethnography, and performance studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Nuyorican musicians were laboring to develop the unique sounds of New York mambo and salsa, Nuyorican dancers were working just as hard to create a new form of dance. This dance, now known as "on 2" mambo, or salsa, for its relationship to the clave, is the first uniquely North American form of vernacular Latino dance on the East Coast. This paper traces the New York mambo's develop-ment from its beginnings at the Palladium Ballroom through the salsa and hustle years and up to the present time. The current period is characterized by increasing growth, commercialization, codification, and a blending with other modern, urban dance genres such as hip-hop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]