What's the difference between a transformation and a corruption? Simply this: if you like the result it's transformation, if you don't it's corruption.Īs to the definition of salsa music. But it's hypocritical to say that the NY PR community of the '50s 'transformed' the mambo yet say everything since the '70s is a 'corruption' of it. The 'slang' analogy also implies that salsa is a corruption of something 'correct'. It's slang, but its more appropriate than the Queen's English for its purpose. It's easy to interpret that as a derogatory comment about salsa but think about rap. Personally I include cumbia and cuban salsa under the salsa umbrella but that would get short shrift in NYC.īut the 'slang' analogy has some negative overtones. Salsa is to mambo as slang is to English: It's a pretty accurate analogy if you hold the view that salsa does not contain any non-mambo elements. The difference between salsa and mambo? You might as well be asking the difference between dessert and ice-cream. What do you think of the following definition of salsa music?:Ī music genre derived from Cuban mambo but formed primarily in the U.S., though not as closely connected with New York City as the associated dance and not as divergent from mambo as the dance is. But did NYC's Puerto Rican community also change the music, or did they just dance to more traditional mambo music? To put it another way, is there a difference between salsa music and mambo?Īnd do On1, On2 and casino rueda salseros dance to different kinds of music? I've seen them dancing to the same song, but are there songs that are especially adapted to On1, On2 or circular salsa? Of course, salsa is often applied to Latin music in general, as well.īut how does one define salsa music? I assume its origins are the same: Born in Cuba from African roots and exported to the U.S. Or, as one ballroom teacher told me, salsa is to mambo what slang is to English. It was strongly modified by New York City's Puerto Rican community in the 1950s, 60s and 70s and was further shaped by disco, eventually splitting into On1 and On2 styles (along with more traditional circular forms).

Mambo originated in Cuba (though it has strong African roots) and was popularized in the U.S. I think I now understand the difference between salsa (dance) and mambo.

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