Cumbia style

The cumbia style (also: "Latino style") is a style of Latin American salsa . It is particularly represented by Latin Americans on the mainland and is therefore danced from Chile , Perú , Ecuador , Colombia , Venezuela all the way to Mexico . Peruvian emigrants have exported it to Japan . Its origin comes from Colombia from the closely related Cumbia .

In addition to the closed basic step, characteristic of the cumbia style is an open dance posture in which the two dance partners dance side by side in a crossed backward step, the so-called “laterales”. To open the door, the man uses a woman twist or a so-called “impulso”, in which he simply pushes the woman away from him. In the open dance position, the man usually only leads with his left hand.

The basic rotation in the "cumbia style" is the so-called "vuelta de seis", in which the man walks around her while the woman turns to the left. This gives the movements a round and dance-like character (and reminds one of the cumbia as a circle dance, where the man dances around the woman without being allowed to touch her). The open dance posture gives a lot of room for improvisation. The cumbia was originally an advertising dance, and that's how salsa is still danced today: sensual, elegant and with a lot of self-expression from the man. Also typical in many regions of Latin America are the so-called "brincos", improvisations by men that consist purely of step techniques and jumps.

The term "cumbia style" comes from the USA - Latin Americans themselves do not differentiate between individual dance styles in most cases. For them, the cumbia style is identical to salsa. Although there are a multitude of different dance styles and many different dance figures and rotations in the countries and regions, the cumbia style is characterized by its simplicity and its integrative character: in it everyone can somehow dance together. He has no distinct dance school elements or show characters. The cumbia style is not a dance school salsa, you learn it on the street or at fiestas. In Mexico, where the different dance styles of Latin America and the USA collide, the New York Style or LA-Style is called "salsa en linea" to differentiate.