SALSA

The categories are :
Solo Male, Solo Female, Duo, Couples. In Adults division Duo will be divided in duo mixed, duo female and duo male.

Age Division
Children  :  12 and under
Junior 1  :  13-14
Junior 2  :  15-16
Adult  :  17 and over
Adult 2  :  31 and over

Solos and Duos
Duration of the performance
– Organizer’s music
– For all rounds including the final the duration of the music is 1 min 20 to 1 min 30 seconds
Tempo Solos and Duos
48-55 bars per min (192-220 beat per minute)
Procedure of Competition
– In every round the  dancers must perform all in the “ groups hits” with up to 24 Solos or 12 Duos in every heat 
– The number of dancers on the floor for preliminaries to the semi-final included is up to 12 solos or 6 duos.
– Minimum 5, maximum 8 solos or duos dancing together in the final round.
– The Adjudicators will place the dancers in order of merit.
– The SKATING SYSTEM will be used to find the places of the dancers.
– In all categories the dancers should show good Floor Craft. It is not allowed to invade other dancers space. This will be taken into account when being seen by the Adjudicators.
Characteristics and Movement Salsa
Salsa Solo / Duo is an off shoot of Mambo and Salsa, so can be danced on the “1” or “2”. This style must show good body isolation, together with clean fast footwork – some of which uses every beat, half beat, and quarter beat of the Bar – so syncopation is important. When danced by a male dancer, we expect to see slick, clean, strong footwork, and good subtle isolation. When danced by a female dancer, while similar to Male, it should be more feminine in its approach, with possibly more body work. In all Duos we need to see good synchronization, good “question & answer” type moves, good contact (although not in hold) and musical interpretation in between the 2 dancers. No acrobatic moves or lifts will be allowed in any round.

COUPLES
Duration of the performance
– Organizer’s music  
– In all rounds the duration ofthe music should be 1 min. 30 sec. 
Tempo Couples Salsa 50 – 52 bars per minute (200 – 208 beats per minute)
Lifts
Not permitted. Only in the final in the solo performance in Adults and Junior Division they are allowed.
Also acrobatic figures are forbidden in Adults and Junior division only allowed in the final when the couples are dancing alone. See pt. 9. Lifts and acrobatic figures are forbidden in Children’s divisions.
Hold: The main part of the performance should be danced with a hold.
Procedure of Competition
The couples will  divided into heats. Number of couples  in the same heat is depending of the size of the dance 
All couples will dance together 1 minute 30 Salsa 
The Adjudicators will place the couples in order of merit.
– The SKATING SYSTEM will be used to find the places of the couples.
– Forbidden Figures: Acrobatics. Only in the final round, when couples perform alone, it is proposed to allow an acrobatic figure.
– Stage Props and Scenic Background: forbidden.
Characteristics and Movement Salsa
Salsa is of Latin-American origin but has been developing in different ways the last 10 years. There are four main styles of Salsa. The Salsa Cuban style, the Salsa Puerto Rico/New York style (Street Mambo), the L-A style and the Columbian (Cali) style. The Cuban style of Salsa is more rotating than the Puerto Rico/ New York style (Street Mambo) and the L-A style is known to include more show figures. All three styles are ac- accepted. Salsa basic is a two times three-step pattern taken during 8 beats of music, in a quick, quick, slow – quick, quick, slow rhythm. It is allowed to break on the 1st and 3rd beat in the bar or the 2nd and 4th beat in the bar. What is important is to keep the consistence of the breaking. If one starts on breaking on 1 or 3 one must continue to break on 1 or 3 and not travel on to break on 2 and 4 suddenly. Salsa is a very popular club dance in that it allows the dancers much freedom to interpret the music using movements and elements from many different Latino dances. Salsa means, “Sauce”, and the dancers should depict a very hot and spicy interaction with each other. The Salsa basics involve clever hand and arm movements as well as changes of handhold while maintaining the flowing movements and which are all typical of the dance.the  all couples shall be seen by the Adjudicators in  therefore the floor will be too crowded.