SALSA cali style classes in medellin
Salsa dancing has long been one of the most important and influential social dances in Medellín, Colombia.
Before 2012, most salsa dancing in Medellín took place at local salsa bars, crossover bars, viejotecas, neighborhood gatherings, and social events where salsa was one of the primary genres played. The city’s best-known salsa radio stations were, and continue to be, Latina Stereo 100.9 FM, known for salsa brava and salsa classics, and El Sol 107.9 FM, which focuses more on mainstream and contemporary salsa.
At that time, many people who danced salsa had learned socially rather than through formal training at dance schools. The salsa most commonly danced socially throughout Colombia was part of a broader Colombian salsa tradition that varied by region and social environment. One of the strongest influences within that tradition was salsa caleña, also known internationally as salsa Cali style or in Spanish as salsa estilo caleño.
The term “caleño” refers to something or someone from Cali, Colombia, the city most internationally associated with this style of salsa dancing. Salsa caleña became internationally recognized for its fast and intricate footwork, rhythmic precision, energetic movement, spins, agility, and strong musical interpretation. Over time, it heavily influenced social salsa dancing throughout many parts of Colombia, including Medellín.
Informal social variations, often referred to as salsa callejera, also became common in many Colombian social environments. Salsa callejera generally shared many of the same rhythmic, footwork, and movement characteristics associated with Colombian salsa traditions and salsa caleña, while often placing greater emphasis on social dancing and improvisation rather than formalized technique or stage performance.
Before the growth of the formal social dance scene in Medellín, there were already salsa schools offering private and group classes, as well as performance companies focused on training professional dancers for shows and competitions. Colombia later became internationally recognized for salsa dancers and performance teams known for speed, synchronization, acrobatics, flexibility, and highly developed footwork techniques associated with salsa caleña.
However, outside of salsa bars and performance groups, Medellín still had a relatively limited organized social dance scene for dancers interested in structured partnerwork training and internationally recognized salsa styles such as salsa on1 and salsa on2.
In 2012, DANCEFREE began offering free group salsa and bachata classes followed by social dancing. During its first two years, DANCEFREE focused exclusively on free dance classes before later expanding into paid private classes, group classes, practices, and socials.
For private classes, DANCEFREE offered multiple dance styles, including salsa on1, salsa on2, Colombian style salsa, Cali style salsa, bachata, tango, porro, merengue, kizomba, bolero, hip hop, and more. For group classes, DANCEFREE focused primarily on salsa and bachata while also occasionally offering classes in other rhythms. For group salsa classes, DANCEFREE focused primarily on salsa on1, also known as LA style salsa, but also incorporated elements from Colombian style salsa and salsa Cali style as part of the broader Colombian salsa tradition. This approach reflected both the international partnerwork structure commonly associated with salsa on1 and the cultural influence of Colombian style salsa dancing.
DANCEFREE’s first salsa and bachata social was held every Thursday and quickly became one of the most recognized weekly social dance events in Medellín. Over time, DANCEFREE expanded to offering salsa and bachata group classes six nights per week, dance practices multiple nights per week, and socials several nights per week, sometimes continuing until 4:00am. DANCEFREE became an important meeting point for students, instructors, performers, and social dancers, contributing to the continued growth of Medellín’s salsa community.
Here is some basic information about salsa Cali style to help you get started:
Salsa music is generally organized into phrases of 8 beats.
Most salsa basics involve 6 weight changes danced across the counts 1-2-3 and 5-6-7, with stylistic pauses, taps, syncopations, or timing variations depending on the dancer and style.
Salsa Cali style places strong emphasis on rapid and precise footwork, coordination, agility, speed, endurance, and musical interpretation.
Many dancers of salsa estilo caleño develop footwork vocabulary that may include punta talón, punta punta, repiques, campanas, abanicos, cepillados, laterales, cruces, ochos, vueltas, giros, marcaciones, pasos libres, patinadas, punticos, trencillos, and freestyle footwork combinations associated with Colombian salsa dancing traditions.
The leader commonly begins with the left foot while the follower commonly begins with the right foot.
Compared to many internationally taught salsa styles that emphasize more linear or in-line partner movement, Colombian style salsa, similar in some ways to Cuban style salsa, often incorporates more circular movement dynamics. Salsa Cali style, or salsa caleña, is especially recognized for its fast and intricate footwork, quick directional changes, energetic movement, spins, agility, and rhythmic interpretation.
As dancers gain more experience, they may begin learning advanced repiques, syncopations, contratiempos, double turns, triple turns, spinning technique, partner tricks, despelucadas, acrobatic elements, performance choreography, fast footwork sequences, musical interpretation, partner connection, and improvisational movement commonly associated with advanced salsa caleña dancers and Colombian salsa competition teams.
Salsa Cali style developed primarily through social dancing traditions in Colombia and was influenced by Afro-Caribbean music, Cuban son, guaracha, mambo, boogaloo, pachanga, and broader Latin American musical culture. Over time, Cali became one of the most internationally recognized cities in the world for salsa dancing and salsa culture.
Artists and orchestras especially associated with the musical culture surrounding Colombian salsa and salsa caleña include Grupo Niche, Fruko y sus Tesos, Joe Arroyo, Guayacán Orquesta, Orquesta La Misma Gente, Richie Ray, and Bobby Cruz, whose music became deeply embedded in Colombian salsa culture and social dancing traditions.
Traditional salsa instrumentation commonly includes piano, bass, trumpets, trombones, congas, bongos, timbales, cowbell, güiro, and additional percussion instruments that create the rhythmic foundation associated with salsa music and Colombian social dancing.
DANCEFREE offers private salsa Cali style classes in person in Medellín, Colombia, and online via Zoom and Google Meet. Our in-person classes are available 7 days a week, while our online classes are offered on weekdays only, subject to availability. We have experienced salsa instructors who teach students of all levels, from complete beginners to advanced dancers. If you would like to take private salsa Cali style classes, click here to view the steps for beginning private classes. If you would like to view our calendar for salsa socials and more, click here.