First of all i am from the old New York Paladium days circa 1953. It is a shame like many things today history is being re-written. What happened? The history of the Latin dances is unique and it has all been thrown together by calling it "SALSA".
Dancing on 2 was started at the Paladium and was done so that you can feel the beat of the conga drum,gun gun pa. At that time only the MAMBONICKS (a term used to describe someone who put dancing above evrything else and lived to MAMBO} was dancing on 2. Everyone else from the Latin community and elsware danced on 1. The Professionals and the good dancers all danced on 2 which take alot of time to master.
Getting back to "SALSA" I used to hang out with Tito Puente, and Joe Cuba and Tito once said there is nothing as "Salsa" It was a name made up to encompass all Latino styles so that if your style of music didn't fit into the main group, like Mambo, cha cha cha,Pachanga, Meringue, then you could still market it under "SALSA" It was also a boon the the studios that taught dancing because it denoted something fresh and exciting (HOT) and if you didn't know how to "SALSA" you were going to be left out. Everyone should start calling the dance by it's true name's and then maybe some good bands would start to flourish again, Although nobody can ever replace Tito Puente, his son's Tito Puente jr, Ronnie Puente, and Joe Cuba, who hopefully will get a band together again and will forge ahead and at least try to bring back some of the excitement to the Latin Music field.
Sorry that i tend to be a purist on this subject but it is a shame an entire history of music is gone and alot of the younger people will never know of the heritage of the Latin Music history. Also if anyone out there remembers the Paladium or the Beach Clubs ( Sands, Malibu etc.}out on Long Island New York,Ben Masicks,etc please post here or contact me. Thanks

Ronnie/"THE MARTIAN CHA CHA'S"

Hola Amigo- have been around the dance scene as a pro since 1951 and danced many yrs before that.

I got my first intro to Mambo on the w.coast ( LA ) in the late fifties and then then the pall. in the early sixties .
I was already highly trained as a dancer, coming from the U.K.-- I quickly learned, that what I thought was latin,was not even close !!-- My P.Rican buddies coached me into the real world of Latino culture, and I immeresed myself into that, from that time on.
Funny, how people keep trying to re invent ( some call it progress ) a pure art form borne of the barrios .
I realise that with time, music changes , some good, and some not so.
Everyone now seems to be an expert-- funny-- most of them were not even born , when the genre was in its heyday ( Mambo, that is )
I see alot of talent in my travels, but the energy seems to be placed in the direction of performance .The sad part of that-- it tends to influence the newer devotees, many who never seem to get, a basic fundamental approach to the dance .Like all disciplines, the foundation is at the very core of that which we attempt to display .
Am currently teaching in the U.K.. have had so called " advanced dancers " attend my beginners classes ( why, I dont know ) suffice it to say, they never returned. Sad, because in nearly all instances, they did not have a clue about the substance-- all they seem to want , is more steps !!