Where did salsa came from?

Question

Some says salsa came from Cuba. Some say it came from Puerto Rico. Could you identify or enumerate the countries that claim that salsa came from them?

Answer 1

New York created the term "Salsa", but was not the origin of the dance, just the city that made it become so popular. Salsa style is a continious evolution as each individual adds their own individual style and flavor to the dance.

Salsa is sort of a "melting pot"; strongest purported origins were from Cuba, but combined with many other influences from many other counries such as:

England/France: Contra-Danze (Country Dance), later called Danzón, which was brought by the French who fled from Haiti

Africa : Rhumbas (Guaguanco, Colombia, Yambú).

Bands from the followingcountries took their music to Mexico City in the era of the famous films of that country:

Dominican Republic
Colombia
Puerto Rico Bands

Mexico (Rhumba, Són Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danzón, Són, Guguanco, Cubop, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue)
Where the the "melting pot" of all of the above was stirred and perfected.

Answer 2

Renowned Latin music historian Max Salazar has written one of the most concise and comprehensive chronicles about the evolution of the word "Salsa." This article in its entirety was first published in the November 1991 issue of Latin Beat Magazine.
The popular usage of the word 'salsa' for danceable Latin music began in 1933 when Cuban song composer Ignacio Piñerio wrote the song Échale Salsita. According to the late Alfredo Valdés Sr. whom I interviewed in 1974, he said 'On July 6, 1933, I married Anita Purmuy, guitarist for the all-female band La Anacaona. I didn't have a honeymoon because hours later I was on a boat with Nacional (Septeto) headed toward MiamiÞthen on to the Chicago World's Fair. On the train I rehearsed Ignacio's new work Échale Salsita. He got the idea after tasting food which lacked the Cuban spices. It was a protest against tasteless food.

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_%28dance%29

Answer 4

I don't know, but they can take it back