Call it the mambo wars. Dancers on the 1 beat say they follow the melody, dancers on the 2, the percussion. But if he can't, you have to stay wherever he is. Going out dancing did not used to be such a struggle. But salsa dancing, as mambo is often known today, is hotter than ever, surpassing even the craze of the 1950's.
Cultural historians attribute the resurgent popularity in part to globalization and the Internet.
With the wider appeal has come a new zeal to dance well. In New York, dance studios report record enrollment in salsa classes, higher than that for tango or swing in major studios like DanceSport in Manhattan. With the advent of salsa Web sites, international dance performance tours and even an annual world salsa congress in Puerto Rico, the style has been spreading to cities like Los Angeles and Chicago and abroad, to countries like Italy and Japan. But as the 2's run into the 1's, a night out can turn into a pressure cooker. You go to clubs and it's like the Olympics of salsa.