Mention the word in any part of the world and people will know what you’re talking about. Its hot spicy rhythm forces hips to sway to the beat. It is one of the most dynamic musical stiles of the Western World. But salsa is actually an umbrella term harboring many different Caribbean and Cuban rhythms such as the son, the chachacha and the merengue. It is similar to what happened with the word "swing", which was used generally to refer to the great jazz bands of the 30’s and 40’s. It tends to describe more of a sentiment than a specific rhythm or musical expression. Salsa is not always fast and intense, it can also be slow and romantic or somewhere in between.