Salsa is on stage everywhere! International Latin Dance Night in Taichung will be co-sponsored by the Taichung City Government and the Taiwan Salsa Association in Le Free (No1 ShiChen North Rd.) on May 4th (Friday) at 7 PM. Salsa dancers from 16 countries around the world will perform their elegant and warm dances, to bring a profound Latino atmosphere to the City in early summer. We welcome denizens to Salsa. Please check the website www.salsa.tw or call（04）2320-1318.

　　During the press conference on Feb. 27th, Deputy Mayor Hsiao wore a Latin dancing dress and danced with Salsa dancers who came from Singapore to express their enthusiastic and lovely dancing postures, winning acclaim from media reporters. People involved in the conference could not resist the infectious enthusiasm that the Latino music created and they stood up to dance, turning the press conference into a small Salsa festival.

　　Deputy Mayor Hsiao stated that the International Latin Dance Night in Taichung was instituted to market the City, that used to be distinguished in terms of culture and dance, as the city of innovative culture. He hopes to present the City as a joyful or dancing one, through Latin and Salsa dancing presentations.

　　The Taiwan Salsa Association (TSA) held the First Annual Salsa Taiwan Festival in 2006, with the goals of promoting Salsa, providing people with more leisure options, and instituting international exchange opportunities to invite professional dancers from Cuba, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Europe, and America. It included a full-of-Latin-joyfulness Salsa banquet for denizens in July of early summer, attracting 5000 people to participate.

　　Cuisine, building appearances, and natural landscape in the surrounding areas of Taichung City were featured. Added to this was the fullness of Taiwanese’s enthusiasm, to warmly impress the participating Salsa dancers and generate a promise to return in 2007.

　　For the Second Annual Salsa Taiwan Festival, coming in May, TSA includes, for the first year the Taiwan Amateur Salsa International Invitational Tournament. It hopes that amateurs from Taiwan and other Asian countries will compete together and bring Latin joy to their summer.

Originating from Anthem, Salsa coordinates powerful rhyme from Africa and Spanish mountain songs from Santiago in the east of Cuba. Anthem is the prototype of some Latin American music, as well as the origin of the ChaCha and Mambo. Salsa continues the basic structure of Anthem and adds stronger dancing elements to become the basic tone of fashion dance and music in Latin America.

　　Due to the natural, enthusiastic, and strong musical rhythm of Salsa, as well as its random coordination, the Salsa dance has become one of the more significant elements in pop culture in Europe and America. Hong, WeiJen, the first dancer of TSA to introduce Salsa to Taiwan, said that there were Salsa pubs in large European and American cities. These were places for city people to develop human relationships and spend leisure time. In the same way, the annual Salsa camp in some countries, such as Britain, USA, Germany, France, and Austria are places to exchange dancing methods.

　　In some Asian countries, including Japan and Korea, international Salsa camps are regularly held, and other places, such as Bangkok in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Shanghai, and Beijing in China; cross-state Salsa festivals have also been hosted since 2002. In addition to exchanging modest dancing messages, the festival or banquets have become a significant country and city marketing process.