On the dance floor, a woman wearing a black scalloped dress with a scoop neck and spaghetti straps twirls and spins under her partner's arms. He pulls her close then pushes her away. She looks at him, then looks away.

Such is the music. Such is the dance. Such is the life, no?

This was the scene at Hot Salsa, Cool Ballroom earlier this month, where people listened and danced to the live music of Salsa Borealis, Juneau's own salsa band.

"It's never been this big," said Marc Ramonda, timbale player with the band, referring to the turnout at the event, a fundraiser for the Montessori School. "There's definitely a salsa scene," he said.

Salsa in Juneau is growing. With weekly dance classes, salsa dance parties, Latin cultural events and regular performances by Salsa Borealis, more people are learning the steps and taking them to the dance floor.

Salsa means "sauce" in Spanish. The music is lively and spicy. It has evolved from the musical traditions of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela and other Caribbean countries. Its roots can be traced to Africa through the slaves who came to the Caribbean, and to the Spanish, who occupied the islands for many generations.

Salsa features strong rhythms played on congas and timbales (drums), claves (wood sticks), guiros (rasps) and maracas (shakers). The melody instruments are electric guitars, brass horns and bass guitar.

She said the Latino community in Juneau includes people from Columbia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela.

Haugland has taught salsa in Juneau for five years with her husband, Antonio Diaz. They met in Seattle in the salsa scene there. He is from Peru and loves to dance. She is from the United States and also loves to dance. A happy combination. And they've made it their mission to bring that kind of happiness to Alaska.

"Salsa has a lot of different definitions, so it's a little hard to say what it is," Haugland said.

"When we have salsa nights, we usually play eight or nine different kinds of rhythms including salsa. ... There's cha cha, merengue, reggaeton, bachata, cumbia. When we do a salsa night it's all different kinds of rhythms. ... So, when you talk about salsa, it's the dance and it's the music," she said.

"Salsa was created in New York in the '70s," said Diaz. "Initially it had many, many names, like son montuno, like guajira, like guaguanco, like mambo. In New York they call it mambo. The salsa style is definitely mambo style. It gets a little more technical because in different areas in the states they call it something else. So, the universal word for the rhythm is salsa. Whenever you go, salsa it's an eight-count beat," he said.

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Taking the lead: Raul Munoz and his wife, Maribel, display some smooth moves during salsa night at the Rendezvous Bar, which offers locals a chance to bring what they know to the dance floor.

Diaz and Haugland teach salsa classes downtown at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall and in the Mendenhall Valley at Pavitt's Fitness. They also teach occasionally at the high school, host a salsa night at the Rendezvous on Fridays and frequently produce Latin cultural events, including this weekend's "Carnaval, Fiesta Latina" on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Centennial Hall. The event will feature live music and traditional dances by local Latinos from a variety of countries. The promoters are encouraging people to come to the party in costume and wear masks for the full experience.

Most of the dancers at the downtown salsa class are non-Latins. They come dressed in high heels and dresses, blue jeans and brown rubber boots. Students first learn "the basic," a simple forward and back dance pattern that counts out "one-two-three, pause, five-six-seven, pause," over and over. The rest of the moves stem from this basic step.

For one of the dances, Diaz counts the rhythm and calls out the commands to a salsa dance. After a few basic moves, the man spins the woman around. His arm goes up and over her head and on the "seven" her hand drops down onto his shoulder. He moves forward slightly, her hand falls and gently brushes his back, dropping into his hand. A beautiful move executed with grace. Fluid. Fun.

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Growing salsa scene: With weekly dance classes, salsa dance parties and Latin cultural events, more Juneau residents are taking to the dance floor.

A disco ball from the ceiling sends colorful light beads swirling into the room and over peoples' clothing.

One couple moves across the floor with precision and finesse. He pulls her close, then pushes her away. She resists slightly, but only so far. They move in unison, forward and back, two steps ahead, pause, two steps back, together as one entity.

Alejandro Soria said he comes to salsa because he likes to have fun, but also because learning the moves is a challenge. Originally from Uruguay, he, like many Latinos, danced to salsa music all his life, but did not learn the traditional steps or dance with partners. It wasn't until coming to Juneau that he learned the steps and began dancing with a partner.

"There is some philosophy or feeling, I don't know how to call it, but when you see the people dancing salsa in partners you can see they are smiling, they are enjoying," he said.

He added that salsa offers a healthy environment for socializing. Soria is single and believes the salsa scene is a good place to meet like-minded people.

"It's a combination of exercise and good fun with friends," he said. "Nobody there is just looking for something for tonight. I can tell you that. We are all there as friends, to dance with friends and to have fun."

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Ensuring that the music flows: Antonio Diaz keeps the music coming during salsa night at the Rendezvous.

Diaz believes the salsa boom in the last decade has inspired a healthy salsa scene throughout the U.S., in most major cities, where one can find a place to dance salsa most nights of the week. He and Haugland are working to create a similar scene here.

Most of the salsa events are open to all ages, keeping with the Latin tradition of catering to families at fiestas and celebrations.

"Salsa is a way of life in Latin America. It always combines food, socializing, and dancing. It goes together. And no matter where you are in Latin America, it goes without saying, you have to dance at some point," Diaz said.

"We try to make it inclusive so people will come," Haugland said. "Everyone asks each other to dance. No one is just dancing with one partner all night, people switch around. ... And you don't need a partner to come to these events. You just come and people will introduce themselves to you and they'll ask you to dance," she said.