Tip Sheet.(Salsa music and dancing)

Byline: Malcolm Beith, Ginanne Brownell and Andrew Ehrenkranz, Nadezhda Titova, Ginanne Brownell, Alison Brooks and Hideko Takayama

TRAVEL

LIVING LA VIDA LATINA

By Malcolm Beith

So you wanna salsa? Join the club. Salsa--the music and dance, not the condiment--derived from the traditional Cuban son in the 1950s. It later underwent various stylistic changes in New York, Miami, Puerto Rico and Colombia, among other places. In recent years salsa has undergone a second revolution, becoming the hottest hobby to take up from Seoul to Seville. (There's now even a blossoming salsa scene in Beijing.) Aspiring salseros around the world are signing up for lessons in droves, then hitting newly opened salsatecas to dance the night away. But if you want to experience the real thing, head to one of these salsa hot spots to learn from true masters.

Havana: This year's Festival Caliente, a salsa extravaganza held every March, has already come and gone. But there are still plenty of good clubs where you can practice your moves or just watch the best in the business. For tourists and richer locals, the Casa de la Musica clubs (the original is in the upscale suburb of Miramar, but a new one's opened up in the center of town), which offer spectacular live performances and lots of opportunities to dance, are numero uno.

San Juan, Puerto Rico: If you can, hit July's Puerto Rico Salsa Congress, a nine-day performance and competition extravaganza ($400 for a full pass at www.prsalsacongress.com ), and watch some of the world's top salseros show off. When you feel inspired, polish your own footwork at the various workshops.