A fast, hot and spicy dance style. An essential character element of salsa is Cuban motion. Cuban motion, especially the hip action, comes mainly from the alternate bending and strengthening of the knees. Salsa is danced by stepping on three consecutive beats of the music and then pausing for one beat, then repeating. The step timing can be though of as step, step, step, pause; step step, step, pause. Dance teachers count the step timing as quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow. Each quick consumes one beat of music, each slow consumes two beats of music. Depending on how you hear and feel the music, you may start the dance on any beat of the measure you wish. Most beginners start the dance on the first beat of the measure.