Salsa Chica

Book excerpt: Once Solange began to dance salsa she did little else. She worked and she danced. Try as she may, she could not imagine a more desirable way to spend her time. She became a "Salsera" or a "Salsa Chica," a woman who rearranges her entire life to accommodate her need to dance as much as humanly possible. It was a big experiment at first. What would happen if she danced night after night? Would her body fall apart? Would she be able to function at work? Would her mom get mad? She just lost weight and toned her body without getting on a hamster torture device. She grew more comfortable in her skin, developed confidence, became friends with people from different cultures, learned about music, and fell in love with the "wrong guys," - Salsa Guys - who weren't that different from other "wrong guys" but these guys could dance. Like every other Salsa Chica she struggled with her passions, choices, and technique. In "Salsa Chica: How I Learned To Dance Salsa And Avoid Real Life," Solange recounts the journey of learning to dance salsa and how it transformed and maybe even saved her life.