From Street to Club, Moving to a Latin Beat

The dominant Latin dance style at most of these events, of course, is salsa and its cousins from the Caribbean, which include merengue, cha-cha, bachata, mambo and rumba. But Argentine tango and Brazilian samba also have their followings and gathering spots, and in the category of whowouldathunkit?, even the Latin hustle, that relic of the “Saturday Night Fever” days of the 1970s, is making a comeback.
The salsa dance scene is divided between “parties,” which generally take place in nightclubs, restaurants and bars like S.O.B.’s in the South Village on Friday or the Iguana on West 54th Street, and “socials,” which are held in dance studios. That difference may seem small, but it is important.
“In my mind socials are for people who want to dance, not to drink,” said Steve Shaw, co-founder of SalsaNewYork.com, a Web site that offers a comprehensive guide to all aspects of the local dance scene. “Most serious dancers are the same way. The clubs see them not drinking, and the managers want that income and feel that they can’t get enough people drinking. So one solution is the dance studio, where people can go to dance, and there are drinks, but they are not alcoholic.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/arts/dance/23salsa.html?pagewanted=all