There are 151 different, conflicting and indisputable histories of salsa. They are all true. A lot of them contain common elements - the migration of Cuban musicians, the fusion of various musical styles with traditional Cuban dance music, and the influences of New York, Miami, South and Central America - but very few of them mention the Home Counties. This is a pity as this is where most people, who most of us know, do most of their dancing.

History of Salsa version 152

Salsa was invented by Hank Marvin and Una Stubbs on the set of Summer Holiday. It was first exploited in a Shake and Vac commercial in the 1970's which was subsequently seen by visiting delegates of an Icelandic trading mission. It became their national dance soon after and featured in their Eurovision song contest entry in 1982. Following that exposure it took only 13 years for the craze to sweep scout huts and awkwardly-located nightclubs in the back streets of nearly eleven towns on most Tuesdays in February. It passed away quietly during the early days of the great recession that preceded the collapse of Western civilisation in the early part of the second millennium. One caused the other; no-one has yet established which one.