Basics of Salsa Dancing:  An essential character element of salsa is Cuban Motion. Cuban motion, especially the hip action, comes mainly from the alternate bending and straightening of the knees. Like the basic for mambo, and for rumba, a full basic of the Salsa can be thought of as having a forward basic, which takes 4 beats of music, and a backward basic, which takes four beats of music. So, eight beats of music are required to complete one full basic.