''Salsa'' is a 1988

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by

Boaz Davidson Boaz Davidson (, ; born 8 November 1943) is an Israeli film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and studied film in London at London Film School. Biography Davidson was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to ...

and starring Robby Rosa, Rodney Harvey, Angela Alvarado and

Miranda Garrison Miranda Garrison is an American actress, dancer, and choreographer, best known for her film choreography. Career For the 1987 film ''Dirty Dancing'', starring Patrick Swayze, Miranda Garrison assisted Kenny Ortega in choreography; she also acte ...

. The film, about a Puerto Rican dancer who decides to enter a salsa dancing contest, earned a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...

nomination for Rosa as Worst New Star.

Plot

In a nightly escape from his day job as a mechanic, Rico ( Robby Rosa) enters his true element: the wild exuberance of "La Luna" , a salsa club located in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

. Dreaming of making himself and Vicky (Angela Alvarado), his girlfriend the "King and Queen of Salsa", Rico pours all his energy into winning La Luna's Grand Salsa Competition. But when Luna (

), the club's gorgeous owner sets her sights on making Rico her dance partner, Rico must decide what drives him, his ambition or his heart.

Cast

''As themselves''

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 20% approval rating based on five reviews.

Soundtrack

# "Margarita" - H. Wilkins # "Chicos y chicas" - Mavis Vegas Davis # "Cali Pachanguero" - Grupo Niche # "Your Love" -

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking a ...

# "

Good Lovin' "Good Lovin" is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a #1 hit single for the Young Rascals in 1966. Original version The song was first recorded by Lemme B. Good (stage name of singer Limmie Snell) in March 1965 and writ ...

" -

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American director, producer, choreographer, and concert creator. He is best known for his work with Disney Channel, notably the '' High School Musical'' film trilogy, cult classics such as '' Newsi ...

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

, The Edwin Hawkins Singers # "Under My Skin" - Robby Rosa # "

Oye Como Va Oye is Spanish for "hey" or "listen". Oye or Oye! or OYE may refer to: Geography *Oye, Ekiti, a town and LGA in Ekiti State. *Oye-Plage, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Oyes, a commune in Marne, France People *Kenneth A. Oye, an American pol ...

" -

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

# " I Know" - Marisela Esqueda, The Edwin Hawkins Singers # "

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

" - Ben E. King # "Puerto Rico" -

Bobby Caldwell Robert Hunter Caldwell (August 15, 1951 – March 14, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz, and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell release ...

, Marisela Esqueda, Michael Sembello, H. Wilkins,

Mongo Santamaría Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga an ...

Charlie Palmieri Carlos Manuel "Charlie" Palmieri (November 21, 1927 – September 12, 1988) was an American bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as the "Giant of the Keyboards". Early years Palmieri's parents migrated to New York from P ...

, The Edwin Hawkins Singers

References

External links

* at MGM.com * * * 1988 films 1980s dance films 1980s musical drama films 1980s romantic musical films American dance films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films Films directed by Boaz Davidson Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Golan-Globus films Salsa 1988 drama films Films produced by Menahem Golan Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s English-language films Films with screenplays by Boaz Davidson 1980s American films English-language musical drama films English-language romantic musical films 1988 musical films {{romantic-musical-film-stub