World Salsa Championships
World Salsa Championships are major international salsa dancing competitions. There are several competitions around the world that claim to be "World Championships" of salsa.
WSF World Salsa Championships
The WSF World Salsa Championships was organized by Isaac and Laura Altman, who formed the World Salsa Federation in 2001. The competition was held every year in Miami, with the first competition held in 2002. The competition featured 13 different divisions, including solo, couple, and team competitions, and there were separate age divisions for adults, youths, and juniors.The WSF was recognized by the Amateur Athletic Union, the largest amateur sporting organization in the U.S., as a governing body for salsa dancing and competition in the US. Isaac and Laura were successful in bringing Salsa and DanceSport as official sports to the AAU Junior Olympic Games in 2002, and Isaac became its National Director.
World Salsa Open
The World Salsa Open is an international salsa competition held every year at the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress. The first competition was held in 2002, and the competition draws a large attendance of competitors from South America.World Salsa Championships
The World Salsa Championships was created in 2005 by Salsa promoter Albert Torres and a group of other promoters called the "Salsa Seven", and broadcast live on ESPN. Competitions were held in four categories: "On 1", "On 2", "Cabaret" and "Groups", such as "Rueda de Casino", a variation on Cuban style.The 2008 competition was cancelled due to the 2008 financial crisis, and the last World Salsa Championships were held in 2009, and the competition ceased operations due to financial troubles and a falling out among the event organizers. However, the World Salsa Championships was relaunched under new ownership in 2016 from December 9–10 in Atlanta, Georgia. As in previous years, the event was broadcast on the ESPN network. The event was planned to take place every four years following the Olympic format, but the 2020 competition was cancelled due to the pandemic, and the competition hasn't been held since.