Ever since the 1930s, the salsa has quickly gone from becoming the meeting point between Spanish and African culture to a worldwide phenomenon, starting in Cuba and traveling with rhythmic movements and upbeat melodies to the United States.As of last Monday, Point Park University played host to this universally-known style, bringing the salsa to the second floor of the Student and Convocation Center.”The Student Center offers a variety of programmed classes that sometimes goes [outside the box] of traditional classes. Point Park, being a renowned university for dance, it makes sense to offer students salsa as a class,” said Sam Kosanovich , director of the Student Center, last Tuesday.Marlon Silva, the course’s instructor, has been dancing professionally for many years. He came to Point Park College in 1992, studying accounting and learning how to improve his English skills. He quickly became involved with the dancing scene, following a local band around the Pittsburgh region.”I came from a dancing family, but the only one to take it professionally was me,” Silva said.Through his professional dancing classes and martial arts training, Silva knew how to feel the rhythm of the music. He decided to create his own technique to teach his students to dance without counting. “His technique breaks down all salsa moves and combos into building blocks, which are then assembled into more complicated moves that can be adapted to any music or club atmosphere,” Kosanovich said.Silva took his new version of teaching all over Pittsburgh. Soon his business boomed, and he was teaching everywhere from night clubs to private lessons in Shadyside. Silva also made a series of five salsa dancing tutorials labeled “Let’s Dance Salsa,” which expanded business even more.Before teaching at Point Park, Silva taught at venues such as the Dance Alloy Theater, the August Wilson Center Dance Academy and South Aiken Bar and Grill.”The Conservatory contacted me years ago, and my boss asked me if I wanted to teach kids, students. And I said: let’s do it,” Silva said.Silva is looking forward to teaching students, because they keep him the most updated and give him the most feedback. He loves everything the younger generation has to teach and how much each group can learn from the other.”Each course is different, and each class has a different energy,” Silva said.He hoped that the younger classes would bring that energy up to a new level he does not receive with his other lessons. To him, teaching is like being on the stage. Whether the class at Point Park has two students or 30, Silva says he will always have fun. “I love what I do here,” Silva said. “Working with kids, dance is like a universal language.”In the first class, students learned some of the basic steps such as the mambo, basic salsa, side-to-side, and how to follow and lead their partner. Feedback from the students was positive.”He was seriously the funniest guy, and I think he is a very good instructor and knows what he is talking about,” McKayla Hoenshell said, a freshman sport, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major who attended the last Monday’s evening class.The students enjoyed listening to Silva’s humorous, yet very insightful look into the world of Salsa.”The only thing I would’ve liked to change about the class is to have the room packed with people,” Samantha Moyer said, a sophomore SAEM major who also attended the Monday evening class.Classes began Sept. 26 in the second floor of the Student Center and will go until Dec. 5. There will be two groups, one class taking place from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. and the other going from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. All classes are free to all Point Park students.