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It’s a music so alive that it pulls at your feet and hips, driving you to the dance floor.

But if you didn’t grow up with salsa, its complex rhythms can be intimidating. Partners spin around the dance floor, gyrating around each other. Hips and shoulders sway in time, and feet mark the beat of the music.

It looks effortless. Spontaneous.

Impossible, right? But this American learned how to salsa, and you can, too. All it takes is a patient teacher, time spent listening to the music to find the beat, practice — and the willingness to laugh at yourself when your feet get tangled.

Just wait. One day you’ll find that you don’t have to count the beat anymore. The music will move you.

The history

Salsa came from Cuba, evolving from older dance styles including rumba, son and guaguancó, says Héctor Vázquez, who learned to dance salsa in his native Puerto Rico and teaches in Naples at Etudes de Ballet. Musicians mixed explosive and syncopated rhythms from African music with Spanish melodies, styles and rhythms.

From Cuba, salsa traveled to other Central and Latin American counties, as well to the United States. The dance and the music evolved differently in each region, and like regional dialects, how someone dances can often be a clue to where they’re from. Everybody has an opinion about which dance style is best, but the basic rhythm is always there.

It’s called salsa, Vázquez says, because it is "something spicy and hot."

The rhythm

Salsa’s infectious rhythm comes from a technique of layering simultaneous contrasting rhythms (called polyrhythms) that are used in African music. But if you just want to dance, forget about them. Really, you only need to know how to count to eight.

Beneath the complicated beats, there is a simple count.

That’s the beat you need to hear to dance salsa.

The basic step

Salsa is usually written with four beats per musical measure, and dancers use two measures (eight beats) to complete the basic step: one partner stepping forwards and the other stepping backwards. The count is one to eight. For the basic step, the partners face each other. The man, who leads, holds the woman’s right hand with his left hand. He places his right hand on the small of her back, and she puts her left hand on his shoulder.

Turn up the heat

Here are a handful of local bars and restaurants that offer Latin dancing.

Friday

9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., BICE Ristorante, 300 Fifth Ave. S., Naples, call for price, 262-4044

The room in the back of this Italian restaurant is smaller and more intimate than the larger club venues. Usually, by 11 p.m., the dance floor is filled with couples dancing to D.J. Z-Bop’s salsa, merengue, bachata and other popular music. And, if you want to work on your steps, teachers from Héctor Vázquez’s Naples dance school teach a free salsa lesson from 8 to 9 p.m.

10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Vision Night Club, 11901 U.S. 41 N., Naples, 247-4909

This club bills its Latin night as "the most sophisticated" in Southwest Florida. It has music in two indoor spaces and one outdoor, featuring Latin salsa, merengue, bachata and hits of reggeton, as well as music in English including ’80s, ’90s and top 20 hits. VIP tables are available for bottle service — and be sure to leave your casual clothes at home.

Saturday

10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., Harvest Moon restaurant, 14700 U.S. 41 N, Naples, free, 566-9456

This modern Chinese restaurant pushes aside its tables and hosts a Latin night every Saturday. The atmosphere is casual, and D.J. Z-Bop and others spin Latin tunes until 2 a.m. There is a free lesson from Héctor Vázquez’s Naples dance school from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Cantina Laredo restaurant, 5200 Big Pine Way, Fort Myers, $10, (239) 415-4424

Cantina Laredo is a restaurant by day, but at night it transforms into an upscale dance club. On Saturday nights, they play Latin music including salsa, merengue, bachata and reggeton and the dance floor fills. And pull out your heels and button-up shirts: no sneakers, hats or jerseys allowed.

Sunday

6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Bayshore Coffee Company, 3570 Bayshore Drive, Naples, $4, 775-5676

Havy Rodriguez and his Latin Ensemble travel across Alligator Alley from Miami to bring their salsa and Latin jazz to Naples every Sunday. The venue is a laid-back coffee house where you can also order soups, sandwiches, desserts, beer and wine. They push back tables to create space for dancing, and you can take a seat indoors or outdoors.