Hot Soulsa : As Latin and Afro-Caribbean rhythms merge in local nightclubs, revelers of all races get to dancing.

Git along little dogie. Hang up those shiny spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle. Stow the chaps. Ditto with the tin badge, pardner.

While they shed a tear in their beer for “Achy Breaky Heart,” country enthusiasts will have to two-step out of the way to make room for a new fashion force, one we are calling “soulsa.”

In mega-ethnic Southern California, nightclubs are melting pots of culture.

Within them, art, music and language meet, mingle and mutate into something that has so far escaped the vernacular.

Soulsa is the heart, the spirit, the essence of Latin America. Soulsa is more than music or dance. It’s also the clothes, the clubs, the commerce, as well as videos and compact discs by such rising stars as Los Bukis and L.A. Tipica.

Anything goes in soulsa. It speaks Spanish, French and Portuguese and represents 30 countries, from rural Guyana to cosmopolitan Argentina. Here, the Mexican corrida combines with a Colombian cumbia. Tango tangles with mambo. Haiti’s merengue meets Panama’s pollero. Derivative of Afro-Caribbean salsa--a form more than a century old--soulsa is evolution in motion.

Last year’s movie “The Mambo Kings” helped launch the trend. The film, based on Oscar Hijuelos’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,” didn’t do well at the box office. It did, however, pick up Oscar nominations and introduce audiences to the addictive pleasures of Cuban percussion.

This year brings us Al Pacino’s sizzling Argentine tango in the Oscar-nominated “Scent of a Woman” as well as the passionate Spanish dance sequence in the new film “Strictly Ballroom.”

Soulsa also seems to be burning up the charts, along with local dance floors. For the first time in Los Angeles history, a Spanish-music radio station is ranked No. 1. KLAX-FM mowed down competitors in the most recent Arbitron race. Three months earlier, it was No. 21. Analysts attribute the rise to smart programming and young, English-speaking Latinos returning to their roots.

Soulsa didn’t burst upon the club scene so much as insinuate itself. Civil wars and lack of opportunity inspired Latinos south of the Mexican border to try their luck at the American dream. Along with hope for a better future, emigres brought distinct cultures to Southern California. From Miami, New York and Philadelphia came Americans of Afro-Caribbean descent, who opted for the promise of L.A.

Being cousins, the cultures were naturally curious about each other.

To make his music more accessible (and he has Grammys to prove the point), Ruben Blades blends Anglo and Latino lyrics and sounds. A political activist, actor, recording artist and Harvard-educated attorney, the Panamanian singer frequently reminds fans that “Latin American countries are like different rooms in the same house.”

For locals, especially those of Latin heritage, soulsa is a sensation. Weaned on country Mexican music, young Latinos are responding to its contemporary energy and mostly Spanish lyrics.

Capitalizing on the trend are major record companies--EMI, Warner- Elektra-Asylum, Sony--which have expanded traditional Latin labels specializing in Tex-Mex and mariachi to include modern reggaespanol and Latin American rock. Meanwhile, record sales generated by such Latin jazz and salsa icons as Tito Puente and Celia Cruz have given new artists a leg up with the majors.

Latin influences are showing up in the least likely places, from albums by Australian rockers INXS to Top 10 hits by the rap group Color Me Badd.

California has the largest Latino population in the United States; 35% of the inhabitants of the Los Angeles area fit into the category. More than 172,000 Latinos live in Ventura County, roughly a quarter of the population.

Soulsa lovers come from all over the ethnic map, however. “Ai-ai, I love this music!” said Venturan Catalina Schoenherr, who is of German ancestry. “It’s the rhythm, the music, the culture. I love to dance. Me encanto. “

Between songs, Schoenherr explained that six months ago she was just your all-American blond, blue-eyed registered nurse. Three months of lessons transformed her into a soulsa priestess. On the dance floor, very few, Latin or not, can outmaneuver this convert.

“This music gives me energy,” she said. “It’s in my spirit. I can feel it. It makes me happy. Music is like an inside view of culture. It gives me a different perspective.”

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The word soulsa doesn’t express a lot about the diversity contained therein. Experts say it is distinctly different from salsa, a catch phrase for dance and music of Afro-Caribbean origin. Salsa is just a small slice of the soulsa pie.

“On Wednesdays, we see a big Latino cultural crossover because we play DJ salsa music,” said Joann Harmon, who manages Stinger’s, a Ventura nightclub.

Late last year, Stinger’s was the first Ventura club to go to an all-Latin format. On weekends, groups play Mexican music, though soulsa influences show up in the occasional Caribbean, rock, reggae and even Peruvian ocarina riff.

“When people think of Latin music around here, they usually think of mariachis. We have groups that are really hot. You can compare the kind of turnout they get to what Lion I’s draws,” said Harmon, referring to one of Ventura’s most popular reggae bands.

Given the constantly merging and emerging Latin cultures, there is a lot of confusion over what’s what. Musicians and dancers alike are hard-pressed to explain subtle differences between a corrida and a ranchera or a rumba and a salsa number.

The situation is more daunting when cultural marriages are interracial. Reggaespanol , for example, mixes Jamaican dancehall and English- speaking reggae with Spanish-language songs. Even country, some musicologists argue, copped its moves from Latin America. At any rate, a subdued Cuban rumba or Mexican ranchera can pinch-hit for C&W; swing with no one being the wiser.

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Ron Yeaman, 61, calls himself an ultraconservative, but you’d never know it by his dance moves. The Ventura resident is pure abandon when the music’s playing and he has a woman in his arms. A decorated soldier, retired concert violinist and graduate of New York’s Juilliard school, Yeaman can be found on Saturday nights tripping the light fandango at Stinger’s. Around and around he whirls with a succession of gorgeous partners.

“I’m a gentleman and I always will be. I’ve been dancing to this music on and off all my life,” said Yeaman, exploding the myth that musicians either won’t, or can’t, dance.

Everybody dances to soulsa, whether it’s at Stinger’s or Alexander’s, which showcases the form Friday and Sunday nights under the auspices of promoters Robert Ortiz and DJ Candyman. Usually, the entire crowd hits the dance floor before the show is over.

Puerto Rican by way of Philadelphia, Ortiz for many years sensed the demand for a variety of soulsa sounds. He was the impetus behind Stinger’s turning to a Latin format. When Ortiz wanted to experiment with a wider range of musical forms, he teamed up with Candyman and took the show to Alexander’s, in the Colony Harbortown Marina Resort at Ventura Harbor. The weekly soulsa night proved popular enough for management to add a second. In addition to Sunday nights, which alternates between live bands and recorded music, groups will be featured Friday nights in the ballroom.

With Stinger’s focusing predominantly on Mexican music, Alexander’s is the only game in town for live soulsa. Local groups such as the Estrada Brothers and Nuestro and Los Angeles’ Casazul and L.A. Tipica are hybrids of soulsa’s many influences. Typically, repertoires range from Spanish versions of rock songs like the Young Rascals’ “Good Lovin’ ” to Latin standards and contemporary hits of all descriptions.

Stinger’s pats down male customers on weekend nights to ensure everyone’s safety so single women are not afraid to come alone, manager Harmon said. A generation ago, a Latina arriving unaccompanied would have been unthinkable in conservative Latino culture. Even in her nightclub today, Harmon said, some young women come to Stinger’s with a chaperon.

Ortiz said a weapons search is unnecessary at Alexander’s. “There is a second generation of Latinos in this country who are college educated, middle class or well-to-do,” said Ortiz. “They want and deserve a place to hang out, spend money and hear music in a nice atmosphere.”

Central to soulsa’s success is dancing, and lessons are crucial to getting Anglos and others involved. Alexander’s offers free lessons Sunday nights and Stinger’s is presently searching for an instructor. For March 21, Ortiz just hired dancers from the “Mambo Kings” movie to stage a special demonstration and workshop at Alexander’s. Already, 40 Anglos from the Santa Barbara Swing Dance Club have signed up, Ortiz said.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 9 years old,” said Maribel Galarza of Oxnard, the petite Puerto Rican who teaches at Alexander’s. “I was brought up in New York City and we have a culture there that lends itself to different Latin dances and music. Candyman introduced me to Alexander’s when he needed an instructor to teach salsa instead of Mexican dances.

“We get all kinds, even Saudi Arabians. It’s easy. There are only three basic steps,” the self-described tropical dancer said as she watched former student Tony Ursic move to the music. “The latest dance is la punta. It’s from the Caribbean, and is like the merengue, only you move the sides of the hips.”

Galarza and Catalina Schoenherr are also involved in a new dance troupe called Fantasia Latina, founded by Adolfo Munoz. The Oxnard group has 21 members ranging in age from 16 to 25. Primarily of Mexican heritage, members dance soulsa nonetheless--the merengue, salsa, rumba, mambo, cha-cha-cha, conga and contemporary variations in demonstrations at Alexander’s and elsewhere.

Dance, Munoz said in Spanish, gives youngsters a sense of their culture and performance gives them pride and confidence. Munoz, whose company rehearses six days a week, receives no funding and no public support except from members, their families and soulsa fans.

One of his fans and supporters is Ortiz, who said that dance, music and art are as important to the Latino community as economics and jobs.

“We have to show the young generation that they can go to college, they can get an education, they can become doctors, lawyers, journalists and Supreme Court justices. If it is possible for a woman to run for President, it is possible for a Latino too,” he said.

“People have a tendency to think, ‘Well, it’s just music.’ This music is about uniting people and making them aware, making them aware that we are not an invisible people.”

SOULSA SPOTSWHERE THE BEAT GOES ON

A Latin dance lover’s guide to some of the county’s finest soulsa, salsa and Mexican music spots:

Ventura County clubs

Alexander’s, 1080 Schooner Drive, Harbortown Marina Resort, Ventura. 658-2000. At 7 p.m. Sunday the club is the only live soulsa game in town, but the club recently added live salsa music on Friday nights in the ballroom. Casazul plays tomorrow from 8 p.m.

La Cita Nightclub, 728 S. Oxnard Blvd., Oxnard. 487-4833. Traditional and classic blue-collar Mexican music most weekends.

Leonardo’s, 2615 Wagon Wheel Road, Oxnard. 983-3140. Live Mexican entertainment Thursday through Saturday nights, bands start at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Stinger’s, 2815 E. Main St., Ventura (entrance at the rear of the club on weekends). 653-8086. Salsa DJ on Wednesdays; Thursday through Sunday live ranchera, banda, cumbia and Mexican rock music, women get in for half-price before 9 p.m.

Lessons

Lessons are sponsored by the Ventura Parks and Recreation Department. The current class runs through March 22 at the Barranca Vista Center, 7000 Ralston St., Ventura. 644-6542. Diana Lehan of Van Nuys instructs students ages 8 and up in the fine points of tango, salsa, rumba and cha-cha. Cost is $36 and the popular eight-week class is scheduled throughout the year.

Free lessons by “tropical” dance instructor Maribel Galarza are offered at 7 p.m. Sundays during salsa night at Alexander’s. On March 21, William Ochoa and Myra Odell, feature dancers in “Mambo Kings,” will be teaching salsa and mambo moves from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Alexander’s is at 1050 Schooner Drive, Ventura.

Audio-visual aids

Musicland at Centerpoint Mall, Channel Islands Boulevard and Saviers Road, Oxnard. 486-7749. Check the salsa section for the latest recordings and music videos.

Music Plus, 1911 N. Oxnard Blvd., Oxnard. 988-1255. Also has a Latino music section and some music videos.

Salzer’s, 5801 Valentine Road, Ventura. 656-5801. Ventura’s largest video store limits its Latino music selections to those by prominent artists such as Gloria Estefan. But in its dance categorytucked between “Two-Step Dancin’ ” and “Christy Lane’s Line Dancing”--is a “How to Salsa” demonstration tape by Kenny Ortega.

Video Mundo, 2011 Statham Blvd., 487-3231. A wide selection of Mexican music videos, from rock to ranchera. Film clips of the ever-popular Los Bukis abound.