Monthly Archive for December, 2005

Practice, Practice, Practice - at home and at the club!

I am here to help you get good at salsa, so you can enjoy it as much as I do. But like they say, I can only show you the door - you must walk through it. The road to salsa heaven, is not an overnight process — neither is investing for retirement. But the sooner you start, the sooner you can start reaping the rewards.

So there is no class this Friday. That doesn’t mean you should not practice. Go to the web, find more salsa videos — find your favorite style. And again, practice, practice, practice!. If you can, go to a salsa event to practice. If not, Dorothy and Toto from Kansas suggest that “There is no place like home.”

I can’t tell you how important this is. I have been teaching salsa for over 5 years now, and I can tell you, what will makes a person good at salsa really fast and keeps you mediocre is the amount of dedication you put into salsa. If you practice (even if its just the basic step, you should still do it). I know that just doing the basic step is boring — so try some new stuff out, try changing your footwork. Try going forward with the right, and back with the left. Try doing a basic step, followed by double taps. There are an infinite things you can do with your feet, and the more you do it on beat, the much MUCH better and faster you’ll get good at it.

Trust me, I still dedicate every day to listening to at least one song and playing around with my basic step. I can be folding clothes, reading a magazine, or almost anything else. (Of course, salsa at your own risk; don’t salsa while sharpening knives). Trying to come up with new footwork patterns. This means, that if I still do it, so should you! Just as one of my favorite instructors “Juan C.” (San Diego, MajestyInMotion) told me: “If you tell yourself you’ll practice later, you’ll only get good later…”