I want to advocate self-awareness as a primary step to improving our dancing abilities. We are quick to criticize other people and it’s easy for us to judge visual tasks. However, we lack self-perception. It is hard for beginners to dance while looking at the mirror and it is strange to see ourselves on video. Too often we focus on expanding our vocabulary of moves or on improving our spinning technique when some of us don’t even have the timing down. Its like putting icing on a hot cake. So here are the issues I would like to discuss:
1) In what ways are people not self-aware?
2) How can they become self-aware?
I, for one, love the music and have focused on timing since it was so hard for me at first, especially on2. I initially tried to get lots of move down, so I could go out and just dance. Now I try to take each move and make it golden, smooth, fun, and flavorful. But lately, I have asked other people what I could do to improve. And seeing myself on video definitely puts things in perspective. It turns out that I lean forward (which is bad in so many ways, not least because my center of gravity must be all over the place) and I march the basic step. So I got a lot of work to do, but I am glad I became more aware of my primary flaws. In summary,
1) People dont know that they are off time, they are rough with moves, they take big steps or they’re upper body is super stiff.
2) People need to ask for feedback and they need to video-tape themselves!
Any opinions from you beginners and pros out there?
I totally understand and agree with self-awareness. Funny how it is hard to watch ourselves in the mirror or on video but it’s the one thing that is so helpful for improvement. I’m working on my own salsa self-awareness. Sometimes when I concentrate on how to follow a move I often forget about the other details. Like where my foot is pointing or what my hands are doing or what my posture looks like. Now that I’m a little more comfortable with basic moves I’m trying to be more mindful of my body while I dance. What a challenge! What’s your plan of attack for the leaning forward thing?
thanks for the advice patrick. i will try to record myself so i can see all the things i’m doing wrong
Well said, Patrick. You make some excellent points. I think we all love it when we dance with someone who is smooth and subtle, playful and smiling, energetic and light - and this is completely dissociated from how many moves they know or the complexity of those moves. There is so much more to dancing than “the patterns.” We can all become better dancers if we just take the time to hone the fundamentals.
ive had that problem in the beginning too but i started
its summer now so i will work on my styling. i find that its really not about how many combos u can do cos its no use if a girl cant follow them like trueblue meant 
to watch my self how i move.however its hard to find someone who accepts to being filmed and put on internet. but mayby i can show u of me dancing alone
instead play with her show off make her smile. etc. its fun to do and people will tell ur a better dancer thansomone who knows many combos but no styling
its really up to you how u develop urself. some people are just in denial stage
If anyone can make the girls smile, it’s Patrick.
Aw, TrueBlue, now thats a compliment
Returning to the main point, I am trying to tell people that they might be doing something they don’t know they are doing. Its true some guys do combos at the expense of timing, comfort, and fun, and its true that some girls do styling at the expense of the same things. But my point is that, once in a while, we need to think out of the box and become observers of ourselves if we want to improve. For example, I lean forward and march my step. Some pros look down when they do they’re shines. Some salseros wiggle their hands. Some only wiggle one hand. Some have unbelievably stiff upper bodies. Some are off time. We need to be aware of our own faults before we can fix them (which incidentally, Beverly, is my first step towards fixing my lean forward, but maybe there are other things I will end up doing except for just being conscious of it).
Self awareness takes time for most of us to develop. I think one of the major advantages of the pros is they are taped often, they see themselves, and they make corrections without others pointing things out to them.
Instructors/students in dance studios are also in front of mirrors regularly and that also makes a huge difference. It’s not always fun in the process, but we all need to see ourselves so we can fine-tune our moves.
Alternately, having a coach or instructor is another option to increase your awareness.
A tricky subject. Those who desire to become better and ask for critque are typically already self-aware that they need/want to improve. Those who are not aware, may never ask, and will remain in this state of mind. So for those who are not self-aware, how do they attain self-awareness? It seems rude to simply approach someone and say that her spins are not good, or that his lead is not clear.
I think its a good suggestion that people should try to get video taped dancing. Doing that is a real eye-opener and leads to improvement. In fact, I think this is one of the best ideas to improving one’s dance ability.
The other thing I’ve experienced is that drawing knowledge from other dance forms has helped me. I’ve done ballroom (rhythm & smooth), all forms of swing, argentine tango, hip hop, jazz, and few vintage dances that no one has probably heard of or cares about. In having done this, I’ve been able to pull knowledge about balance, posture, body position, musicality, lead/follow, etc. into correcting bad things I see myself do on video. If you can learn to break down movement into the smallest details, such as bending the knees when turning or stepping on the ball of the foot before placing down the heel, it can make a huge difference.
And of course practice what you’ve learned. Practice a lot until you no longer need to consciously think about it.
Dano, great comment! I agree self-awareness is a tricky subject, which is why its good to talk about self-awareness itself. If people are more aware (by reading posts and other ways) they need to become self-aware, that should itself make a difference, which is why I wrote the article
But what really grabbed by attention is your suggestion that other dance forms help you with salsa. I really think it would be great if you could write an article about how the dances you have experienced help you with salsa. No doubt other dances help with your musicality, bring something special to your shines, and improve your technique. But if you could go into detail, I would really like to know.
Once someone takes a series of jazz, ballet, tap or other traditional classes they see that those people are always in front of mirrors, and they do tons of exercises where you move slowly to work on different aspects of your control. Tons of salsa is taught in a club, where mirrors don’t make sense, but then I can’t see what I look like.
Any teaching at a traditional dance studio provides mirrors. Taping yourself (having someone run your camera while you practice/dance) will provide a similar perspective.
I totally agree that the people who need this advise the most are the ones least likely to read a board like this… Unless their friends clue them in and get them interested, they remain ignorant.
But of course, it has to be more like “hey… Check out this cool info source for salsa.” rather than “man… do you need to get a clue… go to this site.”
you guys are awesome !!!
OMG, I’ve been struggling with this issue up and down… it seems to be a constant reappearing theme in my friends’ conversations. But it’s true, a lot of people aren’t aware of the little things they need work on. It’s not always that they can’t fix it, its just that they don’t know that there’s anything to fix. My constant nuisance, is my random t-rex arm when I don’t exactly know what to do with it, lol. I think it makes me look unassured of my dancing or something.
But Daniel does make good pts about using other dances to help ur salsa. And it is QUITE rude to just tell someone to their face what they’re doing wrong w/o them asking for your advice. And you really dont know if they’ll appreciate that advice or not, so I’d just play it safe.
Even when ppl tape themselves, it still leaves out the lead/follow factor though, which isn’t always apparent in videos. I’m sure you’ve all heard “omg, that was such a good dance you guys did!” but you’re walking away like, “oh God, are they SERIOUS?!” U can play it off a lot! But I’m sure most of the opposite sex talks about your lead/follow, so ppl know.
And for me, when I watch other dancers, I do critique them for ( )s/(-)s, and usually I take both into consideration. Because I’ll use the (-)s to either be more conscious of what I’m doing, or avoid doing it, and I will interpret the ( )s and use them as my own, or inspire something I will use.
Just my thoughts on this because i was thinking before how can i become more self-aware when im dancing.
this came up because ( i’ll relate to it musically because of personal experience :)… i played alto sax for three years, and the saying ignorance is bliss perfectly described the level i was at. I thought i was ok, but it wasnt until my fourth year that my instructor told me everything that i was doing wrong.
So when i played, i had to listen to more what was coming out of my instrument. I had to consciously think about balance, making sure i did this and that while i played which was about a million things no lie.
I never knew ANYTHING about this until he told me; so it really helps if someone who really knows what they’re doing is helping you but i do agree with Flare, i would be offended if someone just pointed it out, but i would have to take the initiative to ask for help.
And another thing i absolutely agree with Flare is when some people say you did great but you were like “that was horrible! i did this and this wrong. etc.” ( again personal music experience) But i believe that that separates one true dancer from the rest.
Another great tip with self-awareness from my teacher “If you’re not aware of what your doing, you’re probably doing it wrong”
i took a lot of time digesting what he said.
i need to find me some mirrors and a camera;D
thank u for ur patience:)
i like to offer my partners small bits advice without them asking me. it has to be something that im quite sure would help us look/move better, and i offer the advice nicely, saying something like “i think it would really help us out if…”. as we keep on dancing i offer encouragement regardless of whether we’ve been successful or not. if we haven’t you can usually laugh it off.
i’m no expert dancer, so i would love it if my partners did the same. personally, i would be more bothered by a partner who keeps asking and asking, “what am i doing wrong?”, etc. than by a partner who offered some quick advice to help me enjoy the dance more.
can anyone think of a polite way of offering advice? i was reall ysurprised you all said you’d be offended :-/
IMHO, the best way of offering advice is by postive encouragement. If they do something right (and say they normally don’t) then encourage it by appreciation. I agree with Flare and dlencia - criticism can offend the person its directed to. It often depends on the person, but most people that I know are the same. Human beings just dont like being corrected. Maybe if you are dancing with a jerky partner, and there is just one smooth spot, appreciate it out loud. If your partner is on time, appreciate it out loud. Hey, this could work!
The trouble with criticism on the dance floor is that we don’t know if the person giving it is qualified. If I’m dancing with someone who I know is one of the advanced dancers, and she suggests moving my hand differently during a turn, I’ll try to follow her advice. But I’m certainly not one of the advanced leads, so I wouldn’t try to give anyone advice unless she asked for it (or unless she was a new dancer who was clearly having trouble with the basics).
Snowdancer, very wise =P The thing is, it’s even dependable on the dancers’ preference as well, not just level. (i.e. You can be an advanced dancer, and prefer either a light or hard lead). And there’s nothing wrong with that, just preference.