Imagine yourself in that salsa club for the first time: the music is loud, upbeat and with great energy and everyone is dressed in a fashionable way. As you walk in, you approach the dance floor. Here is when you are truly introduced to the world of salsa. You stare at the dancers as you see dancing, executing all these amazing turns; how they dance with passion, the sexiness, and then again, the turns! The never-ending, fun turn!!
Sound like your experience? It was definitely mine, so right away I knew I had to learn how to dance.
Once I started dancing, the better I saw myself dancing, the more I noticed that some girls did not enjoy dancing with me or they’d just flat out say no every time I asked them to dance. Why? After all I was doing all the turns and dips, the sexy patterns, the fun stuff - you know, the works.
It was after some time that I truly learned what makes a guy a great dancer:
“ When you dance salsa, you don’t make the girl do the turns, you guide her”.
This observation alone is very general, but it opens the door to help you understand dancing in a new way. Leading is the key to being a great dancer. Let’s dive in to see how you can improve the way you play your role on the dance floor as a leader.
Most articles, forums, and videos emphasize these two ways to learn: in class and at the club. Yet there is so much more that you can do on your own to become a better dancer- no floor or partner necessary. Here are 5 tips to help you learn Salsa on your own, which will help you improve at a MUCH faster rate.
1. MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE MIRROR- Practice body rolls against a wall or mirror, focusing on ‘peeling yourself off of the wall’. For a downward roll, start with your head and follow with your chest, stomach, hips, and knees. For an upward roll, come back up with your knees, hips, stomach, chest and finally head. This will give you the muscle memory, and muscles in general, to do great body rolls while dancing.
Since we have had several requests lately for instruction on dips, I though I would provide some female perspective. I asked some fellow salseras, and this is what I found.
Our favorite kind of dip is a small one at the end of a song. By small, I mean the guys bring us into dipping position and we lean back slightly, but it looks more like a perpendicular hug, as seen in the picture to the left. This is an elegant ending to a nice dance.
One of my favorite things to see when I’m out social dancing or watching a performance is a woman who can lead or a guy who can follow. I think there’s a bit of pride, maybe a bit of machismo (sorry guys) and a bit of apprehension (sorry girls) when it comes to changing the traditional lead and follow roles and I think that’s really a shame. For one thing, learning to follow if you’re a lead or vice versa is so helpful improving your skills. You get insights into the job of your usual partners that you just can’t get any other way. For another, I love to see salsa that’s off the beaten path - whether it’s from fusion with another dance (Swing Guys, anyone?), themed performances, or doing a little lead/follow switcheroo.
Take a look at the next few videos. In the first Jorjet leads Jennifer Stein, in the second, David Stein leads Jayson Molina (sorry this one is rather dark), and in the third, two brothers perform a tango routine (note the repeated change of lead/follow - so subtle and so awesome).
In all of these examples, the lead and follow are the same gender, but that certainly need not be the case. I dance with a rueda group and we’ve got girls who lead and a few guys who follow and we like to mix it up. We even have a move called “ladron” (the thief) so that we can change up who leads mid-song. This keeps things interesting and audiences love it. The more options you have, the better, right?
So the next time your out at the club, ask a friend to indulge you in a salsa experiment and see how it feels to dance the way the other half does. If nothing else, you’ll get a good chuckle and who knows, you might learn something, too.
Well, Rumnet found this ’salsa’ dancing video on Youtube. Other than non-salsa music in the background, this is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Now, I’m not sure if the lady was the man’s wife - but as you can see, he didn’t even apologize to her… to tell you the truth, I’m just speechless.
Sound like your experience? It was definitely mine, so right away I knew I had to learn how to dance.