Tips for Salser@s

The following recommendations come from personal experience and will hopefully make our (dancing) lives as beginners a bit easier.

1. Don’t look at your shoes

Staring at our shoes slows us down and makes us (look) clumsy on the dance floor. Looking our partner in the eyes (or on the back of their nose if eye contact feels too intimate) helps orient ourselves towards them and improves our coordination as a pair.

2. Use your mirror

If we feel insecure in our movements, we can practice them at home in front of a mirror. This gives us the opportunity to focus on the parts we want to improve individually without having to worry about other people watching.

3. There are various styles of salsa

Before we head to our first salsa party, it might be a good idea to take a look at the different styles of salsa. Some of these can be checked out here.

4. Go out there and practice

We might not feel ready yet, but all we need is the basic step. On the dance floor, we can always learn when dancing with more experienced partners or just by watching more advanced salser@s.

5. Leaders, adjust to your follower

Forcing our level upon a less experienced follower will probably be annoying and discouraging for them and may even keep them from dancing with us again. It’s better to try out a few moves to figure out their skills in the beginning and then stay on that level.

6. Followers, don’t try to lead

If we’re being lead by someone whose level is not as advanced as ours it doesn’t mean that we should take over the lead. This irritates our partner and takes away their chance to practice the skills they have acquired so far.

7. Consider buying dancing shoes

The numerous turn patterns in salsa might at some point be a strain on the knees. Also, some shoes-floor combinations can be very squeaky. So, if we want to make dancing a regular pastime, it might be a good idea to get some dancing shoes.

8. Embrace mistakes

If we are in the middle of a dance and mess up, let’s try and make the best out of it. Whether we get the chance to create a cool new move or whether we just move back to a basic step and have another go: seeing every misstep as a chance to improve will make dancing salsa way more relaxed and creative.

9. Not every person we dance with will be a match

Just as with people in general, not every dance partner will be a harmonic match. This should not make us question our skills or those of our dance partner; it’s just the way things are.

10. Timing

As salsa music can be quite complex, it can be hard to get the timing right, not just for beginners. If we struggle with this and need some advice, we can check out the entry on timing here.

In a Nutshell

Just as with every other activity, there are some things we can keep in mind to help us improve. But most importantly, we should enjoy ourselves. That’s the easiest and fastest way to learn.

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