Extra! Extra!
Teaching salsa classes in St. Louis is one of my favorite things to do, and it is so cool when it lands me press coverage 
Here is a nice article from The Journal, Webster University’s newspaper, about a class I taught there.
LASO introduces salsa dance lessons to students
By: VERONICA SZOSTALO
Issue date: 11/2/10 Section: Lifestyle
Senior animation major Eric Striler and senior international relations major Sabrina Reveron salsa the night away in the WVA Thursday, Oct. 28. The event was sponsored by the Latin American Student Organization (LASO).
Media Credit: BRITTENY HENRY
Students swayed their hips to the beat of loud, lively, Latin-style music at the Webster Village Apartments Clubhouse on Thursday, Oct. 28 laughing as they learned salsa dancing together at Latin-American Student Organization’s first lesson.
“We were thinking that it’s something everyone would like to see,” said Sabrina Reveron, a senior international relations major and president of LASO.
Reveron, who is from Venezuela, said that dancing plays a huge role in Latin culture. “For us, dancing is a form of expression more than anything else,” Reveron said. “In Venezuela, the very first thing they teach you is how to dance. Little girls don’t know how to say ‘mom’ but they know how to move their butts!”
Professional dancer Lauren Wilmore, 26, led the lesson. First, she talked students through the basic moves, demonstrating each step while students followed along.
Next, students divided themselves into two groups – leaders and followers – and then paired up as Wilmore taught them how to dance with a partner. As she showed the students what to do and what not to do, Wilmore used humorous examples to help them understand the importance of style in salsa dancing.
Finally, it was time for the students to show off their moves to music. Everyone arranged themselves in a large circle, facing their partners. Wilmore occasionally counted out steps to the beat of the music to aid the dancers. Every few minutes, she shouted for students to switch partners. Kevin Chau, a freshman biology major, said he came to learn how to salsa dance after having been exposed to it in his high school Spanish class. He said that he enjoyed the lesson.
“I thought it was good,” Chau said. “It was what I was looking for.”
Chau said he thought Wilmore was a good instructor.
“She was comical and helpful,” Chau said. “She balanced out learning with comedy.”
Andrea Jones, a junior international relations major, said she enjoyed dancing with a partner.
“I’ve always been into partner dancing, but with ballet I never got to,” Lopez said. “It’s a lot more fun to dance with somebody.” Lopez said, for her, the hardest part of the lesson was learning where to put her feet. She also said that she liked Wilmore’s instructing.
“She was enthusiastic about dancing, which was really good,” Lopez said. “You could tell she really loves it.”
Wilmore said she had a lot of fun teaching the lesson and thought it went well.
“I saw a lot of smiles and heard a lot of laughter,” Wilmore said. “That’s really the best part, to see everyone having fun.”
Wilmore, who has been a professional dancer for eight years, works part time as the director of St. Louis Dancing classrooms, a dance company that teaches ballroom dancing to fifth-graders. She also has her own company, which teaches salsa dancing to adults.
Wilmore said she loves exposing people to Latin dance.
“It’s a great way for people to try dancing and connect with a different culture, and with music, also with people,” Wilmore said. “So more Webster students need to do salsa!” Reveron said she was pleased with student turnout at the event, and she is looking forward to the next lesson. LASO will hold more salsa lessons this semester.
Reveron also said that no prior dance experience is necessary to attend one of their lessons.
“I really hope that people know that you don’t have to know how to dance,” Reveron said. “That’s why we’re doing this, to get people started.”
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Shoes!
I found this post by Shaka Brown on YouTube accidentally! Talks about which shoes to wear for salsa. Shaka, watch out, I might do a video response that talks to the ladies
Check it out!
What a Girl Wants — and what LEADERS should do (1 of 2)
WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD LEADERS GONE? Or more apropos, where do they come from in the first place?
NOTE: I want to first and foremost thank St. Louis salsera Rochelle Calhoun for suggesting this as a topic for a blog posting. GREAT idea!
Recently, I was in Chicago visiting with my boyfriend’s family. Addict that I am, you better believe I found a way for us to sneak away from the family fun for a little salsa sass on our second night here. We went to a restaurant called Zocalo–super nice venue. Nice size floor. It was WAY too sticky for my taste but at least it was wood, clean, and clear of tables and other obstructions. There were maybe 40 people there which was enough to make the place look like it was poppin.
As a more experienced follower the first thing I did (after I put on my shoes and precisely calculated the coefficient-of-stickyness of the floor) was to look around and check out the dancers. On first glance I was not impressed. In fact, disappointed would be the best description. Oh well, I settled in to the fact that I would spend the night dancing right turns and cross body leads on the wrong stinkin beat. Sigh.
After a couple of sweet bachata’s and a fun salsa to “Lluvia” with Nsangou, I danced with a huge guy in his 50s who was wearing a black shirt that showed way too much chest. His hair was slick and fake black, and he unashamedly checked me out throughout our 3-minute dance together. Yuk. Ok, so now I thought, it will be basics and nasties–ladies can you feel me? Ever been subjected to that kind of night? Sometimes the best thing to do is just go home before you actually get MAD…
And then, by some miracle, out of nowhere came a really nice leader. He was a good deal shorter than I but we made it work, it was great fun, and I could tell he was feelin it. Thank GOD! Two seconds ago I was ready to peace out. Now, I had to stay a bit and see if there were others hiding like this guy. And sure enough, there WERE. I basically didn’t get to sit one out for the next hour. The moves weren’t WAY complicated, but tough enough to keep my imagination revving and roomy enough to let me play with the music (which was a nice mix ranging from pop to jazz). FUN! FUN! So, why weren’t those guys on the dance floor when I came in?
Well, it seems for this particular night there were actually MORE good leads than there were good follows. I know, seems unbelievable, huh? Believe it honey. And I was the recipient of this wonderful blessing from above, YESSSSS! As I thought about it more I wondered–how can we make this leader-heavy heaven a reality in St. Louis? If you notice, our community seems to be dominated by the same few good male dancers, while many many many more and different lady dancers work hard and mature to become quite nice movers and shakers. As a result, you can likely think of the top 20 followers in St. Louis. For the leaders, you might struggle to count beyond 15. No, maybe 10. Yikes!
Ok, my particular standards might be pretty tough (staying on the beat, sensitivity to partner and environment, clear lead that isn’t too forceful, decent musicality, a basic shine or two–is that too much to ask?) but still, it seems in a city of our size we should have enough good leads that a night isn’t ruined if 5 or so of them decide not to show up. There are at least 5 instructors teaching salsa in St. Louis. Over the course of a year, if each of us managed to jump start only TWO new leaders, that would mean TEN new guys to dance with. WOW. Wouldn’t that be just super?
Sounds easy, but it isn’t. I can personally say that between classes taught with Jeannie Kennedy at Flavor and my classes at COCA, we manage to get at LEAST two guys per year on the track towards salsa greatness. But what happens to them? Well, they go out into the wild world of SOCIAL dance and get eaten alive–BY FOLLOWERS! That’s right, ladies, we are in part to blame. We can spot a beginner a mile away and we avoid them (sometimes subtly, sometimes not), grimace while dancing with them, walk off the floor on them, say rude things to them. WOW, ladies, we’re not making it easier. If the guys were doing this stuff, we would all be talking about what jerkwads they were. But instead many of the advanced leaders have been very proactive about dancing with new followers giving them exposure to following technique and moves that will help them grow as dancers. Ok, they often do this because they think these girls are cute but IT LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE GETTING THEIR WISH! A community full of hottie followers and very few leaders–so they can each take their pick. Meanwhile, we cross our arms in a huff wondering why there aren’t more good leads to dance with and getting annoyed that the few good leaders we do have seem do dote constantly on the next PYT that is also at the moment an incredibly mediocre dancer.
But my purpose in writing this blog posting is not (only) to admonish the followers. It is also to advise and encourage the new leaders! To do this, I took a poll of some of the great followers in St. Louis, and boy where they honest! I’ll take you question by question and hopefully demystify for you why we followers behave the way we do, and how you as a beginner can adapt your approach and be a huge success on the dance floor!
First as a note to new leaders–I once heard that it takes three years to develop a good leader (and one year to develop a good follower). So, if after a few sessions of classes you find you’re still not able to steal the show at the club and ladies aren’t stumbling over each other to try and dance with you, don’t worry! Keep working at it diligently and you’ll get there one day!
Now, on to the data you REALLY wanted to see!
Methodology: Using SurveyMonkey, I asked St. Louis followers ten questions trying to gain some insight into what they do and why. All of the questions were multiple choice and presented in a random order for each respondent so as not to influence their answers. Followers were reassured that responses would be 100% confidential so that they could be completely honest.
1. At the end of a night of dancing, you go home happiest if (choose the most important of the factors below): 
a. you had an adequate number of dances with leaders you consider to be “good” (76.2%)
b. the dj played slammin’ (excellent) music of all types (14.3%)
c. you got to spend some great quality time with your salsa friends (9.5%)
d. there was a *really* good drink special at the bar (0%)
e. you met a fine looking Dominican man you had never seen at Viva before (0%)
Analysis: Well, it is pretty clear–76.2% of followers put the highest priority on having good dances with good leaders. And by good, you can assume they mean at least intermediate or advanced in level. Don’t get me wrong, a beginner can have a good lead, too! But followers like some physical challenge (ie coolish moves). So until you can execute at least a few intermediate moves successfully pretty much all the time, count yourself out of this category.
Just as a note to the DJs and clubs out there–notice that 14.3% value good music. Now, as a music snob, I do like Marc Anthony but kind of the same way I like Britney Spears. It’s pop–not exactly the most musically rich. But I won’t go on that rampage today. The point is, people ARE listening to the music you play and deciding whether it is good or not. Does it randomly skip or stop before the song ends consistently? We notice and it annoys us and reflects upon your DJing skills. Do you play only one style or type of music? We notice that too, and we get bored. I personally stay away when it is a DJ who, in my experience, tends to play a HUGE percentage of breakneck speed songs, lots of 12-minute long cumbias, or tons of merengue. Also, ladies value hanging out with salsa friends. Hard to do when the music is loud enough to puncture an ear drum. It can be loud enough for hype with out causing premature hearing loss–trust me!
Interestingly, great drink specials and meeting hotties didn’t rank. AT ALL! Sorry, beefcakes–we don’t go out hoping to find a man to take home–we just want to DANCE! Ok, next question.
2. On the AVERAGE night, how many times do you ask someone to dance? 
a. Never (4.8%)
b. 1-3 times (66.7%)
c. 4-8 times (28.6%)
d. 9 times or more (0%)
Analysis: This one actually surprised me. I didn’t realize that STL followers were so proactive about asking others to dance, and I’m kind of really proud! It seems that 95.3% of STL followers ask someone to dance 1-8 times per evening! But WHO are they asking? The next question sheds some light:
3. On the AVERAGE night, how many times to you *knowingly* ask a beginner leader to dance
a. Never (76.2 %)
b. 1-3 times (23.8%)
c. 4-8 times
d. 9 times or more
Analysis: Wow. This is staggering! 76.2% of advanced followers say they NEVER intentionally ask beginning to leaders to dance! We need to take note of this–both leaders AND followers. Leaders, if there is one thing you should take away from this piece of information it is DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY! If you feel like the advanced ladies are stand-offish or unaccessible to you, it is probably because they are. But they’re avoiding all beginners, not just you! Why? You might think this just adds to your impression of advanced followers– that they’re elitist jerks.
Comparison Chart--shows beginning leads are rarely asked to dance by advanced followers
At the same time, followers, MAN this is PATHETIC! If you consider that on a good night 15 of us might be out, and only 23% ask a beginner to dance–sheesh, that is only 2 or 3 of them! No wonder we are HURTING for leaders.
LEADERS–heads up! The next two questions are VERY important pertaining to your strategy in choosing WHO to invite to dance and WHEN. We’ll look at them together.
4. Scenario: A nice looking, well groomed gentleman who is clearly not drunk or a nasty approaches you and politely asks you to dance. You’ve never seen or heard of him before, but he seems nice enough and you LIKE the song that is playing. Are you most likely to:
a. Accept his offer to dance with a smile (95.2%)
b. Accept his offer to dance feeling vaguely annoyed that you are dancing with him rather than your favorite leader to dance with to this song (0%)
c. Decline and offer some kind of polite excuse (4.8%)
d. Just decline without any explanation (0%)
5. Scenario: A nice looking, well groomed gentleman who is clearly not drunk or a nasty approaches you and politely asks you to dance. You’ve never seen or heard of him before, but he seems nice enough. But an EXTREMELY fast salsa is playing. Are you most likely to:
a. Accept his offer to dance with a smile (38.1%)
b. Accept his offer to dance feeling vaguely annoyed that you are dancing with him rather than your favorite leader to dance with to this song (23.8%)
c. Decline and offer some kind of polite excuse (38.1%)
d. Just decline without any explanation (0%)
Analysis: Bottom line–beginners, don’t ask advanced followers to dance during fast songs! If you do, you are MUCH more likely to be turned down OR notice that she looks irritated or uninterested while you dance. I can’t reiterate this enough–you need to listen to the song first, ask her to dance second. There is nothing more miserable, for either party, than trudging through a fast, long salsa, barely clinging to the correct beat, completely unable to execute even basic moves on time. So don’t do this to yourself or to your perspective follower! Here is a chart to drive the point home for you visual learners:
Green means GO! She'll likely dance with you if the song is a reasonable pace (green bar). You're likely to be rejected or dance with a bitter follower if the song is too fast (red set. Red means STOP, remember?).
The more encouraging news is that if you seem normal and nice and you ask a more advanced follower on a reasonably paced song, 9 times out of 10 she will accept! Let me repeat that: 9 times out of 10 she will accept!!! Note the two conditions. 1. You have to seem normal and nice. 2. The song must be reasonably paced. I’ve seen many failing on #1, sadly. If you are half drunk, look stoned, smell stinky, or if the ladies previously spotted you grabbing another gal’s tush, ramming her carelessly into people or furniture on the dance floor, or yanking her arm out, you’ll probably get a no at worst or a hesitant yes at best. And trust me, word travels fast. If you are nasty or an unsafe dancer, we DO tell each other–immediately. Still need help with “normal and nice?” Well, that worries me, but here is a great facebook note that was written by a salsera in another city. It is called “An Open Letter to Creepy Leads.” Hopefully, that is not you, but read it anyway just to double check!
Followers– good work on this one. I think sitting out when beginners ask to dance to super fast songs is smart. It keeps us safe and should help beginners learn to be sensitive to the music. This is pretty basic–if they are taking classes, the instructor has likely shown/warned them that faster songs are more challenging to dance to. All the same, we can help them by turning down their dance and pointing out that the song is too fast. That will make things clear and hopefully help him to not take it personally.
Phew! That was a lot! So, lets say you have been asking ladies to dance during good songs, you’re normal and nice, and you STILL get turned down. She said she was “tired” or “resting,” but you didn’t believe her. Wanna know how likely it was she was telling the truth? You’ve heard horror stories about ladies leaving guys on the dance floor. Wanna know how many will admit to that? Of course you do! But you’ll have to wait for the second half of this posting, coming in just a few days. I wanted to save you from having to read a whole novel in one sitting. For now, chew on this, and keep dancin’!
AZUCAR!
(PS, Leaders, check out laurenwilmore.com for salsa classes that will help you SHINE on the dance floor!)
Salsa with Tim Ezell!
With Jeannie Kennedy “teaching” Tim Ezell! This was a shocker–we were supposed to dance our choreography!
Jeannie and Lauren teach Tim Ezell to dance SALSA! Click here!
Five Ways to Get Better at Salsa FAST!
Lauren’s Top Five Ways to Get Better at Salsa FAST!
Ok Folks, here it is in a nutshell (I explain in greater detail below). If you want to get good at salsa, you MUST
1. Take a class (or better yet, a bunch of them)
2. Practice BY YOURSELF
3. Listen to the music outside of class/social dancing time
4. Watch people who are REALLY good–stylistically AND technically!
5. Go out and dance!
Ok, I gave you the golden nuggets of wisdom up front.
Now I want to explain and justify them. But first one more (maybe more important) golden nugget of truth: it takes TIME to develop your dancing. For most ladies, it will take a good solid year of consistent work. For most leaders, it will take considerably longer–2 or 3 years if you are pretty natural. That’s IF you do all the things listed above. So, get ready to work, and above all have fun and stay patient with yourself and with the other dancers in your community. One day, they could be AWESOME!
This list has been developed from years of observation and experimentation, and from great wisdom from dancers and instructors more experienced than I am. Don’t agree? Please leave your comments and explain what you think is more reasonable–it will help us ALL!!
1. Take a class (or better yet, a bunch of them)
I’m not just saying this because I am an instructor. I started out as and STILL AM a STUDENT first and foremost. I take class from the best instructors every chance I get. And I still have SO MUCH to learn and master. If I still need to take class, you probably do too.
I can’t tell you how many people try to learn by doing. Would you do that with medicine? Would you presume to treat a patient without learning the proper skills first? I hope not. Let’s say you go to the operating room a few times, casually watch the surgical team while drinking a mojito. Would you be qualified then to call yourself a surgeon too? Nope. So why do you think you can go out and learn to dance by osmosis? You can’t–at least not well. Beware of folks who claim with pride to be “self-taught.” They are lying, deluding themselves, or a bad dancer, or likely all three. If they are good, they received instruction somehow somewhere whether they admit it or not. Here are some characteristics of your typical self or club-taught dancer:
*Bad timing
*Bad technique in their dancing//Bad leading or following technique
*Bad floorcraft–if it is a leader, he will likely dance you into other people or objects and choose the most crowded, dangerous spot on the floor to dance in. If it is a follower, she will likely slam down her stiletto heel where ever she pleases, spin, turn, twist, and gyrate out of control and onto other dancers
*Bad attitude–unfortunately, these mediocre dancers are often the haughtiest, making beginners who might legitimately want to LEARN the dance feel like they suck, or committing the sin of teaching on the dance floor–a big no no
Don’t be this person. And there is such a simple remedy. If you want to learn this dance and be as razzle-dazzle awesome as that salsero or salsera you can’t take your eyes off of, start off on the correct foot (LITERALLY!) and take a class. There are at LEAST 5 qualified instructors in St. Louis. They teach on different nights of the week in different parts of town and at different price points. So you can definitely find a class that suits your needs. I don’t mean spend a million dollars on group classes every day of the week plus ten private lessons per month. For most people, one group class per week, plus a private lesson or two here or there to clean some things up, will be perfect. Still can’t afford it? Get creative. Many parties have a lesson at the beginning. No ideal, but at least it is SOMETHING and hopefully the instructor will correct any major technical error you make. Don’t be shy about telling an instructor that your financial situation won’t allow you to afford the full price up front. Many will allow you to pay in installments or even reduce the price as long as you seem honest. But don’t take advantage of us–it is our livelihood, so when you lie, you could be taking food off of our table.
I can’t tell you how many students I have who danced in clubs for years, finally came to class, and had such trouble because they had learned nothing but bad habits. Please stop this trend in its tracks. Take at LEAST a basics class so you have a nice foundation to build upon!
One great source of salsa classes <warning, shameless plug> laurenwilmore.com–we take our teaching seriously, develop ourselves as professionals with the best in the world, and hone our teaching skills constantly! There are others and a great resource is the St. Louis Salsa Facebook Group to find out about events and instructors!
2. Practice BY YOURSELF
Here is a MYTH that many (ladies especially) believe: “I’m not getting better because I don’t have a partner to practice with <sniffle, tear>.”
Everyone–STOP believing this! The single most important thing you can do to be a better leader or follower is to practice your footwork BY YOURSELF. If you cannot do it by yourself, you can’t do it well with a partner. Sure, you may be able to stumble through it, let your partner throw you around a bit, but you won’t really be dancing. How can you really connect with your amazing partner and this amazing music we call salsa? Not by messing up simple cross-body lead footwork. No way.
Here is a secret–I have been dancing salsa for a LONG TIME. And guess what–I still practice my basic step and my basic right turn. All of those basics are so important. They are the building blocks to other moves. You are only as good as your ability to dance the moves on your own. Plain and simple. Ladies–can’t do a cross body lead with an inside or outside turn on your own? Well, until you can you will not be able to perform it well when following that superstar leader in the club, and FORGET about styling. Ladies, the most important thing is your dancing–make sure you can dance a step before you even think about styling it out. What is the point in styling out bad dancing? Musicality? How can you be musical when you can’t stand on your won two feet?
And gentlemen–you need to practice your timing in a big way. A lot of times, your footwork can be simpler especially at the beginning level. But no matter what the level, if you cannot become a human metronome and keep time with the music, the follower will not have fun or be able to follow you effectively. So, make sure, on you own, that you can keep time to the music. Make sure also, especially in the beginning, that you have a clear idea of what you want the follower to do, what foot she should be on when doing it, and the timing/placement of the lead. Your job is to keep her safe, make her look good, and have fun with her. When you lead poorly, your ability to do this is severely impaired.
Personally, I have a lot of fun dancing with leaders who know fewer moves, but connect with the music (good timing/musicality), connect well with me (fun and sociable), and lead their few moves impeccably.
3. Listen to the music outside of class/social dancing time
This is kind of an extension of #2. If you really want to groove it, you’ve got to know the music. One of the biggest compliments I get is about my musicality when dancing. I don’t know every song I dance to, I just listen to it while I’m dancing, and try to find patterns. Music is often very repetitive–themes and phrases come back over and over and are developed throughout a song whether it is classical music or pop.
When dancing, our first connection is to be to the music. We connect to our partner SECOND. So, make sure you feel comfortable with the music. Just pop in a salsa CD every once in a while on the drive home from work. It makes super workout music. Ask your teacher for a CD or recommendation. Ask the DJ at viva his favorite five salsa songs and download them on itunes. However you do it, just (legally) get your hands on some of this delicious music for your listening pleasure! You will rock it out while listening, and this will translate to better rockage on the dance floor!
4. Watch people who are REALLY good–stylistically AND technically!
Ok, you may need some help with this one. There are many dancers who on first glance look good, but upon further inspection are very showy but not very knowledgeable dancers. You want to watch someone who has great technique and styling in action both in class and on the social dance floor. You’d be surprised how much you can learn just by keeping an eye out and purposefully looking for things. You can catch cool new styling, shines, moves, even some technical secrets.
One of my favorite parts of visiting a new city is invading the salsa scene there to make new friends and also to steal new moves!!! I keep a keen eye out for the very best follower in the place then I stare down her moves, her styling, her technique, and I mentally catalog anything that I want to keep. Don’t look like a stalker though. It often helps to introduce yourself to that person and let them know you loved their dancing so they don’t think you’re a weirdo. I’ve learned some super cool stuff that way and imported it back here to St. Louis and the coolest part is seeing students and other ladies doing those moves on the dance floor.
Here is my warning–from experience I know that many things that happen on the dance floor are illusions. It may look like that dip is happening one way, but it might really be something else. That cool shimmy body roll move may look very loose but it is actually extremely controlled. Watch, then try with caution in the privacy of home or dance studio in front of a mirror. If you can, watch, try, then check with an instructor to make sure you got it right. I would NOT do this as a beginner or with the basics. This is for intermediate/advanced dancers who already have a good technical understanding and are looking for ways to broaden their dancing.
5. Go out and dance!
This is the last of my top five, but it is VERY important! Social dancing is a skill all its own separate from learning in class. Beginners you may know–the first few times you go out might be kind of rough. There are more distractions, floor conditions are not ideal, it is not the music you are used to from class, the people you dance with are not at the exact same level and have not learned the exact same moves in the exact same way. Some people are rude or have bad breath or stand a little too close. You might be extremely nervous, tired, excited, etc. Soooo many things make the social dance environment different from the in-class environment. But your classroom learning isn’t for naught–once you get over the social dance hump, you can begin to implement your classroom learning on the dance floor.
It is difficult to justify continuing to learn and improve if you are not going out, having fun, and being social with it! For most people, the main reason to start dancing is to have fun and meet people–so do it!! You worked hard, you went to class, practiced on your own, listened to music outside class, and watched other good dancers. Don’t be shy–get out on the dance floor! The sooner you do it, the sooner you can get past those couple of rocky dances, loosen up, remember that you can do it, and start shakin your groove thang!
Some good get-out-on-the-dance-floor strategies:
*Go with people you know. Not your non-salsa friends–they’ll just make you drink margaritas and hang out and talk. I mean friends you’ve met in classes or at other salsa parties. They will hang out with you, encourage you, and maybe introduce you to some folks who are fun to dance with!
*Go early when it is less crowded. Some of the good dancers come early so you can get some good dances without worrying about getting stepped on and with fewer distractions.
*Hang out near folks who dance near your level. You are more likely to ask or get asked by someone who dances near your level, so find those people and barge in
*Ask people who are better than you, but do so respectfully and in moderation. We were all beginners at some point, and most really GOOD dancers have no problem dancing with beginners. But we probably don’t want to do it on every song or on extremely fast songs. So, go grab that awesome salsera for a dance after she had a few gulps of water and that conversation she is having seems to be winding down. And if she even just SEEMS to be sending “don’t ask me now” vibes, don’t ask her. And don’t take it personally–it could be she hates the song, or is really tired and thirsty at the moment. Unless she is rude to you in which case go ahead and gossip about her to your friends (kidding!)
*Listen to the song BEFORE you ask. There is nothing worse than FINALLY asking that awesome salsero who loves to spin people only to find you asked him to dance a breakneck speed salsa (or worse–MERENGUE!). So, listen to the intro of the song before you ask, you will be glad you did!
That’s it! Follow my advice, young ones, and you can be as good at salsa as YOU want to be! Pretty much everything that we do in social dancing is accessible to EVERYONE. You CAN do it–you may just need to work hard and SWEAT a little bit first!
AZUCAR!!!
