How to Salsa Dance – Easy
Salsa dancing is definitely one of the harder dances to learn, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. You can travel pretty much anywhere in the world, any country, and you can find at least one Latin club where you can go and bust a move.
So here are some tricks on how to make Salsa dancing easier:
1. Dance like your shoelaces are tied. So imagine you bring your feet together and I take your shoelaces and tie them together. Now you cannot take big steps when you step forward and back or side to side. I could have just said don’t take big steps but some people have a hard time picturing what that actually means, especially if you are really tall. I’m not very tall but if you are, you will naturally take a bigger stride. Well, the thing about salsa is – it’s fast! It’s really fast and you want to make sure you don’t feel overwhelmed as you’re moving your feet. So in order to keep up with the music, the easiest thing to do is keep your steps small. Bring your feet together. Your magic shoelaces are now tied. Make sure your heels don’t pass your toes – this gives you the ability to keep up with the music.
2. Don’t swing your hands. It’s a basic tip that I tell to my level one students but it’s a habit that is hard to break. Even when I was an intermediate dancer, I used to swing my hands all the time and I see a lot of other dancers do it. When you are vibing with the music, when you are in that flow you can’t help but sometimes, swing your hands forward and back or side to side. The problem is you’re going to be throwing your partner off their rhythm. Think of it as riding a bike. When you ride a bike your hands don’t swing or jiggle the handlebars because it makes for a bumpy ride. So as basic as it is, I want you to imagine this: You’re dancing with two glasses of water in your hands and you don’t want to spill them. So your upper body and your hands should be steady while your pelvis and knees should be soft and smooth and loose. This is a simple, quick way to level up your dancing. Also, as a leader it will help you multitask. Because now if you’re not dealing with swinging your hands, you only focus on leading your partner.
3. Listen to Salsa music. When you’re cooking, when you’re driving, listen to Salsa music as much as possible. Look, we all have our favorite genre of music. For example, if your favorite music is rock, and I put on a random rock song, you’ll tend to be able to predict how that song will be arranged and when certain instruments come in. Obviously Salsa dancing relies on Salsa music – dancing to silence is no fun. So exposing yourself to a lot of Salsa, Bachata and other Latin music, will help train your ear. So when you go to a nightclub, you won’t feel overwhelmed and more importantly, you start to dance on beat, which is one of the most important things to do in Salsa Dancing.
There’s a lot more tricks I can tell you to make your salsa dancing easy but it really comes down to being in a group – being in a good group of people – learning together and going out, social dancing and applying it all.
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you come in week to week, have fun, connect with new friends and let loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here to check our current schedule.
If you have any questions you would like me to answer here are some ways you can contact me: message me on Instagram (torontodanceSalsa), on Twitter (#torontodanceSalsa), on Facebook (Toronto Dance Salsa) or email me at [email protected].
