Is Salsa Dance Fast?
Yes and it can feel intimidating but I have some tips to make it easy.
Dance Like You Are On the Highway
Salsa is like driving on a highway. You are driving fast but you are still just driving. The most important thing to remember is to stay in your lane. When you see a driver weaving in and out of traffic it is sometimes overwhelming. You don’t want to feel that way when driving or dancing.
When doing your basics make sure you are staying in your lane and not switching lanes all the time by moving to the side. The speed isn’t intimidating if you stay in your lane. The mistake many people make is that you try to imitate the dancers on YouTube by moving and shaking your hips. This brings you out of your lane and then you are offbeat and overwhelmed. You wouldn’t shake the steering wheel as you drive so don’t try to shake your hips, the hip movement will come naturally. Drive and dance in your lane.
Dance With Your Weight in Your Heels
Most of you probably thought I was going to say dance on your toes. This is a common mistake. You need to be balanced and comfortable when dancing. If you dance on your toes not only will you get tired really quickly but you will be tense because you have to fight gravity not to fall forward. So again you will fall behind the music.
You want to be able to dance the whole night so bring your feet together and your bum down and have your hips angled back. Pretend you have a cell phone in your back pocket and it is weighing your pants down. This way the weight is in your heels and you will feel grounded and comfortable.
Dance Like Your Shoelaces are Tied Together
We have all experienced or seen what happens when someone walks with their shoelaces tied together. You can do it if you take tiny steps but if you try to do more than that you will fall. When dancing Salsa, try to take really tiny steps. It is more manageable if the music is fast and you don’t move your feet too far. You will be able to keep up to the music and won’t be exhausted by doing lunges all night long. So the general rule of thumb is that when you bring your feet together, you don’t want to take a step forward or back further than your toes. The reality is that at a nightclub or social you won’t have much room to dance so small steps help.
Dance like a T-Rex
Did you know the T-Rex went extinct because it couldn’t dance Salsa? It’s arms were too short. 😂 But seriously, pretend you are standing like a T-Rex or the letter Zed. In other words, don’t keep your knees locked. You want your knees relaxed like when you walk or get on a bus or are skating. Our knees are shock absorbers and we need that flexibility to keep balanced. If we keep our knees relaxed and weight in our heels, we will be able to keep up with faster music.
Want more tips on how to Dance Salsa Easy? Click on the link to learn more.
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