“I just have a quick question. The other day I went to a salsa class and the instructor said we shouldn’t use our thumbs when holding onto the woman’s hands. For me I find it easier to create and control the tension if I use my thumbs especially when it comes to dancing with women who lack tension in their arms. I tried not using my thumbs and it feels little awkward. What do you recommend?”

Well Mark here is my answer:

When you close your thumb or palm over the follower’s hands, the follower immediately relaxes their arms and, even subconsciously, thinks that because you have them they don’t need to do anything. The result is a follower with Spaghetti arms who won’t follow quickly and accurately your lead. So you may think that you have more control because you are holding on but in actuality the follower will not respond properly to your lead.

Instead, if you open your thumb and palms and curl your finger tips and try to have your partner create the same tension with only your fingertips, you will force your partner to create resistance in her frame to keep from letting go. The more often your partner lets you go the more she will strengthen her fingertips and create more resistance. So you may feel like it is out of control at first because you are losing your connection but eventually your partner will firm up her fingertips and frame and then you will have a partner who will follow you quickly and accurately.

In other words, it is worth the initial growing pains to get the right tension and frame so that you can move on to become a great intermediate and then advanced leader.

So followers and leaders, make sure you never use thumbs and palms and instead curl your fingertips slightly and pull a little to create consistent tension and resistance.

Hope that helps – happy practicing!

The post Mark’s Question! appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

• Who should you dance with?
It is always best to dance with as many dancers are possible with a variety of levels and skills. If you are a beginner dancing with other beginners may be more comfortable. However, also consider asking those who are more experienced then you to dance which will offer you a good opportunity to follow a more complicated lead if you are a follower or experience a smoother follower if you are a leader. Remember that everyone was a beginner once so don’t be intimidated by others. If you are more experienced please be gracious and dance with beginners if asked as we all had someone help us learn and we need to keep this circle continuous and give back to the salsa community.

• Hygiene
You do not want to be the male or female who others do not want to dance with because of hygiene. Knowing that salsa is a close body contact type of sport where you touch others in a hot, sweaty environment, please be considerate and adhere to the following guidelines. Fresh breath is a must. Bring breath mints or gum to any dancing event. Anti-perspirant and/or deodorant are also a must. For excessive sweating, try Drysol. It can be bought at any Shopper’s Drug Mart and really works in controlling sweat. Some people bring a change of shirts if they know they are going to perspire a lot. Others use talc powder for damp palms. Some bring small towels or handkerchiefs/bandanas Take breaks often and keep yourself hydrated. Avoid heavy cologne, perfumes or oils as they can get musty in that environment and others may be allergic.

Following these tips will allow the salsa experience to remain a positive one for everyone involved. Remember that good manners, respect for others and awareness of the environment you are in will go a long way. Take the time to get to know your dance partners as it is a wonderful networking and social opportunity. But most of all, listen to the music, feel the energy of the crowd and enjoy the dance

The post Salsa Etiquette appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

The post Salsa Etiquette appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

1) Create tension in your frame – When you instructor keeps reminding you to keep your arms 90 degrees, open the thumbs and only use you fingertips in a light pull, they are reminding you to create tension in your frame. This is because salsa is not a choreographed dance. You never know what the next move is and the leader has to communicate what the upcoming move is with the tension in their fingers. To assist in the communication process, keep your arms at a 90 degree angle with your elbows flush along the sides of you bodies. Don’t stretch your arms. This weakens your tension. Both leaders and followers should not clamp their thumbs down on your partners hands because, again, this weakens tension. Your only hold should come from your fingertips curling and pulling gently against your partners fingertips.

2) Don’t look down – Looking down is a bad move for many reasons. The first is it shows your self consciousness which affects lead and follow. Your partern can sense when you aren’t confident and they become less confident about your lead or follow. Also looking down as a leader doesn’t allow you to see around you and you can end up hurting yourself, your partner and couples around you. Same with followers who look down. You can end up traveling too far or into another couple.

3) Listen to salsa music outside the classroom – Many students worry that they don’t understand the salsa beat. This is because they only listen to salsa music for 1 hour a week in a classroom where you are busy learning new moves and it is difficult to concentrate on several things at once. Instead, take the time to listen to salsa music in your Ipod or in your car and tap out what you think is the beat 1-2-3, 5-6-7. Slowly you will start to distinguish the one of the music and be able to understand the beat. This will then translate to better, more musical dancing in the classroom and on the dance floor.

There are many more tips to discuss. I will try to provide some more over the next few days!

The post Salsa Tips to Keep In Mind appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

“Top 5 Ways to Speed Up Your Salsa Dancing Skills

What Level are You On?

Whether you are a beginning, intermediate, or advanced salsa dancer, there are certain tips and tools that will always come in handy when you want to dance at your best. It is one of the greatest things about salsa dancing. We are ALL ALWAYS learning, so that means that even the best dancers that you look up to will never know all there is to know about dancing. If we knew everything there was to know it would quite frankly get boring. Constantly challenging ourselves, as dancers, with new styles, moves and tricks is what keeps us dancing. So with that said there are certain important tips that will never die. I have been dancing socially for about 10 years now. When I feel myself getting rusty, I revert back to the ‘ol basics.

Top 5 Salsa Dancing Tips
1. COUNT 123,4,567,8, that is right…it may sound easy, but even now when I dance with experienced dancers I find myself wondering…”What beat are they dancing on?” Count silently in your head, especially when you are just starting out. I kid you not, I was counting out loud on the dance floor for the first 3 years. Not only did it help me to stay on the beat, but if your partner is observant enough, they might actually hear you and follow your lead.

2. Make salsa tension a top priority. Doesn’t matter if you are the leader or the follower. The connection between the two dancers is what makes salsa what it is. Remember the four points of contact in the closed position. The hands, the leaders hand on the followers shoulder blade, the followers hand on the front of the leaders shoulder, and the leaders and followers elbows that line up when in closed position. Remember to meet your partners tension and adjust to each individual.

3. Watch other dancers. Whether it is the class instructor you are watching, dancers in the salsa clubs, or salsa videos. Watch different styles of dancers and pick the styles you want to adapt to your own. There is no right or wrong style of salsa dancing. The more you make the style your own, the more interesting you dancing style will become. So take a little something from everyone, keep what you like and forget what you don’t.

4. Practice the basic step. This should go without saying, but it really does make the biggest difference. Practice in your kitchen, practice when you are walking around your house. The more you engrain the basic step into your muscle memory, the easier all of the other turns and patterns will become. Build a solid foundation with the basic step. It will never fail you.

5.Last, but certainly not least, listen to salsa music. You are what you eat, so to speak. If you listen to salsa music all the time, you will get more and more familiar with how the rhythm of the music progresses, and how your dancing will speed up and slow down with the music. Dancers connection to the music is really what make them amazing dancers. It is not about showing all your flashy moves, it is about letting the music move you.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourself. This may seem like a give in, but it is what salsa dancing is all about. It is natural to get nervous when you are first starting out. But we all started somewhere, so just communicate with the person you are dancing with and just remember that they were right where you are at some point in their dancing lives.”

The post Good Article About Improving Your Dance Skills appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Yes it could be you or them. Maybe this person is a great stylist but not a great leader/follower. They could look great because they have the body movement, flare and style to enhance any dance. However leading/following habits are separate skills and you can be great at one and not so great at the other. That is why sometimes you will dance with someone expecting them to be a beginner and end up being pleasantly surprised by their skills – because maybe the leading/following is a lot stronger then their styling skills.

So yes it could be you or them. But more likely it is just a simple case of chemistry (or lack thereof). Some people you just click with on the dance floor. They may not be at your level, you may not even personally like them, but on the dance floor it is magic. Others, you just can’t get it right, no matter that you are friends or that you look good together or any other qualifying aspects. I guess it is similar when it comes to choosing a partner off the dance floor. Chemistry is very personal and there is no rhyme or reason.

Will this change with enough practice with that person? Maybe. My experience is that those I don’t gel with I almost always will never be able to gel with in the future. The only exception is if I wasn’t matched skilled-wise with the person and then either he or I was able to catch up and then we could dance well together. However this scenario is not about chemistry – it is about being on the same playing field.

I am sure you have all had instances of chemistry failure – please share!

The post Salsa Chemistry appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Flex writes:

“Let’s try to compile a list of simple basic things that followers should do automatically, but all too often don’t:

1. Wait for a lead.

2. In the absence of a lead – i.e. when the leader does not signal and initiate some change of direction or momentum – do your basic over 8 beats (many moves particularly in X-body rely on the follower executing her basic: if On1, back then forward, forward then back. Sooooo many followers don’t do this simple thing!).

3. Maintain your frame – connect to the lead with responsive arm pressure. Otherwise he can’t guide you with precision.

4. In open hold, follow the hand that is being led, with your frame. i.e. orient your frame towards it

5. When they’re below shoulder height and your hands are on his, keep the connecting hands slightly angled up at the wrist (so that, using the connection pressure, he can guide you backwards with that hand as well as forwards)

6. Keep your hands available – waist height when loose, if not in a styling moment – so that he knows exactly where to find a hand.

7. Take the offered hand, returning any pressure.

8. If the lead drapes your hand on or round his body, leave it there until he removes it one way or another – this helps him to find that hand again immediately, as he can feel exactly where it is even if he’s turning.

9. If he tosses or flicks your hand / arm up, for pity’s sake continue the movement gracefully up and around. He’s expecting you to do that, not to make your arm go stiff after moving three inches!

10. Distinguish between hand flicks where the lead wants that hand back again (the majority) from those where he is throwing away that hand in order to take the other. The beat on which this occurs is usually critical to that distinction.

11. Do not take the initiative to let go the leader’s hand, even if you worry that what he is attempting to do may result in a knot. (This assumes that the leader knows what he’s doing – if you decide not to trust him, the dance may as well end there and then).

12. Do not hold on to the leader’s hand so that he cannot drop yours easily. The initiative to take or drop a hand is his.

13. If the leader initiates a turn or spin, keep turning or spinning until he acts to stop you. Many moves over the full eight beats rely heavily on this principle and become joyfully easy if only the follower understands it. If she doesn’t, they either require a heavy mechanical lead or result in one of those moments where she knows she’s hesitated and got something wrong – but may blame it unfairly on his leading!

14. Unless otherwise engineered specifically by the lead, keep some bend in your connected elbow so that there is always some flexibility for you to step backwards as well as forwards.

15. Recognise the signals to go into a shine and learn some of the conventions to signal when you’d like to come out of it. Have a few steps you can shine with, rather than freezing in horror.

16. Recognise a block and have your bodyroll etc. ready to occupy that space of four beats until the block’s lifted.

17. If he’s doing something amazing in front of you but not leading you to do anything at the same time, don’t stand there frozen in open-mouthed wonder! Do something cute and sexy.

18. In the absence of any tactile lead, use visual cues. If he’s positioning for a cross-body lead, no contact, then do a cross body. If you’re doing X-body style and he starts walking round you, don’t turn (just do your back-and-forward, forward-and-back 8-beat basic). If it’s Cuban and he walks round you, do turn.

19. If the leader’s behind you and one or both of your hands are loose on the pause beat, make them available to him (use the seagull position if both hands, half seagull position if one hand, and if he doesn’t take them on the next beat withdraw them quickly as he may be coming round you and doesn’t want to go round a wide circle to avoid your extended hands).

20. When he starts to lead your arms overhead, take the tension/pressure off as soon as he takes the tension off (don’t fight a head-comb, and when spinning or turning keep those overhead arms soft so he can do touch-and-gos or neck wraps or hand drapes or hand flicks etc without you getting into a stiff-arm wrestle)

21. Pay attention to your leader as well as to his lead. Look at him when he’s looking at you. And smile! The least you can both do is be each other’s for five minutes on the dance floor.”

This is really a great list for followers to work on. Ladies, most complaints that men have centre around these issue so choose 1 tip a week and work on it!

The post Flex’s 21 Things for Followers To Follow appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

“When I first started dancing salsa over 2 yrs ago… I used to prefer flashy partners… those who can lead me into crazy turn patterns, dips, and all kinds of moves I’ve never seen before. Even amongst friends who are in the same level, from the same class… it seem to be more fun dancing with those who can execute moves they’ve learned outside of class (even though often it is not executed well). As time passes, I notice my preference in partner changed… these days I don’t care so much about crazy turn patterns as I do about my partner dancing on time, or being playful with the accents of the music, or executing a move that’s clean and simple instead of sloppy and complicated. What do you think makes a good partner? Does your preference change with time?”

I responded to that post because that is exactly the development that I went though. When I first started dancing the stronger and flashier the lead, the better. I loved dancing with guys who did crazy dips, neck drops, danced big and strong. But to be honest sometimes dancers dance this way to hide the fact that they are not versatile with the lead, musicality, body movement and after you dance with gentle, layered dancers who can add body movement, accented leading, styling, shines, playfulness, speed variations and much more, you realize how much more interesting and challenging this style of dancing really is for a progressing follower.

Now it is much harder for me to go back and dance with the flashy dancers…and sometimes it actually hurts as they are so rough! Dancing should definitely not hurt and be aggressive so remember that next time you are leading or following!

I was reading a salsa blog on the San Diego Salsa Dancing Website and it had a list of pet peeves from a woman’s perspective. Here is pet peeve #3:

“(3) The rag doll leader. OMG, one of the worst possible ways of encountering rejection on the dance floor is to obtain that reputation of tossing your partner around like a rag doll. Guys should be gentle in their lead. If she’s a beginner or inexperienced, forcing her through moves is not the solution to the problem. In any case, an experienced dancer can still suffer from the rag doll effect. I know this long-time instructor (and good dancer) who got her shoulder dislocated by dancing with one of these guys. It’s a serious problem, not just a pet peeve. No one wants to go dancing to end up injured.”

So gentlemen, now that you know what women are talking about, please know that if your dance partner looks like a rag doll, you are not dancing salsa correctly! The dance is close, sensual, textured and gentle and should leave the woman wanting more.

Looking forward to seeing smoother salsa on the dance floor!

The post Flash vs Smooth appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

This is my suggestion to pick up a new move at a beginner level:

1) Focus on the basic footstep first. Make sure you are stepping with the right feet in the right direction. If it is not perfect that is fine to begin with but just get it approximately right
2) Next focus on the arms (especially for leaders as you have to signal the move to your partner). Make sure your arms and hands are moving when and where they are supposed to go and ensure that these movements work for your partner
3) Next focus on the lead or follow. If you are the male ensure resistance is created and the push and pull, which will make the move successful, is being implemented. If you are the follower make sure you are creating resistance and “shadowing” the leader’s fingers so you can follow the move properly
4) Now put it together with the timing. It doesn’t have to be with the music yet but ensure that you are moving your feet, body and arms on the correct count.
5) Now that all the major components are in place it is time to perfect the move. Re-evaluate your foot work to ensure it is fully correct. Same thing with your arms, the lead and follow and the count. Finally, put it together with the music and pick up the pace so you are on time.
6) When the move is working well you can add other elements like body movement and styling

Hope that helps!

The post What to focus on? appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Back leading is not a good habit to allow yourself to indulge in. Many beginner female students back lead which means they try to control the dance – they assume a move is taking place and will lead themselves in it. Because they don’t concentrate on it right from the beginning it becomes a difficult habit to break as they progress and they will find men will not enjoy dancing with them as much.

Remember that it is not your role to lead. Your role is to follow and look great doing it. A great tip to combat back leading is to close your eyes when you feel you are starting the habit. Let your partner tell you when you begin and as soon as you do, close your eyes and allow your partner to guide you. If you are back leading because your partner is not leading you properly, then verbally tell him what you need as opposed to moving his arms for him.

The other thing you could try to do to avoid back leading is to concentrate on your styling – the way you look, your posture, your arm movements, your body movement from knees, to hips, to rib cage to shoulders and your facial expression. Concentrating on your own areas will help avoid back leading.

The last thing to note is that men who learn with a partner who has back led them will end up suffering from this as they will not be able to lead another dancer assertively and quickly enough. So stick to your role, ladies, and after the first month or two you will see a noticeable difference in yourself and your partner!

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