I love how much great conversations I can find online about salsa dancing…it is so interesting to see your thoughts put down in writing. Such is the case with this great forum thread…click here to read it. Basically it discusses how you can actually improve your dancing just by thinking about it.
When I was learning to dance, I thought about it every free second I had. If I wasn’t actually dancing, I was creating turn patterns in my head, choreographing a song, thinking about what I wanted to work on or improve. All of this actually assisted me. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a turn pattern (sometimes it made no sense but other time…bingo!). I would be more aware of music accents and breaks because I would listen to it constantly and my memory sharpened so that when I was finally on the dance floor I had to think less and just execute.
I always tell my students that if they absolutely can’t practice to at least imagine practicing because it will help with memorizing and confidence. If you can imagine you can do it, then you can do it!
