So you’ve taken the big leap and signed up for salsa level 1 only to find that it is really hard! Harder then you thought or expected. Good dancers make salsa look so easy!
Yes, learning to dance can be somewhat difficult but just like an new activity a little time and persistence goes a long way. And remember, it is FUN work – not the boring kind! The hardest part to learning to dance is surviving level 1. Once you’ve done this it gets a lot easier and with some practice every semester becomes easier and more fun.
I always tell my students the same story of my first few months learning salsa. I was a terrible dancer. I hadn’t taken any lessons and just decided to go out dancing at Babaluus with some girlfriends. When I finally got up the nerve to accept a dance I was mortified as to how bad I actually was and there were no improvements for a few months. My girlfriends got better and better and I struggled, not even knowing the difference between salsa, merengue and bachata.
Of course looking back I can see I handled it all wrong. If I had just taken some lessons I could have avoided subjecting myself and my partners to fairly awful dancing. However I learned salsa on the dance floor and after a few months of struggling the light finally came on and all the hard work (and embarrassment) paid off. I finally started to follow properly, move my body and begin to look and feel like a dancer. That first year I danced almost every night of the week and by the end of the year I was already entering my first competition.
If you are a student you are already leaps and bounds ahead of where I was. Just keep at it, practice at home, visualize the moves and go out to practices and outings and soon you will see why it is such an addictive pastime!
Enjoy your salsa journey!!
