Becoming a Salsero

Learning to dance Salsa !

About me

I remember the first time I saw a salsa performance. The dance was mesmerizing and I decided that becoming a Salsero would be my new goal.

Just getting started took a lot longer than planned but I still haven't regretted a single moment of learning to dance salsa. Why don't you join me and become a salsero / salsera as well?.

About this site

This is where I share my experiences and thoughts on dancing salsa.

If you have any questions or remarks please leave a comment or send an email to becomingasalsero@gmail.com.

Additional ways to contact me can be found on my contact page.

What about social dancing?

There is one thing I remember very clearly about the first time I went social dancing.

I stepped into the club, checked my coat, went to the dance area and I panicked!

People were moving in ways I didn't even think were possible and none of them were doing any of the things that I had been taught. I don't even remember seeing anybody doing a basic.

To say that I was intimidated would be an understatement. So I just sat around for a while watching the dancers before going home. On the way back I dreamed about 'the day that I could do that too'.

Now that I have been dancing for a while the experience has changed a bit.

Don't get me wrong, it starts out the same way. I go to a club, sit around and watch the great dancers while my mouth drops. After a while though I consciously focus on other dancers and I see that not all the dancers are amazing superstars. There are also people who dance at my level and there are usually even some that have only just started out.

Then I always reminds myself that I'm there for 2 reasons. To have a good time and to improve my dancing.

Even though I can have a good time just sitting around watching great dancers it really doesn't do much to improve my dancing. I'm not sure about you but I just can't make a perfect copy of something that I have only seen once. To be honest, I usually can't make any kind of copy of it be it perfect, good or bad. If you can, please drop me a line and tell me your secret.

The only way I can improve my dancing (to keep this article from getting too complicated I won't go into musicality, counting, etc) is to actually get up, find a partner and dance.

This lead to a catch-22 situation for me. I wanted to get better at dancing but I didn't dare to go out and dance. Because of that it took a long time before anything happened.

I also remember the first time I actually went social dancing. I had been dancing for a while now and had the basics down so I wasn't too scared anymore. At least, not until we got to the party.

Once we were there all I could see were superstar level dancers and I became so self conscious that I couldn't remember anything beyond a mambo basic. This embarrassed me to no ends and lead to me becoming more and more nervous.

Half way through the song I called it quits. Even though my partner was very patient the night didn't improve. I would calm down when I was sitting down but as soon as I got up I felt like all eyes were on me and I started to freeze again.

Looking back though I don't know why I felt that way.

Nobody laughed at me, my parter didn't stop talking to me and if I have to be honest, I doubt anybody was even watching me. They were all looking at the great dancers, just like I do when I go out.

So what's the moral of this post? Go out and dance!

If you're like me then it can be very intimidating but the improvement you'll see and feel in your dancing will make it all worth it after a while.

If you're a man... definitely go social dancing!
Ladies tend to improve quicker than guys when they are both starting to dance salsa at the same time. You need all the practice you can get to just keep up with them.

And as Edie once told me, if girls would have wanted to sit around all night they would have stayed at home. Given the choice most girls would rather dance with you, even though you're not a great dancer yet, than sit around all night and not dance.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
     

    Good advice! You can only learn by doing and gain confidence by learning. I've always found salseros to be a kind, forgiving bunch. Looking back, people who made me feel like an inferior dancer when I was just starting out, I now realize that they were not that great of a dancer themselves.

    Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm glad to know about yours.

  2. Walter de Rooij said...
     

    Thanks for stopping by.

    I'm glad you liked the post and am happy to hear that salseros are as kind and forgiving as salseras.

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