10 quirky people you will meet if you like to Salsa

And if you are one of them…hmmm…enough said!

Yang

50 first basics: I take the adage ‘Every day is a new day’ a little too seriously. I am the guy who comes to class day in and day out, but cannot seem to remember a thing. I suffer from a bout of amnesia as soon as I enter the studio. Spot turn? What’s that?

The all over guy: I don’t understand much, but I sure do prance around a lot. Technicalities? Who needs that? I pay a deaf ear to the teacher and make my own rules. I scare my partner as she does not know where I will step next. On her leg? Maybe.

Now you lead me: I do not like taking charge. So what if the man is the leader of the dance? I will happily take the backseat and let my partner lead me. Anyway girls are over enthusiastic and I am happy to oblige.

Houston, target in sight…Mayday! Mayday!: I am a decent dancer, but I blank out when I approach girls. I dance so well inside my head that I could put champions to shame. But put the fairer sex in front of me and all I can manage is a cross body lead with about 22 basics. If only the pretty girls could see inside my head. Alas!

Are you insured yet?: The word gentle is missing from my dictionary. I believe the only way to dance is to push around a girl like a rag doll. If your shoulder does not pop out from the socket, consider yourself lucky.

Yin

The I am today’s woman, I take charge (even when not required): I am an independent and ambitious woman. I am not a follower. I am a rebel. I will defy the rules of Salsa. Men? They cannot lead me. It was after me the term ‘self leading’ was coined.

Mirror, mirror on the wall: I am the prettiest of them all. Dance studios with huge mirrors everywhere are all to check myself out. Even when my teacher is explaining how to do my tricky multiple spins, my attention is on whether my hair is in place or if my lipstick has smudged. And while dancing, I always need to face the mirror; my partner can face the wall for all I care.

Baggage of the dancers past: I have danced all my life. So what I am learning a new dance form, it is child’s play for me. I will walk into class and pick up the skill in less than half the time of other minions. I am a great dancer and I know it.

Ability. Check. Willingness. Check. Attitude. Not so much: I am a reasonably good dancer and I want to learn. BUT I just don’t want to put in a lot of effort. I will probably try something new once and if I don’t get it, I will sulk. If only I attempted the damn body wave a few more times, I could master it. 

My arms are an unnatural extension of me: The legs move perfectly, the torso is also doing fine. But what do I do of my hands? They feel like a lifeless burden. Where do I put them? On my hips? On the guy’s shoulders? Styling will be the end of me.

These are tales of my experience dancing with men and women. Yes, women too as one needs to when teaching…no other reason, though that would be so cool.

I have danced with all of these types. You know who you are!

This is just a funny take. Please take this with a giant pinch of salt. In fact, I am in there too. Guess which one am I!!!

Leave your comments below…

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Ladies Salsa Shine

Salsa Beginners Move No.14: left turn in a haste, bounced off the waist

Salsa Beginners Move No. 13: many a hook, between the flick and the tuck

Salsa Beginners Move No.12: rounding off infinity

Salsa Beginners Move No.11: neck roll flip

Salsa Beginners Move No.10: drop - catch - spin

Salsa Beginners Move No.9: 'look ma, no hands!'

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol.1 Ep.8

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol.1 Ep.7

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 6

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 5

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 4

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 3

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 2

Salsa Beginners Moves. Vol. 1 Ep. 1

Salsa Shine: Beginners / Improvers Level

Lead v/s Follow: 5 quick tips for a suave Salsa experience

Leaders:

1. Keep your leads lucid and distinct. What is easy to understand is easier to execute.
2. Leads need to be timely, not forceful.
3. Look at the dance from your partner’s perspective with respect to movement and direction; ‘her left, my right’ will put you on a collision course sooner or later.
4. Make a mental note of how your partner responds to cues. Start slow and improve upon what both can manage; discard movements that your partner clearly doesn’t understand.
5. Set your partner free. Shines are a good way to test how comfortable either partners are with musicality and free movement.

Followers:

1. Be cognitive, not pre-emptive. Trying to guess the lead is just too speculative and it robs you of the time to use the music.
2. Let the music set you free. There is never just one way of interpreting the music/lead. Keep experimenting.
3. Give subtle cues to the partner if he/she is being too rigid or forceful.
4. Don’t let styling get in the way of your dancing. You need to make sure that your styling goes with the flow of the dance and does not catch your partner off guard.
5. While most men struggle with basic lead and timing, followers can communicate a change in rhythm and pace by adjusting the frame/body language or sometimes even through facial expressions. You can lead too, without the partner even realising. 

Lead v/s Follow

Looking at the traditional role of men as the “leaders” and women as the “followers” of the dance, how much freedom does the follower have within the framework of a given dance style to express the music and add her own interpretation?

The point I'm trying to get across is that the follower's role is not a passive one. I personally think that there is a subtle difference between simply following what is lead as opposed to understanding what musical elements (if any) that the leader is trying to express and responding to both the leader and the music. It's the difference between a monologue and a dialogue.

Different dance styles have different philosophies: for example the lead/follow dynamic in Tango is very different to the dynamic in Salsa. However, if the follower is simply following her partner then she is not really dancing because she is not moving in response to the music - she is moving in response to her partner's interpretation of the music.

So, once you reach a certain level of competency in any dance style, the notion that "the leader leads and the follower follows" becomes overly simplistic. There is however a skill to following which is different to leading - how else would you explain that some ladies are easier to lead (lighter on their feet, quicker to respond to your cues...)?

A great leader is one who creates an environment for their partner to feel comfortable, enjoy and express themselves, the same definition goes for a great follower.

Even though partner work is the mainstay of classes, leaders need to incorporate their own styling and give the followers freedom of interpretation. Until that happens, we will never change the 'leaders lead, followers follow' mentality.

Styling is and always will be ancillary to the partner work and should be driven by the music not by a need to look good/sexy/feminine.

There are three elements of a good dance - the leader, the follower and the music - and you won't have a good dance if one of the elements is suppressed. The leader initiates and invites, the follower interprets and 'puts her stamp on it'. We work with and play off each other and the music is what connects us.

Salsa Concepts: Reverse Cross Body Lead

For some reason, most of the basic (travelling) Salsa concepts favour movement from a single direction. The lady’s left and man’s right -- the movement for either gender may not necessarily be co-related.

I believe it is important for beginners to explore movement from either side of the ‘line’ of dancing; especially men. Women do get the opportunity to travel / turn across both sides, but generally movement for men remains lop-sided. Consciously creating patterns from either side can help men add at least 30% more variation to their partner-work and make them a lot more unpredictable (hopefully).

There isn’t any content available on the internet -- either via videos or literature -- on the Reverse Cross Body Lead (RCBL). Even in the classroom, most instructors don’t specifically focus on the RCBL, unless it is built into a pattern.

Here is an attempt to fundamentally break down the footwork for the RCBL. Rather than keeping the footwork (for men) as a mirror image to the Cross Body Lead (CBL), a variation has been attempted by yours truly.

How to:

For simplicity of understanding and execution, the RCBL is almost a mirror image of the CBL.

Women’s Footwork:

(1,2,3): Regular back basic

5: Step forward with left foot

6: Step forward with right foot

7: Pivot 180 degrees over the right shoulder and end with left foot next to the right

Men’s Footwork:

1: Step with left towards the lady (regular step)

2: Right foot shifts out to the left side (behind the left leg or even surpassing it as the case may be)

3: Left foot moves next to right. Ensure  you continue to face the lady; however, the frame / feet do not create any obstruction for the lady

5: Step back with the right foot (tagging the lady for the RCBL lead)

6: Shift the left foot (to the right) and attempt to get the feet back in to the line of dancing

7: Pivot 180 degrees on the left foot as you slide the right foot back (right foot finishes next to left)

This variation in footwork for men helps create a different angle for the lead (less predictability), makes the movement sharper (adds finesse), and assists in adding more push / pull variations (integrates concepts better).

There isn’t much to tinker around with the women’s footwork, considering the lead serves as a means to an end (execution).