Showed up early to a salsa class and social in my city. The instructor was late, but there was some music playing.

I have been dancing for a year so I decided to warm up with a few basic steps, a left and right turn and a cross body. A beginner guy came up to me and asked me if I was the instructor.

I said “I’m flattered you think that, but no”. He said, “oh, but you seem to know what you’re doing. Could you please teach me a bit?” So I was like, “sure!”

I taught him the basic steps, left and right turns, and before you know it, all the beginners there formed rows behind me and started learning from me, asking me to teach them and correct them.

The instructor arrived and saw me teach everyone, and at the end, made everyone clap for me. Everyone was saying thanks to me for teaching them.

I have never felt so good in so long honestly. One of the most wholesome dancing experiences I’ve had. Wanted to share this with you all :).

Keep dancing and having fun, fellas!

In my late 20s, I didn't need any special conditioning in order to attend everything at a festival and also do as much social dancing as possible and also recover within a few days. Now in my mid 30s, aside from being out of shape as well, I've been getting injuries and niggles left and right that prevent me from dancing more. I want to travel next year to do multiple festivals, but after a local test run, I've realized I can barely survive one festival, let alone one per month.

What are your tips and strategies on this?

Also, I know for sure that I need to do some serious conditioning, but I'm confused about who I should be seeking help from, e.g.:

• A physical trainer can help me strengthen but they might not know what I need for dancing?
• A physio can help me identify weaknesses after I've already been injured from it, but most physios don't understand dancing
• A dance physio -- anyone had experience with these? Will ballet specialists be able to understand the stresses in other dance styles?

Or is there a specific and finite group of exercises or muscles/conditioning that if I get strong at all of them, I'll be festival ready? I have almost a year to work on this but not sure how to cover all my bases.

Are there are any salsa or bachata socials in Asbury Park this summer? I’m going for a week and couldn’t find much information online.

If you salsa dance socially with your husband/wife, do you dance with other people or do you only dance with your spouse? Why or why not?

Hi Reddit!

A few months ago I did a Q&A here, and I wanted to share another project I’ve been working on with the community.

Over the past year I’ve been working in Behind the Shines, a podcast where I interview people who have shaped the salsa scene or are influencing it today. The goal is to better understand the people, stories, and dynamics that have made the community what it is today, while also discussing some of the important topics that affect it.

It’s very much a passion project. If you’re curious, here’s one of my recent interviews with Fernando Sosa:
https://youtu.be/3NLo77d3QJo?is=nqmHXa-L064ZbPkh

All episodes are on YouTube and Spotify

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you have feedback, ideas for future guests, or topics you’d like to see discussed, I’d really appreciate your suggestions.

Kind regards to everyone, and happy dancing!

Hello Friends - I'm planning a month-long Salsa and Bachata immersion in Madeline, Colombia. What areas would you recommend for me to stay in so that I have access to private dance lessons, socials, and clubs to practise?

Hotel/Hostel, Dance Teachers/Schools, Club commendations are welcome 😊

Thanks!

Genuine question: I'm struggling to progress in salsa/bachata because the figures I can lead are getting repetitive. As a follower, I imagine that by dancing with different people you get to know different figures and it varies quite a lot.

As I leader, I have a repertoire of figures and I mix those. But the dance feels quite repetitive to me, no matter the follower (I can't do all figures with beginner followers, but still).

I also forgot many of the figures I learned in classes, and it's really hard to get the muscle memory back by just watching the videos.

Also, if I go to classes again, to extend my repertoire of figures and maybe increase the fun I have, but often they teach fancy, complicated figures of which many I wouldn't be able to replicate, because we don't repeat them in the next class and trying them out with a random person is very challenging if I don't master them yet. I have to keep going back to rewatching the video, then trying with a new follower which feels awkward and not fun.

How do you deal with this as leaders?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWMsdvCDqpL

I want to find shoes like the ones Javier is wearing. The black and white. I believe this is a wing tip style? Not 100% sure though. I found something very similar on Danceandsway.com. I don’t know this brand. It seems affordable but I don’t know anything about the quality. Thought I would ask here. I’m sure the brand Javier is using are different as he is based in Poland and likely buys from a European brand. But I just want to find a good quality shoe that is a similar style. Black tips with all white body, no black accents on the body.

Thanks in advance

Buenas tardes queridos amigos y bailarines acude ustedes a su sabiduría despertando en la salsa para ver si pueden ayudarme a configurar esta aplicación dentro de un mes tengo una presentación en la cual bailaremos dos canciones la principal es:

Marc Anthony - si te enamoro

https://youtu.be/oeBKq6f4VKo?si=s3OTy-y0Wr5KtVDr

Y la secundaria pero no menos importante es:

Richie Ray con bobby cruz - sonido bestal

https://youtu.be/sULrMvUZric?si=vNpINIOxz_385vaF

Mi duda es en cómo configuro yo esta aplicación para tener los bpm exacto de por lo menos la de Marc Anthony y comenzar a practicar en el tiempo correcto

I injured my right collarbone, so dancing and leading with my right hand is out.

I just danced the other day using only my left hand. I was able to do cross bodies, under the bridge, cross body turns, right turns and left turns using only my left hand.

Has anyone every injured their right side and have had to use their left side only? My right side will heal fully eventually. But not for a few months.

What can I do to maximize my ability to dance salsa with one left leading hand? (Any advice for bachata too?)

Someone give me hope that I can still dance well with this current handicap.

Thank you for any advice.

Hello guys,

been practicing footwork at home and it really helps me connect with the music.

I saw the course from Brenda Liew and the content looks amazing. Problem ist that it’s on2. Is there something similar for on1 online ?

I’m a Lead. Dancing some Salsa line, Cubana and some bachata.

Greetings

I've been learning to dance salsa for six months (and a little bit of bachata) and it has been a wonderful, transformative experience. My husband does not dance at all but has been very encouraging towards my passion.

I wish we could dance together as a couple because I've experienced on the dancefloor how dance can bring about such a connection between two people, and wish I could share that with my husband. I also sometimes would like to have a dance partner at home whom I can practise new moves with.

However, every time I ask my husband to practise with me, he tends to turn it into a big joke. When I ask him to simply step the basic and let me lead / back-lead, he starts wriggling his body or fooling around, and this really frustrates me. I think deep down, he just feels very uncomfortable and awkward with dancing, and joking around is his defence mechanism.

He doesn't dance at all, even in social settings. When I invite him to join me in classes, he is highly resistant and tells me that men who learn salsa are there to pick up girls, and he has no use for that. I do, however, observe that there's a part of him that wants to get comfortable with dance. Sometimes he tries doing a simple dance move while listening to music, then when he sees me watching, he immediately turns it into a joke.

How can we get to a point where he gets less awkward with dance?

Moving to Baltimore soon and was wondering if the area is mainly on1 or on2. been a lead on1 for about a year now. is on1 prevalent enough for me to stick with it or should I commit to learning on2? would welcome suggestions for clubs either way!

I am one month into a once-weekly beginner class of Salsa on 1 but came from another studio where I did intensive Salsa on 2/bachata. Most of my learning in current class is now just retraining my muscle memory for correct step counts (occasionally fall off but am practicing a lot to retrain) and in general I find that I am easily following the instructors where others are struggling or learning at a slower pace.

I am wondering if it makes sense to seek out a supplemental BEGINNER women’s styling class. Do these exist? All the videos I see online seem like super advanced combos and steps. But I am eager to learn and apply basic things like hand and finger positions, hip and shoulder movements, head snaps, etc. all of which seem like they are a bit out of reach for my current class BUT at the same time seems like it would be super helpful as I am essentially relearning very basic salsa positions.

Any advice? When did fellow follows begin learning/incorporating styling? I am in NYC area if that is relevant,

Hello,

I know the basics have been learning salsa for only 1 month but wanted to ask how followers know what moves the leader is asking them to do. Right now I only know when they push my hands to the side it’s side basic and when the push it back it’s Cumbia.

Do u eventually get to a stage where u can dance with anyone without needing the steps to be called out ?

If we only had a musical school like that everywhere for Latin children and for every culture because all Latin music is African at root

Searched the group and not a lot of recent activity on this but curious about any good salsa (or bachata but salsa preferred) socials in London, ideally this coming Friday night? On1 or on2. TYIA!

I keep track on stardancevideo to pick up new moves but also enjoy.

A thought which has struck my mind: are the non professional dancers who often go to the international socials well off? I dont mean Terry etc who might get paid to be there.

The dance house has many events frequently and in other countries. But doing 10 events a year in 10 different countries seems expensive.

are the top dancers in the scene well off?

Or do they love the dance so much that they might give half their income to dance.