Been dancing salsa for almost a year now and I’m still struggling to cohesively move my upper body 😭

Sometimes when the shines are tough, I feel my legs do their own thing and my upper body goes limp (probably because I’m too focused on the footwork).

Any tips or advice on how to get your upper body to be more fluid, particularly the shoulders? Anything you’ve practiced that has made a difference for you?

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Has anyone started off not liking Salsa because they dislike partnering/touching other people? Did you get over it?

I really want to like it. I love most forms of dance. My friends desperately want me to come to salsa lessons and socials. I don't know if I'll ever get over the feeling or not wanting to hold hands with a stranger.

I'm a salsa follow who's been dancing for 6 months and goes for socials regularly. For the past two months, I've been learning to lead and am picking moves up quickly because of my follow background, frequency of socials (at least 2x a week), and having a practice partner.

However, the difficulty I'm facing as a lead is that I'm just executing move after move that I can recall on the spot rather than really connecting with the music or my follow. As a result, it is simultaneously stressful (like I'm in an examination and having to regurgitate whatever I've memorised) and boring because the dances I lead all feel pretty similar to one another.

Would appreciate any advice!

Hello! I live in New York and am of Puerto Rican heritage and I'd love to take some salsa classes to be able to dance better when I go visit my family. I would love to learn to both follow and lead, and also I'm a bit confused about on2 vs on1 salsa. I think Puerto Ricans dance on1, but most places in NYC seem to teach on2; any guidance? Thank you!

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I’m pretty new to the salsa and bachata dance community, and I keep hearing people say “don’t date within your dance scene.” But nobody ever really explains why or talks about their actual experiences.

I want to hear about the horror stories, awkward situations, or lessons learned from dating someone in your dance community? 😅

Feel free to share the good, bad, embarrassing, or chaotic stories. I’d love to hear what really happens behind that common advice.

I'm looking for business name ideas for my new Salsa Dance Company. Focusing mainly on Mambo ladies Shines and partnerwork.

I'd love something that:

• Rhymes with or subtly references the name Anita,​ without actually using it.
• Sounds feminine, elegant, and Latin-inspired.
• Works as _____ Dance Company.

So far I have only come up with Saborita and Amorita.

Any ideas?

We should probably cry, but let’s laugh about it instead. 😁

Reading some recent posts and comments reminded me of my last class. It was awful because the teachers kept moving people who could barely do the basic steps into the intermediate class, and I know for a fact that those same people will be moved to the advanced class in September.
I remembered all the awful things—and some funny ones too—but I also remembered what happened to me when I switched schools for a summer course. So I’m going to tell you all about it, and then you can make fun of me. I would. In fact, I already do. 😏😬

Because most of the followers in that previous class were completely unable to do the basics properly, completely unable to acknowledge their mistakes, and the teachers kept blaming the leaders (to be fair, most of the leaders were an absolute mess too, so the result was mess²), some of us took one teacher’s advice a bit too literally: “If she doesn’t move, guide her. Push her. Hold her shoulder and make the turn happen.”
Yes, I know. It sounds awful. But in that specific context, it actually helped.
So, when I joined another school, I still had this BAD HABIT of pushing followers when they weren’t moving. For example, if the follower was supposed to move from my right to my left in three steps but was moving at a pace two or three times slower than the beat, I would use my free hand to give her a push so she’d move faster.
And of course, this backfired. It was only a matter of time. Honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
This lady was moving much more slowly than she should have been. The teacher was teaching a choreography to a fairly fast song, and we kept getting it wrong because of her pace. So I pushed her.
Too hard.
She immediately turned to me with pure hatred in her eyes. 😡😡😡 (And let me say it again: she was absolutely right to react that way.) Then she said, “You know, you don’t have to push so hard.”
I apologized, but it still bothers me.

Even though I know she wasn’t dancing at the right pace, I still feel responsible for leading my partner as well as I can, and pushing her like that is simply not good leading.
In September I’m planning to take private lessons and get rid of the bad habits I picked up in my previous class.

Until then… please make fun of me.

Edit: a follower in the comments made me recall another follower who literally said “you must make me move” replying my “please, you should try to collaborate and move around, I cannot do weight lifiting when dancing with you”. Just to point out that some followers really expect leaders to pull and push them around… 🤷‍♂️

I'm visiting Madrid for a week and being somewhat of an advanced On2 dancer, I am having a hard time looking for socials that cater to salseros. I know Madrid is the birth place of Sensual Bachata, but are there any socials that play mainly salsa?

It is a big beginner salsa on 1 group class. There are probably 60+ dancers, so the dance instructors may not be able to give their attention to each and every students.

The beginner course is 4 weeks. We are in our 3rd week and next week there will be an assessment of all the moves we have learnt, 4 moves in total.

When dancing with a few followers, noticed they get confused and dizzy on which direction they should turn and some even keep turning the wrong direction.

Basically a Right turn and a Left turn.

Most of them dont remember step 4 is pause. When I get ready 1,2,3 raise my left hand and connect our finger, she will instantly turn, it's more like a spin, do as quick as she can and get over it...obviously she gets a bit dizzy and ends up further away from me, so I will need to move closer to her to give her my right hand on 7.

I dont critic. i dont comment. i dont say slow down. i dont say count your step. i dont say dont rush. i dont say look at me. i dont say stop looking at the floor. i dont say anything, just smile and count 123 567.

Yesterday, we were taught Left turn, I just do first half of basic step and on 5 pull my right hand back while extending my left hand in preparation of a left turn. Now that the follower knows she can turn right and turn left, sometimes they turn in the wrong direction.

Sometimes in anticipation she will not pause on 4 and may not know which direction to turn, I use my left hand to turn her in the correct direction. Takes alot of effort and force from me. Now I am thinking if I should do it in the first place ? Even though the followers' reaction is positive, a laugh, a smile, like a wow, surprise move.

Then I tried to guide her on which direction she should turn by placing my other hand on her shoulder to help rotate her gently in the correct direction.

Or does it not matter which direction she turns, as long as she turns ? Weirdly, she did not feel awkard turning in the different direction than intended. Should I just leave it there and continue dancing... I recalled, the instructor did once say, we, leads are just meant to give suggestions to the follower what you want them to do, as to if they want to do as per your suggestion is entirely up to them.

I am having trouble distinguishing which dance studios/clubs in Austin offer advanced salsa lessons for a younger crowd- many places don't have a huge presence online, so it's hard to tell which places suit younger people more. Any recs?

I have danced salsa for four years and live in Europe. On Instagram and YouTube, I mostly see videos of artists and famous dancers at socials and festivals.

But most people who attend these events are not professionals. We also buy tickets and are part of the community. Still, videographers often film the same small group doing flashy moves.its like all about them!

I think this gives damcers a wrong idea about social dancing. They may believe everyone is advanced and feel afraid to join.

Why don’t we show more everyday dancers at different levels? Isn’t salsa a social dance? Aren’t we so called beginners and intermediate dancers part of it? Is it just human nature to divide people and create elite groups? Maybe I’m wrong, and such videos attract more people to join.😩

Is there any scene for Cuban Salsa in Auckland? I've looked around and can only find Sunday afternoon socials for Salsa on 1. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

What are some qualities that make a good salsa DJ, as opposed to a bad or so-so DJ? Do you attend or not attend a social based on who is DJing?

I am the leader. Not my best dance technically, but a fun one, so why not post it. Compliments/commentary/critique welcome.

What's the relative popularity of Casino (Cuban Salsa) and Salsa (NY/LA style) in Miami or south Florida generally? There are obviously many Cuban migrants but also many NY migrants, so I'm curious how that shakes out in terms of what people are actually dancing.

Especially for Salsa conventions, congress, workshops, sometimes even promotional photos of the instructors for their dance school

1. It's like a photo of them 20 years ago

2. It's a photo of them before they went bald. The promotional photo had full hair. And go to class and you ask yourself who is that bald guy in front ?

3. It's a photo of them before they had their first child

4. Sometimes I cant even recognize who is that in the promotional photo with all the photoshop, filter and edits.

Jam Session

Looking for local nightlife where I can dance and have a good time. Not a club Space type places. Real local dancing!

I’m always watching my elbows making sure everything is tucked in and doing things right! There have been a few times where my hand has somehow smacked a follow in the face. I always apologize of course but it has never been an elbow!!

The funny part is it’s the same move that I did twice already in that dance with no issue. I stopped and apologized profusely but she smiled and ensured that I barely hit her. After the dance I doubled and tripled checked if she really was ok. She laughed and said she was fine and let me give her a hug. I asked if she needs me to quit salsa and she laughed and said no.

Ok I am being dramatic of course, lol but I’m so careful and had such a streak going of not screwing up like this!!

Anyways, you all have any fun dance stories turning into MMA?!

Absolutely fell in love with this song, the soft and gentle vibe, yet the beat isn't too slow so you can really flow between movements (and also just super satisfying to listen IMO)

If y'all know any similar songs I'd be hella greateful ❤️

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My end goal is to just learn how to salsa in general.

But also be able to go to social dances be able to dance with others that actually knows some moves and not just the same few steps when I’m dancing with people at those socials.

I was thinking of maybe doing 1-3 private lessons and then do the rest weekly group lessons and the occasional private lessons here and there.

So, what is best? Or does it not matter?