Repetition Makes the Master How Can I Learn Faster Consistency Dance Floor Amnesia Lead and Follow Getting more out of the Salsa Video Dance Floor Etiquette Floorcraft The Follower's Gift The Leader's Gift "Shines" & Footwork Performing Tips

~ Repetition Makes the Master ~
Learning how to practice is a key to learning any art. Repetition is the key. When one move has been committed to the body's "muscle memory" then the next move can be learned. This takes repetition. In practice, a student should not move on to the next move until the last one has been done well at least 3-5 times in a row. I recommend repeating a move until you are no longer challenged by it.
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~ How Can I Learn Faster ~
There is no short cut to learning to dance except, dancing MORE. Although, learning dance concepts should be secondary to the process of learning from/through the movement itself, here are a few suggestions:

• Practice footwork alone: spending about 30-40 minutes, several times per week, just practicing footwork without a partner can make a significant difference in your progress. Not only does it improve the footwork itself but it helps to strengthen your knowledge of the rhythm. Your ability to execute more difficult steps is dependent on your ability to keep the rhythm while dancing.
  
• Listen @ home: If you are having difficulty hearing Salsa's rhythm, buy Salsa music and listen as often as you can. Students who have difficulty hearing the rhythm are often unable to distinguish one instrument from the rest of the group. An exercise I recommend doing at home is to concentrate on hearing one instrument at a time. Lie down and close your eyes if necessary. It may help to start with a piece that has a cowbell prominent in the mix. The cowbell is present in the chorus of many Salsa pieces and often plays straight time on the 1 and the 3 beats. When you can do this, continue to listen for other instruments and it will teach you about the basic structure of the music while enhancing your ability to listen while dancing.
  
• Watch accomplished dancers: Having models who you wish to emulate in your dancing is a great help. When out practicing, take some time to watch dancers you enjoy. Watch for good posture, clean footwork, good flow and phrasing of steps. It is bound to have a positive effect on your dancing and you may find yourself imitating these positive attributes.
  
• Learn another discipline: If you are willing to go the extra mile, learning another discipline that involves body co-ordination such Tai Chi, jazz, ballet, aerobics will help to expose you to different ways of moving the body and enhance body awareness. A martial art may be particularly useful because it involves co-ordinating movements with another person.

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~ Consistency ~
In the beginning stages of learning Salsa, consistency is extremely important. As with other disciplines, a lack of consistency can cause students' skills to regress rather than advance. This means something different to each person, since individual aptitude levels vary. For some, missing outside classroom practice opportunities hinders learning. For others, the same effect is caused by missing the occasional class and then attempting to catch up on the new steps learned. For yet others, advancing to higher level courses too quickly can also cause the student to regress in previously established skills. A steady but not necessarily quick learning pace is preferable.
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~ Dance Floor Amnesia ~
If it's your first time out on the social dance floor as a lead, and you don't experience at least some 'Dance Floor Amnesia', you are either unique or fibbing. It's a most common occurrence amongst leaders, including girls who lead. What happens is, you begin dancing a basic step, continue dancing the basic step, and can't figure out how to 'make it stop' ie. by doing something else. Nothing else comes to your mind. You wrack your brain for all those steps you learned in class and keep drawing blanks. It will pass. Few people get to skip this experience, so just grin and bear it. Here's a few tips for dealing: 1) just stick to the basic 2) don't think about what your partner is expecting 3) if you do the basic for long enough, another step will come to you without you thinking about it.
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~ Lead and Follow ~
To both partners, I want to stress the importance of being attentive to your partner while dancing. While the fundamental idea that Man leads -- Woman follows is true, there is a lot of communicating that CAN happen through movement and make dancing with a partner even more enjoyable. When a women can follow well, the expertise in her dancing can affect the character of steps executed and also inspire other steps which the man will lead. To Achieve this, the utmost attention is required of both roles - lead and follow.
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~ Getting the Most from the Classes or Video ~
The consistent manner in which steps are presented acts as a learning aide, helping students understand the logic of steps and build their step vocabulary. During practice time however, I encourage students to vary the number of repetitions, take short cuts and change endings or beginnings by linking steps. Many of the underarm turns are done counter clockwise. One way to learn as much as possible is to go back to all the underarm turns and where possible, turn the woman clockwise instead. This will often involve reversing all aspects of the step including what side to begin, what arm to use for the break-away and turn, and what side the final turn and open break ends on.
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~ Dance Floor Etiquette ~
Here are some etiquette tips for social social dancing:

• If you are not dancing, it is courteous to stay clear of the dance floor.
  
  
• Unsolicited teaching and/or correcting your partner is very uncool in a social dance situation. I recommend working out stuff at practices or classes, not at social dances.
  
  
• Hygiene is very important if you want others to enjoy dancing with you. Bring breath mints too.
  
  
• Optional: Although sweating is an accepted part of social dancing, some dancers bring a small hand towel or a second shirt/T-shirt if they know the first will soak with sweat.
  
  
• Avoid uncomfortable accessories such as belt buckles that protrude or large key chains; or jewelry that may snag clothing.
  
  
• Treat your partner with concern for their enjoyment and safety. Leaders place themselves between their partner and harm's way.
  
  
• On crowded dance floors, adjust your dancing ie: no lifts, jumps, wide arm movements, or dips that bring the woman's head near the floor. See Floorcraft for more tips.
  
  
• Switching partners is not required in the social setting, especially when one has brought one's own.
  
  
• It is discourteous to shortcut or race someone else to the person you wish to dance with.
  
  
• Ladies, be respectful of other styles. If it is different than what you've learned, please do not assume it is wrong.
  
  
• Avoid apologizing for dance mistakes that did not cause personal injury. Just dance your best.J

• both partners always keep elbows pointed downward instead of sideways towards the walls.
  
  
• both partners: assuming good posture will help you incorporate an better awareness of those around you.
  
  
• both partners: never let your arms fully extend
  
  
• in crowded situations, both partners keep their heels near the floor for all moves
  
  
• in crowded situations, both partners keep their feet under the torso throughout movement and especially during back steps
  
  
• follows: if you feel your partner is choosing to neglect good floorcraft, causing near collisions, you may want to indicate your discomfort about close calls.
  
  
• follows: If a collision is approaching from behind your partner as he is about to do a back step you may apply a slight pressure of your left arm against the back of his shoulder when dancing in the closed hold. When dancing together in the open hold, you may bend your elbows slightly toward yourself. Both are accepted and appreciated ways of letting him know.
  
  
• follows: with more experience you will learn how to still follow the lead while redirecting your movement away from harm's way. I stress, this must be done with the subtlety that only experienced follows possess. Not following or "backleading" can cause confusion and possibly worsen collisions.

• Breathing can become very shallow during performances, due to nervousness. This will fatigue you very quickly, increasing nervousness all the more. Be aware of this. Breath through your nose if you can.
  
  
• Nervousness occurs for many dancers regardless of how much performing experience they have. Arriving late & feeling unready only adds to nervousness. Arrive early enough to have time waiting in costume.
  
  
• In the first 30 seconds, don't show all your best moves
  
  
• Whether improvising or choreography, give the audience breaks in the tension, building towards difficult steps and then releasing tension with simple fun steps.
  
  
• Use the entire dance floor available. Using traveling steps is one way to move around the dance floor. This provides another layer of entertainment to the audience.
  
  
• SMILE! Keep your enthusiastic smile alive through the whole dance. A smile will hide your nervousness well and put the audience at ease. Smile and interact with your partner, not just the audience.
  
  
• Accidents can happen. If you slip or even fall, continue dancing as quickly as you can. Most audiences are very encouraging of the idea of "getting back on the horse" right way and usually applaud you for doing so.
  
  
• Avoid loosely sewn hems of dresses or skirts. The woman's heel can get caught inside. On a knit fabric skirt any hem at all can be dangerous for the same reason.
  
  
• Patent leather grips to patent leather, so patent leather shoes need greasing otherwise they will trip you and/or your partner. Use Vaseline to grease them. In an emergency, lip balm, butter or hand lotion.
  
  
• Bring two pairs of shoes to compensate for sticky or slippery floors. One with a leather or suede sole another with a hard rubber sole. Although not ideal, sprinkling baby powder on the floor can help with a very sticky floor.
  
  
• Select your Salsa piece(s) based on questions such as: Has this crowd seen Salsa before? What age group is the audience? Were tickets paid or is the performance a surprise? Will you be competing for their attention with other activities i.e. eating wedding cake?
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