Would you like to get better at salsa dancing but don’t know what to do? Or is it not going fast enough? In this blog post we give you 3 simple and efficient ways to start improving your salsa dancing today.
1. Analysing salsa music
A good way to improve your dance level is to stop dancing for a moment and instead: Pick any salsa song, turn the volume up and switch on the repeat button! (Poor neighbours)
At some point you will know the song well, and if you speak Spanish you will no doubt be able to sing along too (now you are also fighting with your partner). More importantly, you will start to recognise certain patterns. You will anticipate the breaks better, etc. By doing this often you will feel the music better and you will have to think less while you are dancing. Now you are familiar with the most important aspect of dancing: Musicality!! Bravo
2. Dance with a stranger
We usually prefer to dance with someone we know, especially someone who is in the same class as us. This has to do with feeling more comfortable, but also with the fact that the combinations we just learned in class actually work.
For the men: Have you ever learned a combination, then tried it at a party with someone else and it went nowhere? You are not the only one. It can have to do with her dance level (don’t try to spin a beginner dancer 3 times just yet), but usually it comes down to our lead. Dancing with a stranger forces us to lead better and more clearly. If you only dance with people from your own dance school, you will not develop optimally.
For the women: Men often do the same combinations they know, and that is fairly logical. At some point you get used to his combinations and you can practically dream the course of the dance. By dancing with a stranger you are challenged with new figures and patterns. Every dancer has a unique style of dancing salsa, and for a woman it is better to dance with different types of salsa dancers. This helps you follow better (especially if your dance partner is at a higher level than you). For both men and women it is good to dance with strangers more often than with people you know. This will greatly improve your dance level. So at the very first party tonight, say no to everyone you know and yes to all the strangers.
3. Footwork
Many people think that footwork(foot work) is only relevant for those solo moments. But that is far from the truth. Footwork is essential for your dance level, and the good news is: you don’t need anyone to practise it. So why is footwork so important? What is the first thing you learned when you started salsa dancing? Exactly. These steps are thé foundation for dancers of every level. The better you master them, the better you will dance. Salsa footwork helps you control your steps better. While dancing you constantly have to shift your weight from one foot to the other, and all top dancers know how to do this as efficiently as possible: Without having to think about it. If you constantly have to think about how to place your steps, you have no time to do all the other things. The best way to improve this skill is by doing lots of footwork.
Those were the 3 ways to significantly improve your salsa level starting today! So, time for a step-by-step plan:
Step-by-step plan
Step 1: Pick any salsa song, one you don’t know!
Step 2: Listen to this song on repeat for fifteen minutes, stop all your other activities. Try to predict the changes and breaks in the song. After 3 or 4 times this will already get easier.
Step 3 for beginner dancers: Only do the basic footwork you know. Suzy-Q, Pasitos and steps like that. Step 3 for experienced dancers: Did you learn a nice footwork in your weekly salsa classes, or do you still have a recording from your last festival? No? Then search YouTube for footwork (at your own level). Try to teach it to yourself calmly. Above all, don’t start with a super long footwork (3 to 4 bars is enough in the beginning)
Step 4: Once you can remember the steps, do them repeatedly so you can train yourself.
Step 5: Put on your nicest clothes tonight and ask a complete stranger to dance with you.
We have classes that focus exclusively on footwork, check our schedulefor the Men Styling, Lady Styling or Footwork Madness classes.
There you go, with these 5 steps you can improve your salsa dance level! Enjoy! Need more tips? Contact us at info@watapanadc.nl, we are happy to help!
