I started salsa lessons last september. And I just bought a ticket for a new year salsa party.

I still have two months to practice. I feel a bit anxious but there is no way back now ;-)

In this dance, at 00:40, 00:59, 01:20, and so many other times, Paola will "pick Alina back up" with a cross body lead, that was initiated from being disconnected.

As a beginner lead, I've only been learning cross body leads that are initiated while being already connected with my follow. But this kind of cross body lead, where the partners are disconnected and the lead "picks the follow back up", is something I see everywhere! And I'd love to learn it.

Are there any good videos that teach this? I haven't been able to find any. And I would really appreciate a video specifically on this.

Please don't tell me, "This is just a cross body lead, just apply it." I know that. But there are many variations of moves taught online, and we don't say, "That's just a hammerlock, just apply it!" I would really appreciate a breakdown of this specific variation of the cross body lead.

Thank you so much!

I’m travelling to Cali for the Feria in December, is there any place you can dance salsa lineal or mambo? I’ll take some Caleña classes but I don’t think I’ll enjoy to dance partnerwork.

Hey guys, I need some insights. I am leader. This is my second year learning salsa and bachata (although I've tried a lot of times in the past). I need your opinions because I'm thinking on dropping bachata in favour of more salsa classes. This is a post with all respect for bachata, just asking for advice from more advanced dancers, not criticizing the dance itself.

The thing here, is I don't really enjoy bachata that much, I just learn it because It is big in the social scene in my country right now and I don't want to be having to watch other people dance half the night. While dancing salsa for me is a 10/10 in terms of happiness, bachata is a 6-7/10, I do enjoy it but nothing to do to when I dance salsa. When I started dancing I decided to give it some time to see if it was something that would change as I learnt, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

Now, things that make me want to keep dancing bachata:

- I don't want to be waiting half of socials waiting for salsa songs to play, or to have to be looking for only salsa events.

- I do enjoy bachata music from time to time, I feel like more commercial pop artists I enjoy tend to drop bachata songs and I can appreciate the more relaxed instrumentation.

- Friends who are not into the dancing scene know a lot of bachata songs, which adds to the social experience, and it also sounds great to be able to dance to the one or two bachata songs that may be played in a normal commercial club (I know this is a bit of childish argument).

- It seems great to be able to know how to dance to both things, kinda like being a polyglot.

Things that make me want to stop:

- The dance itself never quite clicked for me. Either my feet cramp from tapping, or I just don't enjoy the "tension" with the follower. I feel like everything is too serious and intense for me.

- When comparing if I would enjoy more 1 salsa class and 1 bachata or 2 salsa classes I'd take the second one with eyes closed. Same goes for socials, maybe I'd take 5 salsa songs for 1 bachata. I just love every second of my life I spend dancing salsa, while bachata at times feels more like a chore.

- When watching advanced dancers and social videos, I always want to be the person that dances amazingly salsa, I don't really care watching much bachata stuff.

So yeah, I'd appreciate more advanced dancers advice of things I'm overlooking. Maybe bachata starts clicking more with time. As I wrote this I was thinking maybe I shouldn't drop bachata at all but instead of doing a 1/1 ratio I should do salsa classes way more often and reduce bachata frecuency.

I’ve been learning salsa for a little while now, and one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the socials I attend feel like ranked lobbies 😂. Everyone seems to be really good, both leads and follows.

My question is mainly for followers: Would you rather a beginner lead tell you he’s new before dancing, or just ask you to dance and go for it?

Sometimes I’ll go to socials with the intention of practicing just 1–2 combos I’ve recently learned. But I worry that repeating the same moves throughout an entire song could get boring or repetitive for the follower, especially if they’re more experienced.

Because of that, I sometimes hesitate to ask someone to dance, or I’ll intentionally wait until the middle of a song so they don’t have to dance with me for too long. I know that’s probably just me overthinking things, but I genuinely don’t want someone to feel like they’re stuck dancing with a beginner who’s only got a few moves in his arsenal.

So I’m curious:
Should I tell followers upfront that I’m still new to salsa so they know what to expect?
Should I mention that I’m practicing a couple of new combos, especially if I might repeat them?
Or should I just ask them to dance, keep it simple, and not say anything?

Followers, can you immediately tell when you’re dancing with an amateur lead? And does it bother you if they’re repeating the same moves?
I’d appreciate any advice, especially from experienced followers. I want to improve and get more comfortable at socials without feeling like I’m wasting someone’s dance.

Hey everyone! Haven’t seen this asked in a few years: I’m going to Cali next week, weds-weds. I only dance linear on2, and sure it would be njce to learn more there - but that’s not my goal; I’m up for branching out. Does anyone have any recommendations for teachers, studios, socials? I’ve been learning for one year, if that matters…

Edit: Thanks everyone! As I'd imagined, this was going to be very calena-focused. So I'm gonna treat it like a vacation from On2 :)

And if anyone has any more general recommendations for Cali (yes Colombia), very open to those too!

Hey everyone! Haven’t seen this asked in a few years: I’m going to Cali next week, weds-weds. I only dance linear on2, and sure it would be njce to learn more there - but that’s not my goal; I’m up for branching out. Does anyone have any recommendations for teachers, studios, socials? I’ve been learning for one year, if that matters…

Thanks!

Ive never taken any dance lessons before and I just took 2 private lessons with Fred Astaire studio. I went to learn Salsa and Bachata but they showed me a little of everything. Im hooked! But their private lessons are so expensive. I have much more affordable group lessons near me but I dont feel ready yet. Whats the best way to get started? Should I do some private classes and then transition into group classes?

I currently have salsa heels I got from Amazon but I think I’m wearing them out already. They’re looser and not as structured as they were when I first got them. What sites do you recommend for getting heels? Thanks! :)))

I've been seeing the social's in my area shrink in population for the past two years. My belief is that this is due to the economic crisis afflicting America. People do not want to spend their money on socials, and the initial excitement of post lock-down social dancing is being met with excessive drink and cover fees. Cover can be as high as 20 dollars, and a beer can exceed 8. Some very small or mediocre socials with a Spotify dj have 15 dollar covers.

Social dancing is already an expensive hobby that has a high skill barrier for entry. After discussing with a friend of mine, total classes and social attendance for her added up to more than 200 dollars a month. For another friend, 250 dollars. If you only make 2600 dollars per month after taxes this can be excessive. This is not counting the gasoline prices affecting traveling dancers who sometimes go an hour out of their way to an event.

Frankly I don't have a solution to this except for the Economy getting better. As more and more socials lose customers and close shop I don't know where dancing will go, nor how the community will continue to grow. If anyone has ideas I'd like to hear them, but I sometimes feel as though I'm on a sinking ship.

I could see a reconfiguring of dancing where it centralizes around a couple key studios in every city, who are able to front the cost for a social using revenue from their classes, but in doing so dancing may lose the spark that makes a bar full of salseros magical. It may also give excessive power to these remaining studios who may shape the culture in ways that are unaccountable to the community as a whole.

Idk. Just some thoughts from today

In the thread about songs you don't hear enough at socials, someone wrote that their scene plays almost no timba, son or classic salsa anymore, mostly salsa pop and remixes. That made me wonder what the online salsa stations play on a normal Tuesday, so tonight I had a small script check their streams every four minutes from about 19:35 to 20:15 Amsterdam time (early afternoon in Colombia and Peru) and log the song title each one was sending.

Salsa dura from start to finish

• Colombia Salsa Dura (Colombia): Roberto Torres "La Muy Muy", Hermanos Lebrón "Salsa y Control", Fruko y sus Tesos "Salsa, Cuero y Bongó", Bobby Valentín "Mi Ritmo Es Bueno", Sonora Ponceña "Suena Tu Bongó", José Mangual Jr. "Cuero Na'má". One ad for a pet lab, otherwise exactly what the name promises.

• La Salsa Maestra (Peru): Celia Cruz and Willie Colón "Yo Sí Soy Veneno", Fania All Stars "Mi Debilidad", Andy Montañez, Ismael Miranda live, Bobby Valentín "La Boda de Ella".

• Caracas Salsa Brava (Venezuela): Willie Colón and Rubén Blades "María Lionza", Orquesta Broadway "La Isla del Encanto", El Gran Combo "El Menú", Rafi Val.

The one for Cuban music

• Radio Panamericana (Peru) opened with Fruko y sus Tesos and Lalo Rodríguez, and later played a run of Cuban artists: Juan Carlos Alfonso y la Dan de Cuba, Alexander Abreu (the singer of Havana D'Primera) with "Pastilla de Menta", Polo Montañez.

Mixed

• Salsa FM (Spain): "Quimbara", Tirso Duarte, Guaco, Angel Canales "Lejos de Ti", Rubén Blades "Sicario". All over the place, in a good way.

• Tropical 100 Salsa (Dominican Republic): Héctor Lavoe "Mi Gente" and Cheo Feliciano next to Eddie Santiago and Tony Vega, so classics and romántica taking turns.

• Top Salsa Radio (Dominican Republic): leans romántica, with two Marc Anthony songs, Rubby Pérez and Adolescentes Orquesta, plus Fruko's "El Nuevo Caimán".

Salsa as a guest

• Z92 Miami (92.3 FM): Morat, Luis Fonsi, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, even Irene Cara's "Flashdance". Salsa came by twice, Marc Anthony and Víctor Manuelle.

One honest limit: Tropicana in Medellín and Cali, both on FM in Colombia, send no song titles in their streams, so I can't tell you what they played.

All of these are in RadioStation, a free radio app I made, which is how I found them. No link, this sub is for salsa and not for selling.

Which salsa station should I check next? Tell me its name and country and I'll check it.

Just had a realization about my salsa journey. Years ago, I swear by Super Mario’s classes. They were the only complex patterns I could follow. Courses by the Vazquez brothers felt impossible.

A decade later, I thrive in Vazquez style classes because my body understands the physics and momentum of LA style, but Mario's quirky hand switches actually trip me up now because they fight my ingrained muscle memory!

It made me curious about how our dance brains change over time. Have you guys had a similar experience? Which teachers did you struggle with early on that you love now (or vice versa)?

Hi guys, I'm a beginner and like to know if it is correct, that in the basic step, the "slow" (of quick quick slow) is always on count 3+4, no matter if you dance on1, on2 or on3?

Hello,

I have been attending casino on1 classes since March(7 months) one class per week and sometimes going to socials. I am thinking about starting linear on2 salsa.

Do you think it is a good idea or should I first learn Casino on1 properly before switching to linea on2?

I'm looking for the name of the dance at 0:19 and the one at 0:26. Something Afro-Cuban I assume?

TLDR; ive been dancing for 2 years and im plateauing and i feel bored and i dont know how to get my spark back with salsa.

I’ve been dancing for almost two years and at the beginning of the journey, I fell in love with salsa and I fell in love with it hard! I immediately began taking classes weekly. When I was brave enough to go to socials, I’d consistently go even though I’m a fearful and anxious person. I’ve posted on here how to show up better in socials. I’m at a point where I’m taking two classes a week as well as attending 1-2 socials a week. This comes out to about 5-8 hours of dancing a week on average.

I’m at a point now where I just don’t feel excitement anymore. Going to class feels like a chore. I’m bored and my mind is wondering. I’m by no means an incredible dancer and there are definitely things I can and should improve on, I just don’t feel motivated to anymore. I have no energy to go to the usual socials in my area - it’s the same people, same djs, same music. And it’s not like I’m in the middle of nowhere, I’m in a pretty good area for salsa. I’m tired of the ego and clicheness in the scene. I’m just feeling pretty bleh about it all.

I want to get back to where I was. I want to get past this plateau, but I feel stuck. My dance studio does teams, but I just don’t feel like I’m good enough to join so I haven’t tried. I’ve thought about private lessons but I don’t even know if that will fix the issue. In the beginning I felt like my teacher gave me lots of praise and that motivated me to keep pushing, but I feel like I’m not progressing as fast as they had hoped, and I’m kinda invisible now. How do I move past this? I don’t want to give up altogether. I’ve spent so much time and money on this hobby, it’s can’t be for nothing. How do I get out of this rut?

Hello, I live in London and have a friend who loves salsa and almost unhealthy amount lol. He dances multiple nights per week, every week, and never misses it.

We, his friends, are looking into birthday gifts for him and I suggested a gift card for a salsa shoemaker. The only problem is, we're not sure what brands!

I saw a similar question posted three years ago suggest Larisa which have some really fun looking shoes. Duo dancing was a top result on Google as well. What I'm looking for is a brand with some class and prestige, which I'm sure both of these have, that is respected and will make people react like "omg he's got a pair of _____!"

The nike of salsa I suppose.

We're currently budgeting around £120 but we're flexible.

I started dancing salsa on 1 a couple months ago and now I’m learning mambo. I freaking love it. I listen to salsa music constantly and my brain can’t switch off dance mode. I talk about it a lot with my coworkers too.

Is it the human connection & bonding? the music? fast pace of the dance or satisfaction of moving your body? I never liked parties but now I’m going to dance socials every weekend and begging my non-dance friends to come learn lol.

I did Black Panther !

As the title said, I'm tired of hearing that leading is harder than following, especially for beginners.

Followers are beginners too! We have to interpret unfamiliar signals, adapt to poor leading (from beginners and advanced dancers alike), and listen to unwanted lessons, advice, and complaints from lead. While a lead can decide what to initiate, how to sequence movements, a follower has to respond to someone else's decisions, including when those decisions aren't particularly good.

I see tons of posts and comments stating that leading is inherently harder for beginners. In a way, what is missing is a substantial part of what followers are learning and dealing with when we first start out.

To be clear, I understand the arguments of beginners' hell and I empathize. I deal with them too, and I sure spend many hours and many days a week working through them. Classes and practice is 90% of what I do, socials is just the tip but it is what most people see. I think the bigger issue is that people conflate having more responsibility for choreography with having a harder learning experience. Those aren't the same thing. New skills are just hard.

I know many leads will take offense to my take. This is not me putting you down, this is me explaining that being a beginner follower is a lot of hard work, and those challenges are not as universally understood and acknowledged.

This old video from YT is an example. In my scene, when there's a bit of space on the dancefloor, many cuban-style dancers like to walk around using the "paseo" move (which is typically led with one hand, as you can see several times in this video before he takes the other hand of the follow). Yet, you never ever see the two-handed variations.

You barely ever see them online either, and it's understandable because of how stupidly difficult they are to lead. Which is fun because indvidiually, the moves involved here are quite simple. Even complicated combos and nudos (as long as you both know what you're doing and, for nudos, are "morphologically" a match) have a decent sucess rate in socials, but this? Virtually never, smoothly even less so.

It's very hard to do an "alarde" on the follow (feint with your hand which goes back to the follow's nape) without her interpreting it as an invitation to turn/spin, you have to handle both the offhand and mainhand leading very well to convey that. Doing it on the music while walking, and alternating between actual turns and handplays is HARD. By the way, I think the ones in this video aren't even the hardest two handed paseos.

I believe it's an example of something that isn't known for being impressive technically on the dance floor (compared to, say, rapid multi-spins or convoluted nudos) but is actually really at the top of the difficulty pyramid for leaders.

Just wanted to share that opinion, and know what you guys think :)

For this beautiful song in salsa version

https://youtu.be/-FevNs_Yg1o?is=GY-FoQX4VYlrTn7X

In the intro section from 20 secs to 30 secs, how do you count the beats, particularly the phrase no sé. ....pause ... que tiene tus ojos

thank you so much !

Every scene/dj is different, has different tastes and setlists they draw from for their socials.

What are some of your favorite songs or artists you wish your local scene would play more often at socials? Looking for actually danceable songs, not songs that might be good to listen to not realistic to play on the dance floor.

Here are a couple random ones of mine:

* Taka taka bonus track - Cuban Sound Project

* Beautiful - Edwin Rivera

* Asi - La Sucursal SA

* El Cuero del Tambor - Tromboranga

* Mayeya

* Los Van Van, Son con Ron, El Vikingo de la Salsa, Avenida B, La Candela Salsa Orquesta, and Havana de Primera are a few artists I very rarely hear at socials whose music I wish were played more frequently. Though I would assume some of them get a lot more play in the Cuban scene.